As the FA make their move to secure to services of Roy Hodgson and not Harry Redknapp, you can only wonder if the decision will come back to haunt them. Inevitably, there will be a slight backlash from the public who along with the media craved Redknapp’s appointment.
Let’s not get carried away here, if all goes to plan and Hodgson does become the next England manager, it is still a very good decision by the FA. His pedigree isn’t in question, experienced at both club and International level, he has managed Switzerland with whom he reached the last 16 of the ’94 World Cup and qualified for Euro ’96.
He then enjoyed spells at the U.A.E. and most recently Finland, bringing them to the brink of qualification for Euro 2008 and getting the best out of players in the twilight of their careers such as Jari Litmanen and Sami Hyppia. He has also managed big clubs domestically, Liverpool and Inter Milan spring to mind so his CV is not in question.
Hodgson has overachieved domestically with West Brom both last season and this season and with Fulham a couple of years back. He established the West Londoners as a top ten side and took them on a wonderful run to the Europa League final knocking out Juventus along the way before losing to Atletico Madrid in the final.
What adds even more weight to all of this is his reputation amongst football’s two main bodies, Fifa and Uefa. He has sat on technical committees for both organisations, observing tournament scenarios amongst other aspects so it is clear that he is very well respected within the game and has more of an international pedigree than the people’s favourite Harry Redknapp.
Hodgson is now under immense pressure to hit the ground running, starting with a friendly win over Norway next month. Issues have to be addressed surrounding the next captain and whether or not a European championship squad can include both Rio Ferdinand and John Terry in light of Terry’s outstanding court course for the alleged racial abuse of Rio’s younger brother Anton Ferdinand.
Like any potential England manager, he has to handle the media extremely carefully. He does have a habit in press conferences of becoming irritated at certain questions and is sometimes a bit long winded in answers which may frustrate fans and media alike. He was certainly guilty of this during his time at Liverpool and must learn from his mistakes.
As for Harry Redknapp, you would hope that Spurs recent slide hasn’t impacted on the FA’s decision to choose Hodgson over him. If Redknapp was the right man three months ago then he is the right man now. For me Redknapp’s recent record is superior…
FA Cup winner with Portsmouth in 2008 and a year previous when Pompey were languishing in the relegation zone he guided them to safety against all the odds. In October of 2008, he took over a Spurs side second from bottom and drove them to a top eight finish.
The following year in the 2009/2010 season, Spurs qualified for the Champions League, the first team to break the stranglehold of the so called “top four” for five years, taking Liverpool out of the equation and keeping big spending Manchester City at bay.
Competing in the Champions League, they thrashed holders Inter at White Hart Lane and knocked out AC Milan in the last 16 before succumbing to Real Madrid.
Looking at league positions right now, Spurs are fourth while Hodgson’s current side West Brom are tenth. Spurs are competing at the top end of the table, playing in big games and influencing the title race.
There’s no doubt who the more successful manager is at the moment but perhaps more importantly which one is managing the better players. The answer to that is Harry Redknapp, because at the end of the day, these England players are talented, we all know that, what they need is the right manager to rid them of that fear and inhibition they experience at major tournaments and in home matches at Wembley.
Anytime a new manager is appointed, a team expects a “bounce” from that person’s arrival, fresh ideas, new impetus, style and direction. Harry Redknapp would have arrived into this summer’s European Championships on a wave of optimism from fans and media alike. I don’t care what anyone tells me, players benefit from that, media articles written in support of a manager galvanize supporters and all of this collectively has a positive impact on a team.
History has proved it, when Kevin Keegan was the outstanding candidate amongst players and fans alike back in ’99, England won his first game in charge 3-1 against Poland at Wembley courtesy of a Paul Scholes hat-trick.
Some might say, look what happened Kevin Keegan after that. I accept that point but what was important was that England received that initial positive impact, the same way Redknapp helped save Pompey from relegation in ‘07 and turned Spurs season around when he first took over at White Hart Lane back in ‘08. Martin O’ Neill has achieved something similar at Sunderland this season and to his credit Roy Hodgson turned West Brom’s campaign around last year.
I understand that the FA’s decision could not be driven by media and supporters demands, but what about the players in all of this? There are those that may feel that players should keep their opinions to themselves but such is the world we now live in, these views are very much in the public domain.
Both Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney backed the potential appointment of Harry Redknapp. It’s hard to see how Frank Lampard would not support his own Uncle becoming the next manager and surely Redknapp has the support of players within his own Spurs contingent namely Scott Parker, Kyle Walker and Jermain Defoe.
Other players such as Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard have previously stated their admiration for him and Gerrard’s Liverpool teammate Glen Johnson saw his career turned right around while playing for Redknapp at Portsmouth. I also believe that if England were to coax Paul Scholes out of International retirement which has now taken on more importance given Jack Wilshere’s injury, then Harry was the man to do it.
Overall you just get the feeling that these current England players would have loved playing for Redknapp and it’s hard to get past the fact the FA seem to have missed a big opportunity. No doubt the players will respond to Hodgson but the question will always linger in the wake of poor performances and results; “I wonder would Harry have gotten more out of them?”
Perhaps we are forgetting that Hodgson himself has been quoted as saying that he would not like the job if he did not have the backing of the media and fans alike. Even without their support, it’s hard to see him walking to the dugout at the Hawthorns next season instead of walking down the tunnel at Wembley, the England job is simply too big an opportunity to pass up.
It now becomes crucial that the fans get behind Hodgson as well as the media and some have already voiced their support which is a good sign. No question about it, Roy Hodgson deserves his chance, his timing is awful but that’s not his fault.
danoneill1986 