Roy Hodgson named as England manager on four-year deal

[oldironside]

The FA have appointed Roy Hodgson as the new England manager.

The West Brom boss has signed a four-year deal which will take him to the end of Euro 2016 in France.

The FA confirmed their decision at 3pm today following four-hour long talks held yesterday and further discussions this morning between the 64-year-old and the four members of the Club England board charged with appointing a successor to Fabio Capello, who resigned in February.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/international/roy-hodgson-named-as-england-manager-on-fouryear-deal-7703810.html

As one of the comments on the Grauniad's story said:

"Dear Roy,
We think you're making a big mistake, but good luck anyway.
Signed,
Most England Fans."

[truebrit71]

1. This decision fills me with 'meh'....

...it doesn't really matter because England will probably struggle to get into the elimination rounds and then lose badly to Italy or Spain....

[non sociopath skin]

5. Truly, tha' hast the gift, lad!

The Skin

[ikri]

2. But 'arry!

All of Redknapp's mates in the media are furious about the decision, it's actually pretty funny to read about how Redknapp is the better manager because he's won the FA cup (with Portsmouth who are now close to financial oblivion) compared to Hodgson who has won league honours abroad, managed international teams with relative success and who has a great track record in getting mediocre players to perform above themselves.

Hodgson's the better choice by a mile but he's doomed to failure since he's taken the job from the media's best friend (plus he's got to manage a bunch of whining egotistical has-been's and never-where's who make up the majority of the current England team).

[oldironside]

3. It is the archetypal poisoned chalice.

Still, he's a fundamentally decent man with, as you point out, an excellent CV and a knack of getting poor players to perform.

Also, following the Liverpool debacle I would hope that he won't put up with infantile egos in the dressing room. Any England supporter can write a list of so called senior players who should never be called up again (99.9999% of those lists starting with the name John Terry), and I would far rather that he chose players from so called smaller clubs who actually want to play (and will work for the team), rather than those who see it as their birthright and don't achieve anything except to look lazy and bored.

We have to accept that we don't have a great team, or even a great bunch of players, but it is still possible to create a competitive team that can take on the superstars, just as Greece did.

[fedsron2us]

4. Agree 100%

The British press only wanted Redknapp because he would have been ideal for all the old build em up and then knock em down routine that the appears to be tired old media's only modus operandi for England managers. I expect they had lots of copy on ice about 'Arry's' dodgy geezer past that they are now probably going to have to spike


Given that the papers spent so much time berating Capello for his lack of international tournament experience it is laughable that they then campaigned for him to be replaced with someone who had even less direct knowledge of those conditions.

At least Hodgson knows what it is like to manage an international side in a World Cup final stages, having taken Switzerland to the last 16 in 1994. The only possible blot on his managerial career was a less than stellar period at Liverpool which saw him hounded out by the home fans. Even that tenure was not quite as dire as some imagine. Hodgson managed to win 6 home games in his final season before he was axed in January 2011. His replacement, the much vaunted King Kenny Dalglish, has not managed that by the end of April 2012 in the current season