‘What a great job he has done, ten games without dropping a single point, superb effort from Roy and all involved …’ wrote nobody ever.
Okay, I may be bending the truth slightly but the established media sources and newspapers in this country simply will not recognise the commendable job the Head Coach of our national team has done.
It really is a tough gig being England manager. Anything but total success is deemed a failure by the tough and unforgiving sports journalists that make a living writing for the biggest newspapers in the country. It is tiresome.
Until the day someone wakes up and realises we are not actually that great in comparison to the real super powers of world football, this will always be the case. Football in general is currently living in this world of complete success or total failure. There can be nothing in-between, but so often there is.
The current England team is not even half as good as some previous years have thrown up and to get the results we have out of them is testament to Roy Hodgson and his coaching team. The media will not have that though, neither will many England fans, often supporters of clubs that are so used to success week in, week out following their club side. Then there are the same folk popping up on social media with unwarranted criticism, a large chunk being supporters of Liverpool. Some of these fans quite clearly have a bone to pick with Hodgson, and considering he left them in 2011, I do not quite know why.
Let us be honest, the former Inter Milan coach was always on a hiding to nothing at Anfield, and given the time Rodgers was given, I am sure he would have done significantly better. After leaving the Reds, Hodgson proved his worth for the England role by turning a pretty uninspiring West Bromwich Albion team heading for the Championship into a Premier League side capable of beating anyone on their day.
I mean, honestly, how much do fans, pundits and even journalists really know about the game compared to managers who live and breathe it every day?
The meticulous planning that will have gone into a ten game qualification winning streak is not even worth thinking about. People will not consider this though. The same amount of planning will also have gone into the World Cup in 2014, a tournament which was branded a complete disaster by many. Well, it was neither great, neither was it awful. Thirty-two teams, one winner, and as I mention above, we are no longer a household name when it comes to the top countries in world football.
You cannot compare the brilliance of the 1998 team which had the class of Paul Scholes, the accuracy of David Beckham, the finishing ability of Alan Shearer, the tenacity of Paul Ince and the defensive knowhow of Tony Adams with the current crop of England hopefuls. Those are just a few of the names of years gone by. These days, if you are English and play regularly in the top flight, you are almost an automatic pick for the national side. Despite this, Roy will be expected to lead the country to glory in France next year.
It will be a tough ask. God knows, I would love him to go and win the thing just to see the reaction from those that have done all they can to de-rail him.
Take for instance the racism story that never was – see this link to BBC Sport. That was really poor and Hodgson responded at the time;
We have just had a successful period and, although I would not suggest we intend to rest on our laurels, I think we have earned the right to enjoy the fruits of our labour. Instead we get this.
You cannot argue. I would predict that if it had been media darling Harry Redknapp in the England hot seat (as so many wanted, god only knows why), in the same position nothing would have come of it. Roy Hodgson was the unfashionable choice from an unfashionable club, and he has had to suffer for years now because of it. I can just picture a smiling Harry Redknapp being lauded by all had he been at the helm during the last year and a half.
You could also look at it from the point of view that had Roy Hodgson been replaced in 2014 and the new manager had come in and gone ten unbeaten, the country would be beside themselves with joy for the manager and his team. Not Roy though. He will not care anyway, he is far too old a wise.
I for one am optimistic of a little bit of success at the European Championships in France next summer. Anything but victory though, and the vultures will be circling and then I can write something similar to this about Hodgson’s replacement in a few years time.
