Hodgson really?

Oh the FA. You've got to love them...before I talk about the choice of Hodgson himself, let's talk first about the shambles that is the FA's selection process. They decided to 'leave it til near the end of the season' to 'avoid disrupting any club's season'...well clearly that worked with Spurs didn't it? Their form hasn't suffered at all from everyone assuming Harry Redknapp would get offered the job. That's good. Is it financially motivated appointing a manager who is out of contract? Almost certainly I would imagine, but the sheer stupidity of all of this is not appointing the manager til so close to the Euros thus giving him precious little time to figure anything out at all. Nice work FA.

In regard to the selection, much was made of Harry Redknapp. I have said in a previous entry that Harry probably would have been my choice although this would not have guaranteed any English success, for reasons outlined in that same blog entry. Given they were so determined to appoint the boss so late, I think Redknapp would have been the more sensible choice given that he has that way of transforming a team so quickly (Portsmouth, Spurs and even Southampton to start with) and is a motivator supreme. That said, Hodgson worked instant wonders at Fulham and WBA so I suppose that argument kind of cancels itself out, but Hodgson certainly did not have the same effect at the two genuinely massive clubs he's managed (Liverpool and Inter).

I hope this does not come across as a view biased entirely by his miserable reign as Liverpool manager, but I think the choice is most definitely the wrong one. Hodgson is undoubtedly a very good English manager if what you want is an average or struggling team transformed into a well organised, battling side who will stay in the Premiership and make their way up to mid-table. His performances at Fulham and West Brom were undeniably successful and for that he deserves credit. But Roy Hodgson, almost by his own admission, is a one-dimensional manager. In his own words at Liverpool, he said he played his way and that was it and his way, I'm afraid, is dull in the extreme. Route one, tedious, maybe well organised but totally unsuited to any team other than a mid-table one. He was hopelessly out of his depth at Anfield and the media pressure did not agree with him...so good job he's in the England job then...