In the build-up to Tuesday's do-or-die fixture at home to Poland, I will be running an England mini-series, looking at the talking points that have haunted the England side's preparations, and looking at their chances going forward. A few weeks ago, I gave my opinion on Greg Dyke's comments that England should be looking to reach the semi-finals of the Euro 2020 competition, and win the World Cup in 2022 in Qatar. This assumes that the groundwork is already in place for England to become a viable winner of trophies, as Spain's 'Golden Age' really began a decade or so previously, with the change of several rules regarding training of youngsters. Using the State of the Game report, as well as evidence from the current England squad and the lower leagues, I will examine just how much creedence can be given to Dyke's claims. I dismissed them a few weeks ago-was I wrong to?
This post will be the last in my 'headline-makers' aspect to this England series, and has perhaps been the most damaging to English footballing stability. It concerns Roy Hodgson's appointment as England manager in the spring of 2012 was a surprise, as the front runner for the position from the start had been then Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp. The loveable Cockney Arry', best known for his transfer deadline day antics, most famously hanging out of his car window, and his odd resemblance to a bulldog, had proven himself to be one of the Premier League's top managers in the previous few seasons. Having taken Spurs from the relegation zone after 7 games of the 2008/2009 season, he transformed the North London club's fortunes, taking them to a league cup final in the same season, where they lost narrowly on penalties. The following year, he led Spurs to 4th place, and a Champions League spot for the first time in the club's history. A remarkable run in the competition took them to the quarter finals, where they had accept defeat against Real Madrid. Nevertheless, from the relegation zone to the quarter-finals of the Champions League in two years is a quite incredible run, and put the Spurs manager on the lips of many for the recently available post of England manager.
However, things took an unexpected turn for the Londoner. With all the distractions over his potential move, his Spurs side began to slide away from the title race in 2011/2012, even finishing behind local rivals Arsenal. This meant that they missed out on the automatic Champions League places, which would prove incredibly costly. With Chelsea winning the tournament, 4th was not enough to get them into the Champions League the following year. To make matters worse for media darling Arry', despite him being installed as overwhelming favourite to succeed Fabio Capello as England boss, the FA opted to go with Roy Hodgson, a decision met with derision by many in the footballing world. They say that bad things come in threes, and this was to be the case for Harry, as no sooner had the season concluded, with Spurs equalling their best ever finish to a Premier League season, he and Spurs parted ways, due to 'unresolved contract issues'. Since the dismissal, Redknapp's managerial career seems to have been in terminal decline. He quickly found employment in the form of struggling QPR last season, only to lead the club down, rock bottom of the Premier League. Since the speculation over the England job, he had not been the same successful Harry that football had known and come to love, and, underneath, there was developing a rather bitter edge to the Cockney manager that few had fully experienced.
This bitterness was suddenly thrust into the public eye with the release of his autobiography in October 2013. Here, he registers his disgust at the FA for the decision-making in the run-up to the announcement of Roy Hodgson as England manager. Whilst the former Spurs manager states that he never held anything against the former Fulham manager, the tone in which he wrote his words suggests exactly the opposite. Just read some of the words he (and by that I mean Martin Samuel) wrote: 'I wouldn't trust the FA to show me a good manager if their lives depended on it', 'Everyone says I was the people's choice, the only choice' and 'I got quite a few text messages at the time from players saying they would love me to manage England: Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry. But the FA went for Roy Hodgson-a man who is more their cup of tea.' All of these quotes have an undertone of bitterness to them, and will do little to further his career.
These comments are also exactly what Roy Hodgson and England did not need in the build up to their two most critical World Cup Qualifiers for Brazil 2014. With England not guaranteed qualification, two performances (at home to firstly Montenegro, and then Poland) would be required to ensure their place in South America. Considering that Harry specifically says in his book that he wants England to do well, you have to question the release date of an autobiography that is so critical of the England manager and the FA. Surely it wouldn't have made any difference to Redknapp if he had waited to release his book for another week? Or perhaps that was his intention-especially if England did fail to qualify over the following two games. That way, he could point to the England performances as evidence of the FA's incompetence in appointing Hodgson over him, as predicted in his book. Had he released it a week later, he could be accused of acting in hindsight, when his claims would not have as much of an effect. Perhaps that is me being cynical, but they are certainly questions that can be levied at the former Spurs boss.
Timing aside, the way in which Redknapp has criticised the FA will do nothing to aid the England side as they prepare for the game against Poland. Any negative comments about the squad, manager and FA will inevitably destabilise the side, potentially even causing the seed of doubt into the minds of the England players. If the Montenegro game is anything to go by, we shouldn't worry too much about the mental effect, but nevertheless, it is hardly the ideal preparation. Redknapp has inherently criticised all three of those groups, claiming that recent performances at World Cups have not been acceptable, that the manager is not the right man, and as we have heard, aimed several shots across the bows of the FA. How much of this is influenced by the ludicrous expectations placed upon our national side by the media and the FA, I am unsure. However, we have been shown that our national team needs little excuse to implode, and these comments could certainly have been the catalyst.
In my opinion, Harry Redknapp has acted very much like a jilted lover. His bitter comments to the press are broadly similar to telling your friends embarrassing secrets about your ex after they have broken up with you. How malicious the intent of both the comments, and the timing of them, are cannot be proven, but my cynical mind tends to suspect that there is a very good reason for releasing his comments when he has. Such has his recent conduct been, I would almost expect him to have a rebound one-night stand managing another national side to try and make England jealous! His managerial failure with QPR has left him wildly blaming others for his decline, with the FA the prime recipients of his bile. If nothing else, this episode has illustrated precisely why the FA made the right decision to go with Hodgson. If a manager deals with disappointment by bitching about others to the press, he is hardly the professional you need. His media darling image has well and truly gone now, and I expect him to become the managerial equivalent of a spinster, with his only supporters his loyal bulldogs.
No comments:
Post a Comment