FA approach Hodgson over the England job!

[Anthony Williams]

I feel that this deserves a thread of its own, rather than being in the generic football one.

So, from the Telegraph:

West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace today granted permission for the FA to hold talks with their 64-year-old manager, and Hodgson has already had a conversation with FA chairman David Bernstein.

No approach has been made to Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp, who had been viewed as the favourite to succeed Fabio Capello.

Bernstein said: "I'm grateful to Jeremy and all at West Bromwich Albion for their co-operation in allowing us to approach Roy, who I have since spoken with.

"Roy is the only manager we have approached and we remain on course to make an appointment within the timescale we set-out soon after Fabio Capello's departure.

"Further conversations will now take place with Roy and my Club England colleagues before any further announcements can be made."

Hodgson is out of contract in the summer - meaning the FA would not have to pay any costly compensation or become involved in any wrangling with the club.

That is in contrast to the situation at Spurs who would expect hefty compensation were the FA to approach them about Redknapp.

Hodgson has coached the Switzerland and Finland national teams with considerable success in the past. He has also been extraordinarily successful on limited resources at West Brom, for whom he signed an 18-month contract last February after a disappointing spell at Liverpool.

West Brom said in a statement: "The club are currently in negotiations with Roy about a new contract - his current deal ends on June 30 - and remain very keen to bring these talks to a successful conclusion.

"However, Roy has expressed a desire to explore this opportunity and, accordingly, the club have granted him permission to speak to the FA."

Peace added: "Roy has done a fantastic job over the past 15 months and the fact the FA want to discuss the England role with him is testament to that.

"Roy is a proud Englishman and we can understand why he wants to speak to the FA about this highly-prestigious managerial position.

"However, we have emphasised to Roy how much we would like him to remain as our head coach and continue his major contribution to our project at the Hawthorns as we look to establish ourselves as a Premier League club.

"Everyone here has an excellent working relationship with him and he is immensely popular with our supporters."

Do you think that Hodgson could be the man for the job? Or do you look at his past disasters with Liverpool and think "OH GOD NO!"?

[Jon Masters]

Can I give my permission for them also to talk to Neil Warnock - as since he took over at Leeds we went from a strong chance of getting into the playoffs down to a pathetic mid-table with only 4 wins in our last 18 games. The sooner he's gone the better.

If they could knock off Ken Bates at the same time it would be a bonus

[Perry Vale]

Didn't come as much of a surprise to me, I never saw them going for Redknapp (too much baggage). As a Liverpool supporter myself, I don't believe his reign there changes his reputation too much. He just wasn't the right person for that club, imo. He is a very good manager, his record shows that undeniably.

However....there really isn't an englishman that's a good candidate for the national job at all. No english manager has ever won the Premier League. The last english manager to win the league was Howard Wilkinson in the last season before the PL began. Ditto Europe. The last english manager to win the European Cup was this man in 1982! Not really a household name, is he?

So it really doesn't matter who they get....

[duncan]

I disagree. Of course it matters and Redknapp is by far the better man for the job. Granted, Hodgson didn't do too bad at Fulham but Liverpool was a disaster as was Blackburn. He took them backwards and the hit the bottom of the premiership under his tenure just a couple of seasons after being guided to the Premership title by Dalglish.

[Perry Vale]

I have to disagree too!

as was Blackburn. He took them backwards and the hit the bottom of the premiership under his tenure just a couple of seasons after being guided to the Premership title by Dalglish.

Blackburn finished 13th in the Premiership the season before he took over. They were bottom of the league the previous season under Ray Harford. His first season saw them finish 6th and qualify for the UEFA cup. His second season they had a bad start and the club hit the panic button and sacked him in November when they sat in bottom place. I think it's very, very harsh to say he took them backwards.

I stand by what I said earlier, his record, over his career, speaks for itself. Harry's (or whatever his real name is) doesn't. What exactly has he won in his career? Winning the FA Cup against lower league opposition in Cardiff, the League One title (also with Portsmouth), and the Intertoto Cup (remember that one?) with West Ham. Oh, and the League Division Three title with Bournemouth in 1987.

OK, most of Hodgson's success has been outside of this country, but take a good look at it. It's far more impressive in my opinion....

In Sweden with Malmo he won five consecutive league titles, and two cups. At Inter Milan (who had finished 13th and 6th in previous seasons) he got them to 7th and qualified for the UEFA Cup. He left towards the end of the following season with them lying in 3rd place. His successor guided them to a 2nd place finish, and they got to the UEFA Cup final, only losing on penalties.

He also won the Danish League in 2001 with FC Copenhagen, who had finished 7th & 8th in the two previous seasons.

His overall win rate during his career stands at 43%, whilst Harry's is 40%.

The media can scream all they like, but he really is a better candidate for the job than Redknapp. IMO.

[Anthony Williams]

Of course, I have to ask the question... why does the next manager have to be English? After all, I would argue that both Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello did much better with England than either of their predecessors did...

[Perry Vale]

The last two managers have been hopeless when it came to major tournaments, so I think the FA is bowing to the usual 'no foreigners' rhetoric that is common in this country.

[Anthony Williams]

And he's been confirmed!

[Dave Tudor]

'Woy' looked a bit like a rabbit in the headlights at his press conference today, but I, for one, welcome his appointment - he's got the experience and knowledge at international club and country level that 'Arry, and any other English-born manager for that matter, lacks. I do think the FA went about it the wrong way, and blatantly showed their contempt for Redknapp and public opinion in not interviewing him at least. But I think they've got the right man for the job in Hodgson. I don't think it matters that he hasn't set the Premiership alight - it's what he has done abroad over the last thirty-odd years that really counts.

I just hope the media and the 'fans' give hime time...

[Paul Clement]

I think Harry has had a lucky escape. The England side isn't good enough, and Hodgson will be the scapegoat for another poor performance at a major tournament.

There are only four players that England have available to them who are World Class or are at least near to it; Rooney, Gerrard, Ashley Cole and Joe Hart. Of them, Gerrard has been injured a lot recently and has only played 18 games this season, with six of those games being for less than 45 minutes, while Rooney is suspended for the first two games. The rest of the players who have been picked recently are either on a downward footballing spiral, untested at tournament level or just not good enough, especially up front. They haven't got a chance of winning the tournament and despite being in one of the easier groups, will have a hard task just qualifying for the Quarter-Finals with France, Sweden and Ukraine to contend with.

[Larry]

. Harry's (or whatever his real name is) doesn't. What exactly has he won in his career? Winning the FA Cup against lower league opposition in Cardiff, the League One title (also with Portsmouth), and the Intertoto Cup (remember that one?) with West Ham. Oh, and the League Division Three title with Bournemouth in 1987.

agreed in a 30 plus year managerial career Redknapp has one FA cUP and a couple of divisional championships to his credit it could be argued that Steve Mclarren's managerial record is just as good as Redknapp's. Redknapp's record in the Premiership is nothing great either. He has a 4th place finish with Spurs and a 5th place finish with West Ham, and in 14 odd seasons in the premiership with West Ham and Portsmouth he hardly ever finished higher than 8th . and lets not forget the financial mess he left Pompey in.Yet despite his average record he remains the darling of the media who clearly showed their feelings towards Hodgson with the cold way they reacted yesterday.

But as a West Ham fan I find in interesting that it was a 3 man committe who have chosen Hodgson, of which Sir Trevor Brooking, is a part it's well known that Sir Trev and Harry have personal issues dating back to 1993 when Harry, stabbed the then West Ham manager Billy Bonds in the back to get the West Ham managers job and I just wonder if this might be Sir Trev's way of getting pay back for what Redknapp did to Bonzo.