Football Comment

Roy Deserves Respect

The news that Roy Hodgson had been offered the vacant England manager's position has no doubt left many people feeling underwhelmed, though it would be fair to say not many of those people reside in the white half of North London. It seemed for weeks that there was only one candidate; Spurs' talisman, Harry 'Arry' Redknapp, the darling of the British media.

The FA's decision is surprising not only for its choice of personnel but because of its decisiveness and its resistance to succumb to the "'Arry for England" bandwaggoning that has swept the nation ever since Capello's resignation. Pound for pound, Roy Hodgson's managerial credentials certainly stand aside, if not surpass those of the Spurs manager. Redknapp is a great manager, a cheerleader almost and nobody can deny that his swashbuckling, fluent approach to the game is refreshing in a league scattered with monotonous, droll interviewees. He is always worth listening to, a journalist's delight, but from a footballing perspective does he really possess the tactical savviness required for the biggest job within English football?

The fact is however for all the great football played, Redknapp's CV still only reads at one FA Cup with Portsmouth in 2008 and a limited experience of European football. There is no doubting that the man is a great motivator but is surely flawed by his tactical naivety and 'old-school' approach. We have all heard the famous advice he once gave to Roman Pavlychenko as the Russian striker prepared to enter as a substitute; “Go out there and f*cking run around a bit”. Tactical acumen, I'm sure, and ever since Harry has been linked with the England job his tactical flaws have been scrutinised as much as ever with a dreadful run of 6 points taken from the last 27 available.

International football, although arguably incredibly dull nowadays, is now more than ever based around tactics. Whilst the Premiership continues to serve up error-prone, end to end, fantastically entertaining matches, the international game has evolved into a somewhat form of chess, unidentifiable from many domestic matches. Never has a shrewd tactician been more sought after and adaptability is absolutely crucial. Redknapp has angrily rebuffed the perception of being somewhat of a 'wheeler dealer' but he is the first to admit that he likes to keep the game simple and having spent his entire career in his homeland would he have the know-how of how to break down teams from every corner of the globe?

Having managed in ten different countries, including three national teams, Roy Hodgson was certainly the right choice if adaptability was a key requirement. Nobody can argue Harry's passion and the counter argument would be that England have possessed talented squads with tactically shrewd managers plenty of times in the past with no success, maybe a motivator is what we need. As aforementioned Harry can boast an FA Cup triumph as the pinnacle of his career but Hodgson has seven Swedish league titles, two Swedish championships and two Swedish Cups from his time at Malmo FF and Halmstad. Roy has also picked up the Danish league and cup with FC Copenhagen and a UEFA Cup and Europa league runners-up medal from his time at Inter Milan and Fulham respectively. Hodgson is also an experienced international manager, something the FA will most definitely have pin pointed as a reason for their choice, and has had success coaching Switzerland, Finland and the UAE, even leading the Swiss to the 1994 World Cup and 3rd in the FIFA rankings.

He may not be as flamboyant, quotable or interesting as Redknapp or Jose Mourinho and although many are reacting in a knee-jerk negative way to the appointment, one thing is for sure, Roy Hodgson has earned the right to give it a go and deserves the backing and respect of his country.