What the appointment of Hodgson says about the FA and English football.

Roy Hodgson today was appointed England manager of a 4 year contract, despite the unanimous support for Harry Redknapp. There has never been such a popular choice for a manager position which has been ignored by those who make the appointment that I can remember. So what does this say about the FA?

The FA’s view is that they are looking for someone who shares their enthusiasm for the St George’s Park HQ development project in Burton, but surely this is the remit for a technical director, someone who will oversee the footballing direction of English football, not the job for the manager of the senior national team.

There is no doubt that Harry Redknapp was the outstanding candidate. Perhaps he didn’t fancy taking the job long-term but I am sure he would have been interested in an interim position going into the European Championships. I cannot see how Hodgson could have been the first and only choice for the position.

This is not to say that I don’t admire Roy Hodgson. He has done fantastic work at Fulham and West Brom with an honest, humble bunch of players. But his experiences at Blackburn, Inter Milan and Liverpool are of more relevance in respect to his suitability for the England job. It is here where he has seemingly failed to inspire.

Redknapp is notorious for getting players of all qualities and egos enthusiastic about playing for him. The job he has done at Spurs has been top class. He can garner a rapport with the “old guard” as well as inspire upcoming players. He could have provided a confidence boost that the players need and a feel-good factor going into Ukraine. So why did Redknapp miss out?

There are only two realistic explanations. The first is that Redknapp informally refuted interest in taking the job. I don’t buy the suggestion that he did this for family reasons. He travels to London every day to train Spurs on a day-to-day basis. The England job would be less demanding, time-wise.

This leads me on to a second explanation which is my personal interpretation. This is that Harry Redknapp was suspicious about the prospect of working under the current FA regime. Clearly Harry wanted the job of managing England, something clearly deterred him. The FA has a history of not appointing these kinds of characters. They have settled for the likes of Sven, McClaren and now Hodgson all of whom fit more into criteria of being ‘yes-man’ and have thus been rewarded with longer than merited contracts and opportunity.

The FA seemingly has a regime which top-drawer managers with big personalities cannot work with. The only exception to this rule has been Fabio Capello and he was sacked not over footballing reasons, but over a dispute with the FA. In 2006, Guus Hiddink ended up managing Russia, despite much interest from the FA. Scolari likewise turned down interest. Redknapp fits this mould. Redknapp is his own man. He does things his own way. He works under people he is happy with. Evidently Redknapp and the politicians who run the FA was not a match made in Heaven. Again this is clearly not in the best interests of English football.

And again, a four year contract handed out to a manager of a national side. Steve McClaren and Capello both were given long contracts prior to proving themselves at the tournament in hand. McClaren was embarrassingly given a 4 year deal and failed to even qualify for Euro 2008. Capello similarly was handed a new contract until 2012 before the disastrous 2010 campaign had run its course. This committed the FA to a man they would have rather not have had leading England into Ukraine in the first place, before taking the oppportunity to sack him. No England manager should be given a deal longer than 2 years. Hodgson has certainly done nothing especially deserving of such a secure position that contracts him in for an unprecedented THREE major international tournaments.This before he has even lead us into one.

Even before Hodgson takes to the dugout, he is a man under pressure. He is nobodies choice, but the FA's. I wish him the best of luck but prima facie this can only end in tears