Back to top

TLOTLDR - World Cup Blog Day 21 (21st June 2014)

'Honesty, is such a lonely word,
Everyone is so untrue.
Honesty, is hardly ever heard,
And mostly what I need from you.'

Billy Joel there - still sounds fresh (sorry, just lapsed into DJ mode there for a second).

Now we've all had a day or two to digest the events in São Paulo coupled with Costa Rica seeing off the Italians, the 'Hodgson In' & 'Hodgson Out' campaigns have begun in earnest in print, on air, and in every pub, club and bar you can think of.

As already detailed, I'm a 'Hodgson In' advocate - but whilst it's honesty I'd mostly need from him right now, it seems we'll have to wait until later today for his considered thoughts on things. It's the players who were first to put their heads above the parapet at the media centre yesterday, and it wasn't a barrel of laughs speaking to Messrs Hart & Rooney

What was equally unfunny was to be unfairly misrepresented by two of my colleagues on the TalkSPORT overnight show as the howling mob continued the tried and trusted 'sledgehammer to crack a nut' approach to England's shortcomings. The two Mikes are friends and guys I have a lot of time for, but the ganging up approach wasn't much fun to participate in, being unable to complete a full sentence before being shouted down. Actually the way they were prattling on, once they'd used said nut-cracking sledgehammer, they'd doubtless proceed to use it again and again on the broken pieces scattered around until everything was rubble. Then they'd be satisfied perhaps.

- A simple analogy that I brought up on air from a previous blog here was used to incorrectly suggest that I was placing Roy Hodgson in the same managerial bracket as Bobby Robson.

- By agreeing that Roy has made mistakes, it was somehow construed that I was 'cosying up to the England team' and had 'gone native'. 

- For me to say that Ashley Cole's omission was wrong and that Baines' form in 2014 wasn't consistent was translated as 'Roy can do no wrong'.

Hmmm - interesting

I grow tired of making my position clear so here it is once again - I would prefer to use words of one syllable so those with low brain capacity can take it in, but that isn't possible.

1) Roy Hodgson isn't necessarily the solution, but he sure isn't the problem. He's selected players for this squad that nobody thought him brave or free thinking enough to make (Sterling, Barkley, Shaw) and these 3 plus others will presumably be part of the framework of a new generation of England players, even if the youth development structure in this country is horrifically flawed and more deserving of derision.

2) Greg Dyke has backed him for Euro 2016, so barring a sensationally bad performance against Costa Rica, he's in charge for the next 2 years and everyone has to accept it and move on

3) Caps for the starting lineup against Costa Rica game should not be based on sentiment
and should instead be based on what's to come from September onwards in the qualifiers

4) Gary Neville's role remains very important to the current framework, but if he is thought to be Roy's successor long term, then he has to start considering how his excellent television work can compromise and inhibit his work in a more prominent coaching position.

5) We had better hope that the FA Commission's 2nd part of their report into English football (on grass roots and coaching) is a damn sight better than the truly awful part 1 was.

That's a summary that is more accurate than a cheap shot suggesting I work for the FA, Mike.

"Quick to judge, quick to anger, slow to understand. Ignorance and prejudice and fear go hand in hand" 

Well said Neil Peart. 

Add new comment