Who’s next for the Three Lions?

Hey there lads! We’re back with another one and yet again the wheel has opted for the sports category. And following my minor mention in the first sport entry on this page, I’ve decided to discuss a managerial vacancy that is vacant (sort of!). On this beautiful island of ours, many people who like to follow the beautiful game, support another national team other then our national football team (cause let’s face it, every Maltese football fanatic knows that our country is a little bit limited), and most of the Maltese support one of two giants in football; Italy (who have Giampiero Ventura after he replaced Antonio Conte following a fruitful European Championship) and England (who erm… erm…)

So following a surprise defeat against the Icelandic minnows, Roy Hodgson left the managerial post, shamed and blamed by the media and public, only to be replaced by a certain man who goes by the name of Sam Allardyce, who kept the job for a whopping 67 days after an interview he had with the media on the loopholes in transfers led to his dismissal. With that decision the FA found itself in another manager hunt. However, Gareth Southgate, the England U21 manager was appointed as care taker manager for the games against Malta, Slovenia, Scotland and Spain. On top of that the FA declared that the manager search will not start before these 4 performances are analysed. So who should be the England manager?

So, if I were to be in charge of taking this decision, upon starting the selection progress, the following three criteria will be the ultimate basis of my decision. These three benchmarks are;

1. PASSION

2. Same nationality as the team (in this case)

3. Experienced

So I’m just gonna go over a number of managers which are rumoured to be in the running and a have my say on his credentials.

First up is Glenn Hoddle. Having previously guided England to the 1998 World Cup, Mr. Hoddle boasts plenty of experience. He has some Passion and he is an Englishmen. But he’s been out of management for a number of years now, and following the undesired way he left the post as an England manager, relationships between himself and the FA may not be as good as one hopes for. However, I really like to see Glenn Hoddle as a coach with an extra twist. Iceland did do a similar thing as I am going to suggest. They hired Lars Lagerback, an experienced Swede coach, to help Heimir Hallgrimsson, an Icelandic coach so as one day Mr. Hallgrimsson becomes the first team coach on his own. Now, if England were to appoint Glenn Hoddle and appoint two ex-players who have shown uncontested passion for the Anglian country, I’m hereby referring to Steven Gerrard and Alan Shearer. These two have already started their coaching licence and given their passion and experience on the international stage as players, this team can lead to success.

Another three managers who have been mentioned for the post are Ralf Rangnick, Arsene Wenger and Roberto Mancini. But as you may have noticed all three are not English. And if you are not managing a country which is not your own igniting passion may be more difficult. Just as a matter of fact, if I was a manager of my national football team, the last say I’ll say before the match is “Sing the national anthem with pride and wear the shirt and give it everything. I can’t imagine Arsene Wenger for example, saying this with his French accent; “Ermm, allez guys sing God Save the Queen, and show le passion” So yeah, English managers for the post if possible.

Now two managers who I consider to be similar are current Bournemouth Manager Eddie Howe and the England caretaker manager Gareth Southgate. Both are young managers, and I don’t think they are quite ready for the step up. However, I do rate both of them especially Eddie Howe, but I don’t want them to have a negative term as managers of national team and destroy they have done with Bournemouth and the England U21s respectively.

So, irrespective of who is chosen, I’d really like a face that makes the Englishmen believe. For a country who invented football, 1 world cup to the name of the nation won 50 years ago, is not even good enough a record. So, hopefully, for the sake of international football in general, I’m hoping that a good decision is taken this time round. Or maybe get Sir Alf Ramsey back from the death, if that’ll help. So that’s it for today’s one God Save the FA, I assume haha. Until next time …… Ta daaaa!!!