48 replies to this topic

[Billy R Ford]

http://www.thefa.com...012/080212.aspx

Over the FA removing Terry as Captain and the way he criticized them for it in the media- which makes me wonder if they pushed him out to some extent, though that'd be very surprising.

I don't think Capello is amazing or anything, but it'll be very tough to find someone better before this summer.

Wonder where England goes from here.

[PedroSpecialK]

Wow. I can't imagine he was pushed out, that would be England shooting themselves in the foot given how much time is left to get a new manager and get the players familiar with his tactics.

Pretty stunning.

[soxfan121]

Oh my. If the FA were going to force him out, I would have thought they'd wait until Harry's tax trial is resolved, as he's the logical candidate, no?

EDIT: Hey, whaddya know? Harry's not guilty. And Daniel Levy is about to be pissed but unable to squawk about it.

Edited by soxfan121, 08 February 2012 - 02:45 PM.

[Zomp]

Ha. Only in England.

[tulse_luper]

They can't give it fucking Redknapp. He'd get done by a Fake Sheikh within 15 minutes.

[OilCanCoulter]

Redknapp is a slam dunk for this.

[PedroSpecialK]

Any doubt that Gerrard's the captain if healthy?

[DLew On Roids]

While you'd have to put the odds on Redknapp, how about a dark horse:



I've heard he wants the job, he knows the English players, and he and Gerrard have done OK together.

[fletcherpost]

if 'arry gets The England job, who gets the Spurs job?

Listening to BBC five live. Cliffs: Fabio was losing heart for the England job, this Terry issue was the last straw. The English brass, the FA and much of the England Dressing room are not unhappy at his departure. It was agreed in a meeting between Capello and the FA that he would resign and not be sacked.

[DLew On Roids]

Odds from the Guardian:

Harry Redknapp 1/4
Stuart Pearce 9/2
Alan Pardew 16-1
José Mourinho 16-1
Roy Hodgson 16-1

ARENA FOR ENGLAND!



"Fuckin' A, DLew. Fuckin'. A."

[Statman]

Wow. Quitting four months before the start of Euro 2012?

The good thing is that atleast the English have a built in excuse ready when they get bounced out of the group stage!

[soxfan121]

Read the linked article - it was written before the FA meeting took place.

The FA heard Harry was being exonerated, are frustrated with Fabio after the Terry affair, and have a short window in which to get a manager in place before the next Friendly on 29-Feb v. the Flying De Jongs.

The PC tomorrow will announce a search and it'll be be official by Valentine's Day - 'ello 'arry, bestaluck.

[SoxFanInCali]

Capello looked like he stopped caring after the World Cup, and especially after Rooney got himself suspended for most of the group stage.

I'd love to see Special 1 TV's take.

[DLew On Roids]

My Twitter feed is blowing up because Gazza just endorsed Terry Venables for another turn.

[cjdmadcow]

There's been a lot of complete bollocks spoken on the radio tonight by various 'experts', particularly by the usual suspects of Neil Warnock & John Motson. Both of their comments have been a damn sight more racist in intent than anything Suarez might have said to Evra, yet both will be applauded by the xenophobic English press as being in tune with the English fans.

I don't give a fuck where the next manager comes from...England, Spain, Italy, Portugal (you know who I mean), Outer fuckin' Mongolia...I want the best man available & interested in the job and that does not include a numpty like Stuart Pearce who would lead us even further into the dark ages than we already are.

Capello misjudged the politics and lost and I believe the performance at the WC in 2010 should have signaled the end. That doesn't mean the next manager has to be English. Two of the last four managers have been English and how did that turn out? Fuckin' awful, that's what.

Capello's communication skills were limited but to be honest most of the current England squad can hardly be called scholars of the English language, can they?

Here's what will happen. Pearce will take control for the meaningless game v Netherlands in 3 weeks time, then a job-share deal will be sorted with Spurs & Redknapp to take us thru Euro2012, It's only 1 game for England before the end of the Spurs season so it's hardly going to impact on them, is it? My concern is that Spurs then go out and get Mourinho for next season, making them much stronger.

We're begining to make France look like a functional outfit, that's how bad it's getting. Enough, please.

[cjdmadcow]

Oh yes, and what I wanted my rant to include was to say that the reason that Redknapp is odds-on favourite is for two reasons:

1. Finally, all the arse-licking journalists who have been fawning at the alter of Harry Redknapp for years finally get their wish. Show us your medals, Harry. Oh wait, what's that? You haven't got any have you, 'cos you've won fuck all.

2. There's isn't any other fuckin' English candidate. How bad is that? The supposed greatest league in the world can't produce an English manager worth considering for the highest honour in the game. Bollocks.

Rant over. Until that idiot in North London who's too thick to realise he's got over 100 grand sitting in a bank in Monaco opens his fat mouth tomorrow.

[fletcherpost]

I feel your pain Cjd. But hey, Harry won the FA Cup and is the most decorated English Manager of his generation. (where are the good English Managers?) He is a good man manager no denying that...so if he takes the gig it could be a lot worse. I feel bad for Spurs fans to be honest. They wait years for stability and a team to challenge for the top spot and now their manager is England's most wanted man.

Thing is the English media are all about an English Manager at the moment so that's what it will be until England lose in the quarter finals of the next tournie and we do the dance all over again.

[MarkInLondon]

What a total clusterfuck - but then it's always been like this, ever since the FA failed to replace Ramsey with Clough...

Big England wins over top ranked teams in major finals tournaments since 1966...

Holland (1996)
Argentina (2002)

and, er, that's it...

A shockingly bad record for a side that go in with such high hopes each time (totally over-inflated)

It'll be Redknapp.

[Royal Reader]

While you'd have to put the odds on Redknapp, how about a dark horse:



I've heard he wants the job, he knows the English players, and he and Gerrard have done OK together.

Not sure if serious. If you are, aren't Benitez and Loew favorites to take over at Real when Mourinho inevitably moves on in the summer? Tbh, I could think of worse caretakers. It'll probably be Pearce until the summer and then 'Arry, though. Sure they can find a youth coach somewhere to look after the U21s for a few months.

[Statman]

Oh yes, and what I wanted my rant to include was to say that the reason that Redknapp is odds-on favourite is for two reasons:

1. Finally, all the arse-licking journalists who have been fawning at the alter of Harry Redknapp for years finally get their wish. Show us your medals, Harry. Oh wait, what's that? You haven't got any have you, 'cos you've won fuck all.

2. There's isn't any other fuckin' English candidate. How bad is that? The supposed greatest league in the world can't produce an English manager worth considering for the highest honour in the game. Bollocks.

Rant over. Until that idiot in North London who's too thick to realise he's got over 100 grand sitting in a bank in Monaco opens his fat mouth tomorrow.

I feel your pain cjdmadcow, but what about Roy Hodgson? He's English, multilingual (not that it matters for the job) and has international experience.

Redknapp is obviously the favorite, but he's got a pretty job with the Spurs right now and he's got them playing pretty well. Would he really leave all that behind him?

[soxfan121]

Hey, Frank Lampard resents that crack about not being an English scholar.

[cjdmadcow]

Hey, Frank Lampard resents that crack about not being an English scholar.

I guess the appointment of Redknapp would finally solve the age-old conundrum of who should be in England's midfield, Gerrard or Lampard. StevieG is fucked.

I feel your pain cjdmadcow, but what about Roy Hodgson? He's English, multilingual (not that it matters for the job) and has international experience.

Noooooooooo! I've been wondering when Hodgson's name would enter the conversation. Not a chance in hell and rightly so. A mid-table manager for a mid-table club is his limit.

[Snakebauer007]

Capello probably wanted out and saw the Terry situation as his best chance.

I second the thoughts on how sad it is Suarez and now prob Terry will be suspended for racist remarks but pundits demand the manager must be English.

[PedroSpecialK]

Shades of Montreal, sadly.

Hodgson would be frankly the worst possible choice. Picking him because of the languages he speaks would be laughable in this day and age, and I see nothing in his recent performance that would validate his selection. It looks like it'll be Redknapp, but should the job find its way (as unlikely as it may be) to Benitez I would be tickled

[Infield Infidel]

Somewhere, Guus Hiddink walks around, looks sternly at a blade of grass, keeps walking.

[ethangl]

Capello misjudged the politics and lost and I believe the performance at the WC in 2010 should have signaled the end.

I never got the sense that the players really bought into Capello's tactics or team selection. Look at Rooney's latest tweet, essentially, "Gutted for Fabs, btw hire an englishman."

[Infield Infidel]

I never got the sense that the players really bought into Capello's tactics or team selection. Look at Rooney's latest tweet, essentially, "Gutted for Fabs, btw hire an englishman."

This has Montreal Canadiens written all over it

[OilCanCoulter]

That intellectual hair plug can stuff his tweets. Or rather, he will have plenty of time to tweet from the stands the first two matches of the Euros. How about you try not to get sent off in key matches and leave the choice of manager selection to the truely inept, the English FA.

Edited by OilCanCoulter, 08 February 2012 - 10:56 PM.

[Zomp]

Will Redknapp definitely take it if Spurs qualify for the Champions League? Not sure if its a slam dunk.

The press and players have asked for the next manager to be English...but if Redknapp doesn't take it who could it be? I'm struggling to think of good English managers right now...

[pockmeister]

Will Redknapp definitely take it if Spurs qualify for the Champions League? Not sure if its a slam dunk.

This is probably the more interesting discussion here. Why would Redknapp want the job? He's building Spurs into a real contender for the title, is getting plenty of plaudits for the football they play and for the development of young British players, and they're more or less certain to be in the Champions League next year. Daniel Levy seems to be a decent chairman and will make good funds available for the right players, and I suspect 'Arry is plenty well compensated for his work, even if he does now have to make sure he pays all the tax he should be...

That would seem to be a pretty happy place to be as a manager, and the idea of trading it in for taking the England job (weak talent pool, stupid public expectations, horrific tabloid press etc etc) might not be terribly appealing. The FA haven't had a long queue of credible candidates in recent times - hence why Fabio was being paid £6m a year - so it's entirely plausible that they might be scratching around for options.

I wonder if someone at the FA quietly cursed when O'Neill took the Sunderland job a few months back. Whilst he's not English (and no, I don't think the manager has to be English, but I'm just reflecting tabloid / player / "expert" views), he's probably one manager who is pretty universally praised for the way he deals with players and for his ability to extract the best performance from them. If Fabio had gone last year, and O'Neill had still been available and unattached, the FA would have been more than tempted.

[Apisith]

The English go through the same cycle every few years. It's boring as shit.

[Seven Costanza]

Will Redknapp definitely take it if Spurs qualify for the Champions League? Not sure if its a slam dunk.

The press and players have asked for the next manager to be English...but if Redknapp doesn't take it who could it be? I'm struggling to think of good English managers right now...

How about the English manager who took 4 points off Man United this season?

At any rate, Pardew squashed any talk of him taking the England reins this morning. Said that Redknapp is the best choice (also mentioned Big Sam- disgusting).

[Apisith]

There aren't any good English managers out there, but the FA have to take an English manager because the players are whining bastards who don't know what's good for them, and the media are done with the foreign guy for now. In 3 years time when Redknapp bombs out of the WC, there'll be a clamour for the next 'name' foreign manager, then back again to a British manager.

Capello's been woeful, though. His team selection is baffling. He plays players that aren't in good form and ignores 'non-name' players who are in good form. He's afraid to blood youngsters and thus has a squad which is stale and unimaginative. He could easily start a team with P Jones, Smalling, Cleverley, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sturridge - all players who are good technically and would play good football - but I bet you Gerrard's going to be the first name on the team sheet if he's fit and a form player like Lescott won't get near the team if someone like Terry is still in the squad, even though Lescott has easily been the better player over the past year.

But the country as a whole just has a talent problem. They don't develop good footballers, they develop good athletes. You look at the top 5 or 6 teams and the best players in those teams aren't English - Man Utd: Nani, Man City: Silva, Tottenham: Modric/Bale, Chelsea: Mata, Liverpool: Suarez, Newcastle: Coloccini/Cabaye/Ba. The best players in the Premiership and the world are technically excellent players. The English national team just doesn't have enough of those players and/or Capello is too scared to play them. A midfield trio of Cleverley, Wilshere and Carrick/Parker would be excellent, but there's no chance he'll ever start them together.

[DLew On Roids]

Not sure if serious. If you are, aren't Benitez and Loew favorites to take over at Real when Mourinho inevitably moves on in the summer? Tbh, I could think of worse caretakers. It'll probably be Pearce until the summer and then 'Arry, though. Sure they can find a youth coach somewhere to look after the U21s for a few months.

If I'm Benitez, I want the England job. The pay is in the same ballpark, and you know you have it for at least 2 years. He could be out of the Bernebeu by January 2013 if they fall 8 points behind Barca. Plus, as you noted, it's by no means a sure thing. I heard the same thing about Loew being Mourinho's replacement.

[teddykgb]

It's certainly a strange job to take, and it seems like everyone's got Redknapp in the seat but I share the skepticism of others in terms of whether and why he'd actually want the job. The talent pool isn't as shallow as some make it out to be, but it's not especially deep, either, and Spurs are certainly trending in a good direction. Given that only one team wins the World Cup and Euros the odds of being "successful" in the Intl job are incredibly low. He's probably got a better chance of winning the Champs League with Spurs than he'll have of winning any hardware as England manager, only the expections are 100% different in each job.

Regardless, the first task of the next England manager has to be a lot of what Capello seemed to promise to do but never actually did - blood new players and shake up the "estabilished" England group. The midfield hasn't worked in forever, I agree with others that England can probably put together a rather interesting mix of midfielders that could give a lot of squads some real difficulty. There aren't many of the clever passing types in the England setup (Xavi, Silva types) but there are some burners, tricky wingers, workhorses, and some all around midfielders as well, it could even be a strength of the England squad, imo. In that regard, it's a really interesting job as I think that a tactical shakeup might actually "unlock" a lot of the perceived gap between the squad's performance and expectations. At the end of the day, although England has been incredibly overrated in the last decade (and forever, really), I'm also not sure they've sent out their best squad in it's best formation all that often, either. Ultimately, in spite of a lot of what was said when Capello started, he never seemed to be able to overcome the entrenched nature of the English FA and create meaningful change. Maybe a beloved English manager would have better success at sunsetting some of the aging stars who haven't performed in favor of a newer crop that might see more success.

[Zomp]

I'll never understand why Capello played a 4-2-3-1 in qualifying for the World Cup qualifying and played to well with it only to switch to a 4-4-2 in the first game of the World Cup. Mystifying.

[soxfan121]

Just run around a bit. Brian Phillips' take at Grantland.

I can't imagine a better way to deal with the "Canadiens"/racism thing than to appoint the ultimate old-school English manager and then get curb stomped in 2014. In 2018, England will have guys like Jones, Rodwell, Wilshere, etc. in their primes and the team that never gelled all retired (Terry, Lampard, Gerard, etc.).

If you're gonna be a disaster, be an entertaining, spectacular disaster. 'Arry can do that.

[Royal Reader]

I can't imagine a better way to deal with the "Canadiens"/racism thing than to appoint the ultimate old-school English manager and then get curb stomped in 2014.

England will be playing 4-4-fucking-2!

Edited by Royal Reader, 09 February 2012 - 02:22 PM.

[teddykgb]

I'll never understand why Capello played a 4-2-3-1 in qualifying for the World Cup qualifying and played to well with it only to switch to a 4-4-2 in the first game of the World Cup. Mystifying.

more xenophobia, most likely. An Italian coach playing what has come to be known as an Italian defensive formation really brings out the worst in the English. It sure makes a lot of sense for that team, given the talent in the international side. Although you can make a case that Rooney is probably a bit stranded as a lone target man. I'd still do it, though. I'm not sure where they think they've got the talent to just have a go at teams in a 4-4-2 when the wingers you're getting on the field are so one dimensional and the striker you're inserting is pretty plain, at best.

[tulse_luper]

If Capello was changing formations because of "xenophobia" (which means what? Stupid tabloid columnists and dickhead blowhards down the pub?) then he wasn't much of a manager to begin with. And for all the kerfuffle in 2010 about John Terry running his trap and "discontent" in the dressing room there's not too many England players who play a good ol' fashioned 4-4-2 in their days jobs either.

I mean, a survey of the back pages makes it pretty obvious that stupid jingoism is the standard response in these sorts of situations (that odious tub of shit Barry Fry ranting away on SSN, followed by people e-mailing into say "WELL SAID! BAZZA FOR ENGLAND!" might as well have been from a satirical sketch show), but the idea that all of the England's ills can be traced back to a nationwide distrust of swarthy Latin greaser types isn't very much better.

[Zomp]

I think Rooney is at his best in the trequartista role. He's England's best player so where he plays is vital to figuring out how the rest of the team shakes up. Really, I think regardless of form Rooney, Ashley Cole, and Joe Hart are the only 3 players guaranteed to start. I'd go something like (with bolded players preferred):

--------------------------------------------Hart---------------------------------------------------
Walker/Richards--------2 of Rio/Terry/Dawson/Lescott/Cahill-------------------Cole
--------------------------2 of Parker/Wilshire/Carrick/Lampard---------------------------
Theo/Johnson/Sturridge---------------Rooney---------------------------Young/Milner/Downing
----------------------------------Bent/Defoe/Welbeck/Carroll----------------------------------



If you do want to add an extra midfielder, then I think you have to go:

-----------------------------------------------Hart--------------------------------------------------
Walker/Richards--------2 of Rio/Terry/Dawson/Lescott/Cahill-------------------Cole
------------------------------------------Parker--------------------------------------------------
--------------------------2 of Wilshire/Carrick/Cleverley/Lampard/Gerrard-----------------
Theo/Johnson/Sturridge---------------Rooney---------------------------Young/Milner/Downing

[Billy R Ford]

I think Rooney is at his best in the trequartista role. He's England's best player so where he plays is vital to figuring out how the rest of the team shakes up. Really, I think regardless of form Rooney, Ashley Cole, and Joe Hart are the only 3 players guaranteed to start. I'd go something like (with bolded players preferred):

--------------------------------------------Hart---------------------------------------------------
Walker/Richards--------2 of Rio/Terry/Dawson/Lescott/Cahill-------------------Cole
--------------------------2 of Parker/Wilshire/Carrick/Lampard---------------------------
Theo/Johnson/Sturridge---------------Rooney---------------------------Young/Milner/Downing
----------------------------------Bent/Defoe/Welbeck/Carroll----------------------------------

I agree with you on this, and I think it's funny that this is actually a lot like Capello's England in WCQ in 2009-early 2010. Direct running on the right from Lennon/Sturridge, Rooney in the hole, a nominally central midfielder who drifts in from the left in Gerrard/Milner, overlapping fullbacks. Welbeck is a bit different than Heskey but can still do the same job, and the central midfield will be more conservative, but Michael Cox wrote before the World Cup about the need for more defense out of central midfield, reasoning Endland could get away with Barry/Lampard in qualifying but that'd they'd be exposed against better attacking teams (which they were, Mesut Ozil says hello).

Also while Rooney is suspended you could throw Gerrard in his spot and then just push him to the left when Rooney returns.

[Snakebauer007]

Cleverley already? Wiltshire? Guys should establish themselves and be healthy long enough to do so before being picked. Then again the alternatives(Gerrard lampard carrick) are not exactly enticing either.

Also did Pardew need to withdraw his name? No one was interested

[Apisith]

The Silver Fox is too good for the England job, anyway.

[Blundatola]

Also did Pardew need to withdraw his name? No one was interested

No one was interested, but he had to respond because the mediots kept asking and he didn't want his players unsettled.

[Tony the Pony]

Apparently young Ola John might very well make his international debut against England in the upcoming friendly.

Yesterday, he scored a beauty in Bucaresti

[Billy R Ford]

So, can anyone think of a more perfect way for TEAM GB to go out than on penalties in the quarterfinals?

[biollante]

The hits just keep coming...............

[Cellar-Door]

I always feel kind of bad for the English team. They are constantly labeled as disappointments when in reality they just aren't that good. High expectations for a team that aside from Rooney has very few truly world-class talents.