COMMENT
“I don’t really know what I’m doing here.” In eight short words Roy Hodgson summed up the feelings of an entire nation and extinguished the notion that he should face up to the consequences of England’s humiliating Euro 2016 exit.
The Three Lions – though they were more like milk-deprived kittens in France – left the tournament in truly ignominious circumstances with a 2-1 loss to Iceland, a country with more volcanoes than professional football clubs, and began another inquest into the state of play in England.
But the more that goes wrong, the more we must start to instigate change instead of merely talking in hypotheticals. Is a winter break necessary? Probably. Should we pour more money into youth coaching to bring the standard of our young players up to par with Europe's elite? Definitely. But one big question remains: why on Earth would the Football Association seek to appoint another mid-table manager?
Within minutes of Hodgson announcing his resignation, betting odds for his successor were announced. Gareth Southgate, Alan Pardew and Sam Allardyce were among the favourites.
This would not happen in Spain or Germany; they appoint proven winners, with proven records of challenging for silverware. The FA, conversely, are drawn to the uninspired.
Pardew and Allardyce also have football in their veins but, no matter how hard they try, remain far from elite - despite their public insistance to the contrary. Allardyce is a survival specialist. He worked wonders at Sunderland but was booed out of the building at West Ham, a club that expects to finish in the top 10 on a consistent basis.
Pardew was hated at Newcastle and oversaw a quite alarming slump in league form in the second half of last season at Selhurst Park as Crystal Palace won just two of their final 19 games. He has made no secret of his desire to be England manager one day, but will need to do more at club level first.
These kinds of appointments have bitten the FA before. Steve McClaren, a man hired on the back of an impressive tenure at Middlesbrough, took the job in 2007 and left a year later, having become only the second England manager after Don Revie to fail to guide the national team to a major tournament during his reign.
The belief that a club manager who has done a good job with limited resources can suddenly break the glass ceiling at international level and guide the nation to glory is at best short-sighted and at worst laughably misguided.
Thus the appointment of a proven winner is absolutely necessary; thankfully we have Martin 'I'm not a football expert' Glenn in charge of the appointment.
The England job remains an attractive proposition to many world-class managers; there is a young, hungry squad ready to be moulded into a fine team, and the 2018 World Cup offers a shot at redemption for players who will be keen to make up for their mediocre displays on the European stage.
Arsene Wenger has been linked and is quite clearly the best man for the job. Though Laurent Blanc and Jurgen Klinsmann have also been touted as potentially exotic successors to Hodgson, no other manager currently working today can lay claim to a legacy such as Wenger’s.
He would implement real change and, despite appearing to hit something of a brick wall at club level, implant a real identity in this England side.
The players often looked lost during the Iceland defeat, seemingly unaware of the tasks they had been issued by Hodgson, but Wenger simply would not allow that to stand. Like him or loathe him, the Frenchman always has a game plan which his players meticulously follow.
The FA, though, must make a decision soon. Pursuing Wenger comes with a number of caveats, not least the fact that he is likely to delay any move until the end of the 2016-17 season.
However, his acquisition would send out a signal of genuine intent as the national team continues to search for an end to those 50 wretched years of hurt.
Appointing Wenger would go some way to finding a remedy for England’s international woes. Opting for a manager like Allardyce or Pardew would only serve to deepen the darkness and continue the Three Lions’ infuriating mediocrity.
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