Bring back Hoddle (The Worst Job in England?)

Member Name: Dr_Evil

Product:	The Worst Job in England?
Date:	18/10/00 (34 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: If successful you could become a national hero

Disadvantages: It is very difficult to leave the job with your reputation intact

While this may not be a popular opinion I think England should bring back Glenn Hoddle as England manager. Admittidly it is unlikely to happen after the circumstances surrounding his sacking, but is there a better option available?

I think England need an English coach. After all, if you look at all the other big countries such as Italy, Spain, France, Germany etc. none of them have foreign coaches. Foreign coaches may be good for developing nations whose domestic managers do not have experience of managing teams in Europe or in particularly competitive leagues, but in England, which is supposedly one of the best leagues in the world, surely there is a coach good enough to manage the national team.

Remember Hoddle was not sacked for football reasons. Hoddle was sacked for expressing a personal opinion, which while I don't agree with his opinion, I recognise that he is entitled to his own opinion which is a basic human right. On the pitch, Hoddle's England may not have set the world alight, but he had the tactical knowledge to ensure we were not embarrased. Look at that night in Italy when we qualified for France 98. Englands football may not have been pretty, but it was a triumph of tactics over style, and Hoddle made best use of the players available to him, set out his tactics and provide a result that made us proud of our team.

In my opinion the favourite, Terry Venables is not the man for the job. I am not convinced though by his international record, and it seems that the media have built him up as our saviour and fallen for his smooth talking image. Two years of friendlies, followed by five competitive matches, all at Wembley, does not constitute a proven international record especially when England only actually won two of these competitive matches. Venables recent track record at Portsmouth and Crystal Palace has shown that he has too many outside interests to concentrate on managing a football team and I agree with Palace
chairman Simon Jordan when he said it was a sad day for English football if Venables was the best option.

If Hoddle is not the answer, then I think England need an older, wiser man. While I think Peter Taylor has the potential to be a superb England manager in the future, he is not ready now. Taylor's record at England Under 21 level, with Gillingham and, so far, with Leicester is impeccable and with a few more years experience he could well be the answer. Maybe the short term solution could be Bobby Robson, with Taylor being groomed under him, as he is one of the few managers to indicate that he would actually like the job.

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