When Fabio Capello resigned as England manager there was much surprise and relief. I was surprised that he did not want to try and right the record and do better than last time. (Perhaps an ignominious quarter-final defeat on penalties anyone?) There was relief because Capello's reign had become tainted with what happened in South Africa, and because we knew he was leaving anyway. No doubt he was relieved to be out of the media firing line, and happy to be avoiding the poisoned chalice that is leading England in a major tournament. There are only so many media missiles and miserable defeats a reputation can absorb before it dissolves under the relentlessness of it all.
Can you remember what happened the last time a foreign manager of England left the job? Unable to get the 'Golden Generation' past the quarter-finals, we were glad to see the back of Sven 'Play Scholes on the Left?' Eriksson. What was the outcry? We want an Englishman! Then what? Steve 'Umbrella' McClaren presides over the embarrasing failure to qualify for the Euros. Happy that the experiment with an English manager had failed the FA decided to try and buy a trophy by throwing money at the eminent Capello. Now he's gone are we seriously going to let the jingoistic howls for an Anglo-Saxon hustle another hapless Englishmen into the job?
I imagine the idea with 'Sex Scandal' Sven and 'Hardballs' Fabio was to hope their club records would pervade their England record. That precedent of hiring success hardly fits the Redknapp silhouette. What are his achievements? Promotion with Bournemouth? Promotion with Portsmouth? An FA Cup with an expensive Portsmouth team so weighed down with astronomic wages that they are currently suffering their second administration? Leading an excellent Tottenham team (put together by Jol) into the Champions League? Gareth Bale's hat-trick against Milan? Avoiding a conviction for tax-evasion?
But he's English you cry! Well, so what. The FA has already hired a Swede and an Italian. There is little point in limiting the options now. Because let us not forget, the English options are thin on the ground. Not only are there very few English managers in the PL, but they aren't possessed of many accolades. Harry Redknapp is the only prospect. Why? Because he's English and is the most prominent amongst a handful. He is being touted in many quarters as the man who can do a job for England; the man who will give the boost England need. To do what? Get past a penalty shoot-out? If we could only win a penalty shoot-out we would win a cup. England needs more than quick-impact man management. England needs some kind of football-dictator who can invade the system and rectify the manifold issues in the English game. The top PL teams don't have enough English players, and those that do exist need to be more like Wilshere and less like Henderson. How is England to compete with the big footballing nations, when the top of our game hasn't got any Englishmen?
There's no point in bringing in Redknapp unless he is the man for the very long-term. Is he the man to revamp the English game from the grassroots up? Has he got an agenda for the lack of English managers at the top level? Will he be brave enough to take the media criticism and make the touch choices? The next incumbent has to be more than just a manager. If Harry is that man, then so be it. But please, let us abandon the 'Englishman' hype and let the FA make a well considered and intelligent choice for the long-term.
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