When I was very young, my first footballing hero was Gary Lineker. Predatory in the six-yard box, never booked and very articulate in the days before media saturation hit football, Lineker led the England line with distinction. It helped, of course, that my first major tournament was Italia ’90. I remember buying a video from a second hand shop that detailed his career and watching it religiously after school for days on end. I found it the other day and was amazed I hadn’t worn the tape out.
What’s the point of me telling you this? Well, Lineker seems to have tipped Fulham’s Roy Hodgson as the man to succeed Fabio Capello.
Roy, as well as Steve Bruce and Harry Redknapp have shown our bosses can do well given the right opportunities.
I’d ideally like an Englishman to be England manager. It’s only because there was no obvious candidate that Fabio Capello got the job.
It would be nice to think that, when there is a vacancy, English bosses will be sufficiently successful to be considered as the next man in, with Roy leading the way.
Of course, he’s right. But would the FA be willing to give Hodgson the top job? They have overlooked him before, don’t forget. And if Capello sees out his contract until 2012, they would probably be more inclined to pick out a younger candidate to take on the role. Hodgson’s had his fill of international football. He’d be a fine England manager – but I’m quite happy for him to continue winning friends from the Fulham dugout for a few years yet.
