As another week flies past, we find ourselves seven days closer to the end of Euro 2012. 266 days to be precise. That is until the evening of the final, not that many fans or pundits realistically expect England to still be in the competition by that stage.
What is so important and interesting about the 1st July 2012 is that it will mark the end of the reign of Fabio Capello as the coach of the England football team. It has already been made clear that he will not be staying on beyond that point. So the question remains, who will replace him?
As regular as clockwork over the past decade, the argument has ticked around to whether an Englishman should coach the national team. When Kevin Keegan walked out on England after a dismal defeat in the final match at the old Wembley stadium, the FA made the controversial appointment of Sven Goran Eriksson. The Swede became the first non-Englishman to ever manage the England international football team. Keegan left with the worst winning
percentage of any England manager in history – English had clearly failed, so why not go foreign?
When Eriksson was eventually hounded out by the press, his
record stood up admirably. Three consecutive quarter-final appearances in
tournaments and the third best winning percentage since Sir Alf Ramsey. However, he was not English. The press had come in a full circle and wanted a
home-grown manager.
The FA initially plumped for Phil Scolari, but before he
could even sign on, he changed his mind after the antics of the press. Steve
McClaren was the man who eventually took up the position. An Englishman was
back in the hot seat.
Fast forward 18 months and England were once again looking
for a new manager. It has to be the best man for the job, regardless of
nationality, the press declared. If no Englishman is good enough, go foreign.
Step forward Fabio Capello – one of the most decorated managers in football
today. A great decision by the FA proclaimed the media and fans.
So to today. It has to be an Englishman to succeed Capello.
The journalists are telling us that. Current and former players are telling us
that. Harry Redknapp is telling us that (presumably as he is virtually the only
Englishman that would be considered).
So, it has to be an Englishman. It shouldn’t be difficult to
compile a shortlist. What do we look for in a top manager? Number one: Trophies
won…
The Premiership has been running for twenty years now. The
last Englishman to win the Premiership was… nobody. No Englishman has ever won
the Premiership. OK, skip the league
then. There have to be plenty of English managers that have won a cup then.
Harry Redknapp has almost thirty years as a manager. He has
won a major trophy. One major trophy. The FA Cup with an expensively assembled
Portsmouth team that the club could barely afford. There is no other English
manager in the Premiership that has won a major English trophy.
Despite his lack of success in England, Roy Hodgson is a
standout choice. One of Europe’s most respected coaches, he has won league
titles in multiple countries, he has reached a major European final with Inter
and he has extensive experience managing international teams. But six
unfortunate months at Liverpool have turned him from media darling to
incompetent idiot.
So, our shortlist is living up to its name. It is
horrifyingly short. Harry Redknapp is almost certain to get the job by default.
He is the media darling. Ignore the fact that he polarises football fans – he
is hated by a significant proportion of football supporters. Ignore the fact
that his shady background has still not been entirely cleared up.
Ignore the fact that he himself wrote an article about not
understanding most of the jargon and obsession with modern coaching. He prides
himself on being able to spot a player. It is no surprise that he has a major
overhaul of the players at any new club he joins. He works well with his type
of players and surrounds himself with them.
So, we are ignoring the fact that he cannot sign players at
international level. He has to make do with the players that he has at his
disposal. Has he ever proved that he can do this? Not once. But everyone will
ignore this. The media love him. Thus, he will be the next England manager.
Ignoring Harry Redknapp and Roy Hodgson leaves us with an
intriguing shortlist for the next English England manager. By intriguing, I
really mean completely blank. Foreign coaches have not delivered the desired
success and the past English managers have not delivered the desired success.
So why not try something completely left field?
I propose a new candidate. At the time, he was one of the
youngest coaches to receive his UEFA ‘A’ Licence over thirty years ago. He
worked for FIFA in third world countries developing the grassroots networks,
the lack of existence of that is currently under scrutiny in England.
He spent five years as national development manager for the
Australian Soccer Federation, where he was responsible for bringing through the
likes of Lucas Neill, Mark Viduka and Brett Emerton. He led his second club to
their first ever cup triumph as a second division side, followed the next
season by promotion back into the top flight.
After this, he won a gold medal coaching in an international
football tournament, before turning his next club side into the country’s dominant
team, finishing both in the top two and reaching the cup final for three
consecutive years, and reaching the semi-final of the continental club
competition for the first time in the club’s history.
At his next club, he finished runner-up in the league, took
them to two cup finals and reached the quarter-final of the continental
competition – the furthest a team from that country has ever progressed. Then,
most recently, he held an assistant manager job at international level. Not
only this, he is English.
So, let us look through the checklist. Is he English? Check
– born and bred in Liverpool. Has he won major trophies? Check – four league
titles, three cup competition and an international gold medal. In multiple
countries? Check – titles in three countries and cups in two countries.
Managerial experience? Check – over fifteen years of managerial experience and
over thirty years since he first gained his top level coaching badges.
International experience? Check – in both men’s and women’s football.
He is one of the most respected coaches in the entire of
Asia. A great deal of the credit for Australia’s emergence as a serious
footballing must be given to him. He is a commentator for ESPN in Asia on
Premiership football. He has a degree in Physical Education from the University
of Leeds and a masters degree in Sports Administration from the University of
Canberra. He speaks five languages.
So, the league titles may have come with the likes of Johor
FA, Home Utd and Perak FA. The international experience may be with Vietnam and
Thailand. His success still speaks for itself.
He ticks virtually every box. So, I propose Steve Darby as
the successor to Fabio Capello as England manager. Will he get it? Of course
not. Will he even be considered? Of course not. But the current candidates
hardly set the pulse racing. Why not try something completely different?
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