‘I’m a wiser and better boss now’
it is – you do become a bit wiser with the years.
“You perhaps make a few less mistakes with players that you would have made when you were young, thought you knew it all and thought you were invincible.
“I just have to wait and see what comes along. I’ve never had a long spell out of the game, it has always been a month or two and then back in again – and sometimes not even that.
“So these four or five months won’t do me any harm. But I’m hoping that something will come along that will really interest me and the people who are inviting me to join them are aware of what they’re getting and they’re getting what they want.”
His departure from the national team post and the subsequent ill-fated reign of Sam Allardyce left English football at its lowest ebb, but Hodgson supports the permanent appointment of former interim boss Gareth Southgate.
Moreover, a day after admitting that the England players struggled to understand him, Hodgson feels that Southgate has inherited a squad boasting “the five-yard furies”.
“Most important of all they are strong defensively, they get back quickly, they have the five-yard furies and they win the ball back quickly in the Barcelona manner,” he said.
“These are all things which make for a good team. If Gareth can keep a good atmosphere, can keep the players wanting to play for England, wanting to continue to improve, I can only see very positive future.”
Southgate’s first challenge will be to deal with the outfall of the last international break and, in particular, sort out the future of captain Wayne Rooney after he was photographed in the early hours looking worse for wear while on England duty.
“I would like to believe he has a role to play in a squad, whether he actually starts the game or not,” said Hodgson.
“They must decide, is he going to be content with a bit-part role and is he going to be the type of guy that they want around them to help with the players? But if it was up to me, I wouldn’t have hesitated to keep him on.”