ROY’S BOYS LACK CLASS His pupils must do better

THE END of term has come and it’s a mixed report for England boss Roy Hodgson and his pupils.

International football is a tough school, as Hodgson discovered again yesterday when the Three Lions had to come from behind to win in the Slovenian capital.

Before Wayne Rooney’s late winner in Ljubljana, England’s grade had threatened to drop a notch, despite two smoking-hot strikes from Jack Wilshere in a wonderful individual display from the Arsenal midfielder.

The England boss will fly to Florida to spend his holidays with his son, but he won’t be too comfortable on his sun bed.

That’s because this time next year Hodgson won’t be working on his tan, but puzzling how to achieve success at the European Championship in France.

The math results at least make good reading.

All the figures stack up, with a maximum 18 points from six qualifiers and just three goals conceded.

But have England really made progress since last summer’s debacle in Brazil?

I challenge anyone who thinks they really have to argue their case convincingly.

Hodgson and his players are in danger of being lulled into a false sense of security by results.

Winning in Switzerland last autumn was the highlight, but we have learned little from triumphs over Estonia, Slovenia, Lithuania and San Marino.

Wilshere’s blazing strikes and Rooney’s 48th goal for his county ensured England have gone unbeaten for an entire season for the first time in 24 years. Yet the results are just papering over the cracks – and Hodgson knows it.

Let’s get some perspective. The so-called ‘Golden Generation’ of the last decade, including David Beckham, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry and Ashley Cole, won nothing.

That lot didn’t even come close, which doesn’t bode well for the current crop of talent at Hodgson’s disposal.

This is a new era. Stars like Gerrard and Lampard have stood down, creating opportunities for