A LIFE OF TRIALS GOES ON FOR ROY
IT seems strange to think of Roy Hodgson, more than four years into his job as England manager, but in a way still auditioning for it. Yet that is the reality here tonight. Each match could be Hodgson’s last.
Every game is its own little interview or presentation. If he gets to play three more, that puts England in the semi-finals, and the manager in employment until 2018 at least. If his tournament ends tonight, it is hard to see how Hodgson can even make it through the next morning in his current role.
Hodgson’s contract as good as expires when the last ball of this tournament is kicked by an Englishman, so the whole campaign has in essence been spent on trial. The FA want to be, if not dazzled, then at least impressed by England’s progress — and Hodgson’s words yesterday were those of a man who knows he is in a very straightforward numbers game now.
A defeat by Iceland would constitute perhaps the greatest upset for an England team at a tournament since losing 1-0 to the United States at Belo Horizonte in 1950, and it would be impossible to survive no matter the circumstances.
England should be above misfortune against a nation with the population of Leicester, playing in its first major tournament. Progress, though, and the attention will merely shift to the quarter-final with hosts France in Saint-Denis next Sunday.
Some blame Hodgson for being saddled with such a difficult fixture in the first place. Had he won the group, he could have been in the gentler part of the draw.
FA chairman Martin Glenn, however, gave Hodgson a glowing endorsement at the weekend, calling him a great manager, capable of great things in this tournament. Some sense that a decent performance in the next round, even if it ends in defeat, will be enough to secure an extended tenure.
Hodgson’s England term divides opinion, and not just among fans or media. For all those who credit him with having developed a younger, more attractive side from the ashes of the 2014 World Cup campaign, the English club game seems pointedly underwhelmed.
This summer, three elite Premier League clubs and two more of significance will replace their managers. Chelsea and Manchester City knew of the intention well in advance, Manchester United and Everton by the end of the season, Southampton not long after. It has also been known throughout this time that Hodgson will soon be a free agent. Yet he has not been considered by any of them; not discussed; not linked; not even suggested by way of idle speculation.
So it is Hodgson, something about him, his record, his England that has failed to capture the attention of the men at the top. Maybe they are having the same evaluation problems as the FA; maybe they can’t work out Hodgson’s England, either. A work in progress, yes — but one that has seemed that way for a good three years.
Required to be bold by his employers, however, Hodgson has responded. The recall of Raheem Sterling tonight may not win any popularity contests — Sterling has not tagged himself The Hated One for nothing — but it is the act of a manager on the front foot, determined to take the game to a stubborn opponent.
Asked about Iceland’s joint manager Lars Lagerback — who has never lost a game to England and made Sweden among the most cussed opponents in Europe — Hodgson observed drily: ‘His chances of a statue are a damn sight greater than mine.’
Untrue, if Hodgson achieved the ultimate here.
‘There is no doubt about what Lars Lagerback has done. I think he brings a calm to teams. He certainly brings organisation. He doesn’t have the wealth of talent at his disposal that I believe I have as England manager.’
England senses that, too. It is why this is almost a zero sum game for Hodgson. Win, and the audition shifts to its next stage, against France. Lose, and the next noise he hears will be the bang of a gong.