I have read several articles where if appointed Roy Hodgson wants ray Lewington as an assistant. I would like to see Ray given such an appointment,a great honest hardworking coach,who should be given some recognition.
I'd be sorry to see Ray Lew leave, but would be delighted if it was in those circumstances. I wouldn't be entirely surprised to see Danny Murphy in Roy's England set up too - the press have been talking about him needing to bring in a younger coach who is closer to the age of the players. I've heard Philip Neville mentioned, but Danny would be a better bet in my book. Of course, I'd rather see him running our midfield for another season, but we've been saying 'he can't go on forever' for the last three years.
It's quite possible for members of the England backroom team to continue in their club roles - Steve McLaren was Middlesborough boss and worked with Sven. I think Billy Mac and Kit Symons work with NI and Wales respectively while remaining at Fulham. I'm sure Murphy and Lewington could do the same.
It depends on what role Roy had in mind for them. For Murphy, if he intends to play another season, he would probably do better from having downtime during the international breaks. Maybe I'm just looking for dark clouds on my silver linings!
It was something along the lines of 'Roy Hodgson for England manager.....surely the FA have other options?' I was quite shocked myself, as he doesn't seem like that type of person, the tweet was on the BBC.
And so it begins ... not even his first day on the job and Hodgson's appointment and qualifications are being questioned by media types like Neville. Hopeless. It would be good to see Ray get some recognition. He's good and after Euros, he can rejoin the team.
This was always going to happen DR, saw another article this morning 'Hodgson's failure at Liverpool is a blot on his CV but one that will prove costly for England' I mean, what the hell?
Then only way it is costly for England is if he tries to mend bridges with Gerrard and appoints him captain. No Liverpool player deserves to be in England's squad for the Euros. All either shocking seasons (e.g. Downing) or massive egos who think they have a God-given right to the England captaincy (don't think I need to say...)
To be fair, I've never seen Gerrard as one of the ego-brigade. If Roy is looking for a passing playmaker to fill the Danny Murphy role, Gerrard has the skillset to play that role. I might be wrong, but I don't recall him being one of the Liverpool players who were unwilling to do things Roy's way at Liverpool either. He's making the right noises in the media about Roy being a good man and a good manager. A critic could argue that he can't really do anything else now Roy has got the England job, but I don't have any reason to think he's not being sincere.
It would be nice if Hodgson did involve Lewington in the England set-up. But I would think getting someone like Murphy in the camp would do him more good. It would also give Murphy a good grounding in coaching players with egos like Terry. As far as I'm concerned Hodgson won't be given the time he needs (by the Media) to settle into the job, and work his ideas through. From what I can see Roy always needs time to first concentrate on getting his defensive ideas in place then he builds from there. The expectation of England doing well, is always compromised by the Media who go OTT and then there's the players egos who seem more intent on talking to the press at tournaments then they are about playing as a team.
I think Roy must be his own man. The Gerrards,Terrys Lampards are yesterdays men,and if they were to write a cv on there international days it would not impress anyone.
To his credit,after Roy was dismissed as manager Gerrard told the media that "... Liverpool had failed him." I, too, don't see Gerrard (or Lampard or most of the England squad) as a headcase like John Terry. And I doubt Hodgson's worried about fence mending. He's got a much bigger problem (just like when he inherited Fulham): he needs to come up with a formation and strategy that will maximize England's good qualities (very talented players) while minimizing its technical deficiencies (can't hold the ball under pressure). Welcome, England fans, to the land of structured defence! It will be interesting (just like at Liverpool) to see of the players adopt or rebel against Hodgson's methods.
We are talking about (in theory) world class players so they should be able to adapt. Of course, whether they are willing is another matter but one would hope they are bright enough to see the writing on the wall. I saw Ray Wilkins on TV yesterday saying that Roy is a 4 4 2 man and this would need to change, but to be honest, i don't see why. If it is the formation that the players are happy playing then it would seem to make sense to develop a sophisticated international variant of it. Why try and force players to adapt to a new fangled hexagonal formation if it makes them ineffective in the positions they are asked to play in just because the Italians or Spanish or whoever play it?
Ray Wilkins is a great coach and a decent bloke, but he was a rotten manager for us. I'd have more confidence in Roy's assessment of what will work at international - or any other - level. To be fair, as I recall Wilkins does know a lot about ineffective use of a 4-4-2 formation.
Roy would do well to persist with his 4-4-2 formation. Seeing Rooney play up top alone against City should dispell any views people have of him being able to play up front on his own. He needs a partner, ideally a target man who is good in the air, but England don't really have one of those at present. I wouldn't start him and Welbeck together, they are far too similar players.
I think you will find that the majority of Utd fans would prefer Hernandez to start ahead of Welbeck, who far too often drifts out of games.
