Apologies if this has been done recently, but a radio comment I heard earlier got me thinking. An interview on 5Live with the Palace chairman finished by asking if they were ready to lose Pardew if England came calling. My first thought was horror, but then it got me thinking. Assuming we flatter to decide between now and then in Friendlies and we perform to our mediocre best, who would people want to see in the managers job?
An England squad that played like Palace might actually be pretty interesting. Unfortunately, the England players are too good to play that well.
Rio Ferdinand! Or someone from the so-called "Golden Generation." Don't think the FA will recruit a manager from the conventional route of hiring a manager from a middle ranking PL team because that is what Palace are!
Brian Clough..... Seriously though, if we are going to go English, then why not Pards?. He is more atuned to the modern game than Hodgson and has proved that he is teflon coated when it comes to flak from the media and fans. At least England would be prettier to watch, with a bit of pace to their attack.
I can't stand Pardew........................ But..... I do like his passion and ability to roll up his sleeves and get on with things despite adversity. I think the FA would probably swerve him as he doesn't fit the finely honed FA image they would want. Although I'd love to see an England manager be honest and tear some strips off under performing/highly paid players.....
Pardew is a middle ranking PL manager. Not good enough to manage a team at International level if the FA seriously want a team coming close to winning again as opposed to getting to the last 8 at best and disappearing from view!! World class managers get the results re Bobby Robson and Terry Venables. Pardew is not in that class.
From the PL, there is a very short list of those that should even be considered and there's very few beyond that. It seems (sadly) that Southgate will get a clear run to interview if not beyond and we've considered big names previously. I'd consider Mourinho and Ronko from inside the Prem with an outside punt for Howe with only a couple of others from outside the UK.
His name is floating around and why not.? He's actually quite a capable manager if given a chance. I know that there are a lot of people who don't like him because he likes himself a lot. That doesn't bother me in the slightest, and he's just the right side of being anti-establishment [just like we thought Hodgson might be, but turns out to be a grey suit] without being the entire Brian Clough [Oh I so wish he'd been England manager], so still acceptable. England could do a lot worse. However, let's think of Crystal Palace fans. They love him. Why not let them keep him.?
Anyone who can put together a team who play well together rather than the 11 best players at the time. Who is better than who is often a subjective view (with a few obvious exceptions eg Messi, Ronaldo). Too many England managers in the past try and accommodate the best players at the expense of a working team. This needs someone with a clear idea of how you play the game and a thick enough skin to ignore the outrageous treatment which they'll be exposed to by the media when things go wrong. Oh my God I've just described Allardyce! As the current lottery advert says I would buy a ticket for anyone but him!
Did you watch us beat the Dutch that day in 96? Did you see that spurs team he put together in the 80s?
