I don’t often do this, but I now have in a full copy of the memo regarding rendition that was leaked to the New Stateman, last week, which I will be posting as both a download (pdf) and in full, with annotations.
Should be ready in a couple of hours at most, once I’ve put a good pot of coffee on.
Well, the News of the World have got what it appears they wanted all along and Sven’s off to pastures new after the World Cup. If nothing else this is saluatory reminder that the Murdoch press is no true friend of the beautiful game - remember the Sun’s appaling headlines in the wake of the Hillsborough disaster? There’s plenty of folks in Liverpool who still do.
Quite how this will affect us going into the World Cup is anyone’s guess. You’d have to hope that with us starting the tournament - fitness permitting - with probably the best chance of winning we’ve had since 1996, the way Sven’s been stitched up will motivate the players to give everything to send Sven on his way as a certified winner, but this is football, there no guarantees and it could just as easily have the opposite effect.
One way or another, just as a matter of principle, when the time comes and the Murdoch scandal rags start churning out all their poxy World Cup wallcharts and crappy cut-out-and-keep David Beckham masks, the best thing we all could do is tell them exactly where to shove ‘em. There’ll be plenty of other papers doing the same kind of stuff, so if it your thing buy one of those instead and send Murdoch a message in the only place that he really understands - his profit margins.
Of course time waits for no man, and no soon has it been announced that Sven’s to go then its all systems go in the search for his successor, which bring the inevitable rag bag of little Englanders out in force:
But Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Gordon Taylor feels an Englishman should be given the job.
He told BBC Radio Five Live: “It should be a chance for an Englishman.
“It is a bad reflection on the game if this country - the strongest in the world for football - can’t produce a quality coach and manager.
“I believe that we have people who have not only played the game but have coached and managed and managed at the highest level and I think it would be nice for them to be given the opportunity.
“It’s a global game but if we are going to be in a situation where a manager comes and goes, there isn’t quite the same feeling for your own country. It is not really what international football is about.”
League Managers’ Association chairman Howard Wilkinson echoed Taylor’s view, adding: “My point of view as chairman of the LMA is we would hope that English contenders for the position have got more than a head start.”
I take it that neither Taylor or Wilkinson have taken much of a look at the Premiership table of late, otherwise they might just have noticed that none of current top five teams has an English manager - the highest placed at present are Wigan’s Paul Jewell (6th) and Big Sam at Bolton (7th), whose also the bookies favourite - which will no doubt piss off all the Geordies who we hoping he’d come to them and replace Souness.
In fact the bookies (Ladbrokes) current odds list reads as follows:
Sam Allardyce 5/2
Alan Curbishley 3/1
Steve McClaren 7/2
Guus Hiddink 8/1
Martin O’Neill 10/1
Luiz Felipe Scolari 12/1
Steve Bruce 12/1
Stuart Pearce 12/1
Paul Jewell 20/1
Bryan Robson 25/1
Fabio Capello 25/1
Jose Mourinho 25/1
Arsene Wenger 33/1
Peter Taylor 40/1
Harry Redknapp 66/1
Sir Alex Ferguson 66/1
But then that’s the bookies view, and not one that’s necessarily shared by either the fans or the FA.
So what are we to make of some of the contenders?
McLaren and Peter Taylor have been part of the coaching set-up under Sven, on the pretext that he should groom his heir-apparent, yet neither has really done that much at club level to show that they have what it takes to manage England, so I’d personally rule them out.
Curbishley’s done well and Charlton and you really can’t fault Big Sam’s achievements at Bolton but does either have the experience to make a go at of things at international level? Probably not at the moment.
Same goes for Jewell - good younbg manager but needs a bit more experience to be a genuine contender.
O’Neill? Good manager, did well at Celtic but never made the break through where it counted in the Champions League and out of the game for personal reasons and may not want to come back just yet?
Bruce, Robson and Redknapp? No.
Fergie? No more than a short term appointment due to his age. Is that what we really want? I don’t think so.
Wenger? Too French - I don’t mean that nastily, it’s merely an observation that Wenger relies too heavily on foreign imports at Arsenal and I’d prefer someone with more of record of showing faith in English players.
Hiddink, Scolari and Cappello? All with a good track record at international level but little experience of English players and the English games, which cpounts against them in my book.
Stuart Pearce? Way too soon but should be brought into the coaching set-up on a part-time basis immediately, if only to offset any doubts about commitment in the England camp, and one to watch for the future if he can build on the start he’s made at City. Who amongst us doesn’t love Psycho?
No, for me there is only one choice.
A manager who learned his trade under one of the great England managers, Bobby Robson.
A manager who speaks his mind in the best traditions of the greatest England manager we never had - Cloughie.
A manager who judges players on performance, not reputation, demands the highest standards at all time and has no fear of dropping even the biggest name player if and when their form drops off.
A manager who has built a successful team with English players firmly at its core.
And a manager who knows what it takes to win trophies.
If we are genuinely serious about a long-term and about winning trophies rather than coming home as proud but heroic failures, then there is only one choice the FA can make.
It’s time to send for the ‘Special One’ - Jose Mourinho.
