WHO’S NEXT FOR THE CHOP
Not surprisingly Gareth Southgate is the 6/4 favourite to take over from his boss of three days ago Roy Hodgson, and it is almost a certainty he will be named the England Head Coach pretty soon.
He fits the bill perfectly and like several others in the betting list has what a convict might call “previous”, if you look at his penalty miss in 1996 and his ludicrous TV advert with Pizza Hut earning him and a couple of other “flops” small fortunes.
Like in any other department of the game of football, I have always insisted that ‘How can one get paid vast amounts of money for failure?’
And that includes those in those Soho offices and others splattered all over the country!
I went to a seminar last year with Hodgson, my friend Ray Lewington and Southgate on stage in front of the England Members Club and Sky TV.
I met my friend in a pub (The Eight Bells) around the corner from Putney Bridge Station before walking through to the Hurlingham Club where the seminar was held. I was told by my friend that it was a Luncheon before a Question and Answer session, but when arriving it was obvious that there was no lunch, just a few glasses of wine carried around the room accompanied by a few snacks, but the starters were nowhere near as distasteful as the seminar itself. I knew whilst watching that Hodgson was edgy as if going into that last Group match in Brazil and I also saw that we had absolutely no chance of success in France.
Why?
My initial thought when walking into the large hall was that this was a gimmick from Wembley Stadium, where there Members Club were sent out invitations for these types of functions, and that is how my friend got his invite. We were joined by two other gentlemen who I got on with and would soon make chuckle.
As I sat there watching the former England manager talk it was obvious that these people in the audience knew somewhere close about football than the Three Wise Men in stage, and after half-an-hour of listening to all of this had this irresistible feeling to say something. If there is one thing that rankles me it is watching someone in ‘High Authority’ trying to pull the wool over someone’s eyes.
As Roy Hodgson finished telling them that we are “really on the up” with our play with players playing from the back passing the ball into midfield.
Being an ex-midfield player (more an old fashioned inside-forward in our day) I simply had to question Roy, who by now had not taken one question from such an audience, something that also told me that most of these were there for the lunch that never was (much like my famous goal against Ipswich Town in 1971) so I rose to my feet and said “Hi Ray how are you” to which Lewington replied “Hi Al I’m fine mate good to see you” almost as if although a friend trying to protect his boss from my question.
It was something that he knew would never work, by the way.
Anyhow my question went like this “Can I ask you a question Roy, or can I say that I heard you talking about passing the ball from the back which was something I learned at school and what the Germans and Brazilians have been doing for years and this is on the up and going forward?”
The Sky interviewer who was asking the audience for questions immediately picked this up and saved the day for Roy by passing (something England are not very good at) on to another matter. I walked out and my friend and the others followed and we went back to the pub before laughing, although I did not find it vey funny.
On stage sat Roy, Ray and the man who I believe will pick up the baton and run into another minefield.
I mean, if I was wealthy why would I want to take on an Impossible Dream, however they do and to my disbelief Glenn Hoddle is also in the betting at 7/1 after his ugly time in charge with Eileen Drury, behind my favourite manager in England Eddie Howe.
It also made me chuckle that Harry Redknapp’s name is in the bookies list after that court case that was as hilarious as the OJ Simpson and Oscar Pistorius trials.
Before Harry has his interview he better check out his dogs bank account because like with El Tel in 1996 the FA might look at it as rather against the way that the “suits” work, after all, can we afford yet another disaster. My advice to those ‘Powers that Be’ is that they’d be better letting people let the tournament die down before killing them again.
Time after time we let our incredible football fans down, and someone has to step up, because the game has gone crazy, because who would have said eighteen months ago that after his very emotional Press Conference at Stamford Bridge when he said “I was the Special One now I’m the Happy One, now that I’m home”, that Jose Mourinho is now the manager of their greatest rivals Manchester United?
Football managers, I hear from pundits, are under pressure but I think that the Dole Queue is pressure, that is if you have ever been in one.
The only pressure that managers have is the pressure they bring onto themselves and get overpaid to do so, because if you look up the word management you’ll find that the majority of these are unqualified.
I was in Wimpole Street a couple of years ago and explained this to Professor Kirby of the Prostate Cancer Clinic, and he was amused by my theory, which was a compliment to him and those other brilliant consultants that saved both my legs and my life 19 years ago this December.
That’s being qualified!
Strangely, none of these people like David Goodier and another Professor Williams are not in the betting as Cilla might cry Surprise! Surprise!.
Leave A Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.