England's football team has been a national disappointment for decades, in fact, since its one and only major triumph in 1966. Since that time, its had umpteen managers many of them proving disastrous. Now, with the departure of the unlamented Fabio Capello, the FA is again hunting for a new mug to take charge.
English fans believe that we have the best football in the world and yet they are regularly proved to be wrong. We may, or may not, have the best top division, but that is populated by a vast number of grotesquely overpaid foreigners who cannot play for England. Once these players, including the Scots, Irish and Welsh, are removed from the pool, what's left is the rump of Englishmen of whom there are usually an insufficient number to cobble together even a half decent team.
This is what the England manager is confronted with and expected to produce a world-beating side out of. His chances of success are not quite zero but the odds against him succeeding must be about the same as the milkman's horse winning the Derby. Over the years, the FA has appointed what must now be dozens of managers, almost all of whom have been greeted as being the 'right man for the job' or 'the man who can do it' or given some other moronic description; every single one has failed.
From Walter Winterbottom, who managed the team for 16 years following WW2, England has had a further 14 managers :
Alf Ramsey
Joe Mercer
Don Revie
Ron Greenwood
Bobby Robson
Graham Taylor
Terry Venables
Glenn Hoddle
Howard Wilkinson
Kevin Keegan
Peter Taylor
Sven-Goran Eriksson
Steve McClaren
Fabio Capello
Surprisingly, Capello has the best record of this bunch though one may need to question the quality and / or application of the opposition in many of the non-tournament games played. The much vaunted Bobby Robson had what was probably the poorest record, the side winning less than half the matches when he was in charge.
Since 1990, there have been 9 managers, a record that even many league sides would find embarrassing. Since 1974, the average length of tenure, excluding the 2 stand-ins, Wilkinson and Taylor, has been a little over 3 years - is this really long enough for a national team manager to work his magic, even if he is 'the right man for the job' ?
I've heard this morning that Lord Sugar has reportedly said that the job of England manager is a poisoned chalice that should be shunned by all; if this is a true comment, he couldn't be more correct. Expectations will always exceed preformance and every manager's tenure will end in failure. The morons at the FA seem to have no idea about how to run or control English football, but seem to be full of grandiose plans that rarely, if ever, come to fruition
Can they not see that appointing a manager for 3 or 4 years can never work ? Can they not see that appointing men in their 60s is idiotic ? What is needed is a younger man who can be given real time to succeed; a man who either is English or speaks English like a native; a man who knows and understands football and is more interested in the game and the team than in his own position; a man who is respected by the players and can communicate effectively with them, at all levels.
We don't need a current superstar, we need a man who will become a superstar over a decade; who had ever heard of Alex Ferguson before he became Manchester United manager, or Arsene Wenger before he took over at Arsenal ? The trick the FA has to achieve is to find the 40-45 year old who will win us the World Cup in 2018, 2022 or 2026, starting from scratch. Forget 2014, it's a lost cause and should be used as a springboard for the next generation of players to learn and develop for later tournaments.
When the FA draws up its shortlist for the job, what's the betting it will be populated by no one less than 50 and no one who isn't a currently successful club manager ? They are so ingrained in their thinking that they cannot see beyond the ends of their collective noses and will end up picking yet another 'wrong man', while paying him a small fortune, more than enough for a very comfortable and happy retirement in 3 or 4 years time. And then we'll do it all over again.
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