"I wouldn't take the England job because of what it does to your social life; a couple of bad results and you can't go out in the evening."
Who should replace the Svenster?
Let's talk about the candidates, each one in turn. These are the guys currently favored on Betfair:
Big Sam: He's solid England, sure, and he's pretty unlikely to embarrass the FA like Sven. But he's no tactical genius. His talent seems to be for picking over-the-hill foreigners who can still play - not too useful to England.
Curbs: He works well with young players, he keeps his nose clean, and he makes a lot out of not much talent. The latter part won't be required with England, but the guy knows how to draw up a team sheet. The only downside is the lack of charisma, though that didn't exactly hurt Sven.
Rhymes With Goose: Definitely has the best resume for the job - the guy gets it done. If he could take South Korea to the semifinals, where could he take England? Demands respect and may be the perfect package, except for not being English.
O'Neills: His wife's illness may still keep him out of the business, but then again, the England job may be the cushy post he's been looking for. A good manager, surely, and he's played in the big show, but he may be a bit too taciturn.
England's No. 2: Steve-o has been dying for the job, and he'll definitely want to get away from the mess on Teesside as soon as possible. He showed Sven up when El Roon acted his age, but how much substance is there, really? He's got no top-level international experience except with Sven at his side.
Big Phil: The question would have to be, why? Okay, he's won the World Cup, and he took Portugal close. But TDH could have turned Brazil into winners in 2002, and coaching Portugal next - at home - doesn't show a ton of skill or versatility.
Psycho: The experience, the heart, even the tactics seem to be there. Make him the assistant coach, if you can tear him away from Maine Road for a few hours a month. One day, he'll be the perfect man for the job, but he needs a bit more experience first.
Hitzfeld wasn't in the running, for some reason that perhaps you loyal readers know. But neither was Capello. So, TDH would like to add an option: Souey! Yes, please, you wizards of Soho Square, take him off our hands! Pay off his contract with us! You can have him for cheap!
Let's talk about the candidates, each one in turn. These are the guys currently favored on Betfair:
Big Sam: He's solid England, sure, and he's pretty unlikely to embarrass the FA like Sven. But he's no tactical genius. His talent seems to be for picking over-the-hill foreigners who can still play - not too useful to England.
Curbs: He works well with young players, he keeps his nose clean, and he makes a lot out of not much talent. The latter part won't be required with England, but the guy knows how to draw up a team sheet. The only downside is the lack of charisma, though that didn't exactly hurt Sven.
Rhymes With Goose: Definitely has the best resume for the job - the guy gets it done. If he could take South Korea to the semifinals, where could he take England? Demands respect and may be the perfect package, except for not being English.
O'Neills: His wife's illness may still keep him out of the business, but then again, the England job may be the cushy post he's been looking for. A good manager, surely, and he's played in the big show, but he may be a bit too taciturn.
England's No. 2: Steve-o has been dying for the job, and he'll definitely want to get away from the mess on Teesside as soon as possible. He showed Sven up when El Roon acted his age, but how much substance is there, really? He's got no top-level international experience except with Sven at his side.
Big Phil: The question would have to be, why? Okay, he's won the World Cup, and he took Portugal close. But TDH could have turned Brazil into winners in 2002, and coaching Portugal next - at home - doesn't show a ton of skill or versatility.
Psycho: The experience, the heart, even the tactics seem to be there. Make him the assistant coach, if you can tear him away from Maine Road for a few hours a month. One day, he'll be the perfect man for the job, but he needs a bit more experience first.
Hitzfeld wasn't in the running, for some reason that perhaps you loyal readers know. But neither was Capello. So, TDH would like to add an option: Souey! Yes, please, you wizards of Soho Square, take him off our hands! Pay off his contract with us! You can have him for cheap!
posted by Daniel Altman at 3:38 AM
5 Comments:
I think you're hugely unfair to Felipao. His Brazil side were in turmoil when he took over, doing poorly in qualifying before he took over. Don't forget that Brazil weren't fancied to win before the tournament started.
He completley revamped the line-up using Kleberson / Juninho and G. Silva in midfield, and got the team working for each other. Portugal, too, were consistent underachievers before he arrived, and he showed a Mourinho-esque talent for making the right substitution (seriously, would you have put Impostiga on the pitch when trailing to England?
He dragged Figo off the pitch in that match and then drew the best performance in years from him in the next. Maybe he could do the same with Becks.
Yeah, I know you think Big Phil's a genius, but come on, was the competition really so great in 2002? No one fancied Germany, either, and they made the finals. Who were the favorites? France, Argentina, Italy... turned out they weren't so hot. So sure, Brazil had its problems, but it wasn't exactly fighting against impossible odds. And hey, maybe TDH wouldn't be such a bad manager!
As for Portugal in the Euros, okay, maybe you've got to give him Postiga. But then again, Pauleta was underperforming and you had to look for other options. Seriously, there was a lot of talent on that team, and they were playing at home - wasn't a semifinal spot, at least, almost automatic?
fair point regarding the field in Germany, and I guess a good showing was expected in Portugal (despite their being serial bottlers).
But if you were looking for reasons to criticise, Goose-man had some of the best luck of all time in South Korea, what with Italy's goal being inexplicably disallowed, and Spain's winner being ruled out for a crossing a line it never went over. Plus, do you really want England to be turned into a team of niggling divers like is South Korea and PSV?
Similarly, Martin O'Neill has only ever coached one real team. Winning anything domestically with Celtic does not constitute success, as they start every domestic competition with a 50% chance of winning it. And their UEFA cup run counts for nowt - any team worth their salt fields reserves until the semi-finals.
Well, I wouldn't pick O'Neill, anyway, because he just doesn't seem to have the fire.
Okay, so who's the compromise candidate, then? Give Sir Bob another shot? You know he'd die for it. Maybe literally.
You've got to love Uncle Alan saying experience really isn't needed, too - if the votes are split, he probably fancies his chances!
yeah, I heard about that, it was hilarious.
I think they need someone who can keep them disciplined and make the occasional game turning substitution, something that's usually been beyond Svennis.
Who that is, I don't know. Hitzfield can do the first, but I'm not sure about the second.
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