Proud To Be English Or Embarrassed?
Tony Horne is not convinced that Harry Redknapp is the right man for the England job, and sees no reason why we can't look abroad.
9 Feb 2012, 13:00
Harry Redknapp
It’s time to turn off Sky Sports News and walk the dog. I don’t have a dog.
I’ve seen enough rubbish in one twenty minutes to last me a lifetime – Gazza calling for Venables is just the most out-of-date punditry from a man whose opinion you respect on little else.
Kenny Samson, with 86 England caps should know better. When asked by the Sky anchor if he had any sympathy with Capello since he had the best win ration of any England Manager at 67%, he replied no.
And Barry Fry was just embarrassing, banging the desk calling for ‘arry. Since when did we care what Barry Fry thought? I urge you to watch that clip back with a foreign neighbour of yours, and tell me you are not ashamed.
It reminds me of when they shouting for Kevin Keegan, found wanting at the highest level by his own admission despite the clamour for him because of his “excellent man management skills” and the fact that he would be a “popular choice”.
Two “failures” with foreign managers seem to have stirred a parochial xenophobia which means that all we are now listening to are gobs on sticks who repeatedly tell us that “it must be an Englishman because only an Englishman understands the passion”.
Utter drivel. Island parish mentality. Because they aren’t passionate about football anywhere else in the world, are they?
It should, of course, be the best man for the job. I don’t think you will find Harry’s trophy cabinet glitterring with conquests from European soil, though of course he has been to Monaco! José or Guus, however, clearly have better track records.
To which your gob on a stick replies, “it has to be an Englishman unless it’s someone like José”. Doesn’t their argument just hit the buffers there and then?
“Football’s different,” they say. “An Englishman should run the national team. Harry remembers seeing Bobby Moore lift the World Cup in 1966. He’ll install that in the players” – they will all want ‘arry, of course, because it is probably a cosier life – more summer camp, than army barracks.
Football is not different. I couldn’t have been happier when Duncan Fletcher and Andy Flower masterminded England’s Ashes wins – they are not English, but they understood how to get the best out of the England team, half of whom, by the way, weren’t born in England.
It’s not 1966 anymore. That’s the point. That analogy is rubbish. And thank God because look at so many of the stereotypes we would still be imposing on women, gay people, and those of a different colour, if it were.
It’s multi-cultural Britain where a Pole or an Aussie can now rise to the top. The England Manager’s job is a consultant position, in the same way that a Sainsbury’s or a Virgin Atlantic might scour the world for the best person available.
And that is not Stuart Pearce either – a shocking record as England Under 21 coach, and hiring him shows we learn nothing from the Steve McClaren era. Number twos don’t make good number ones.
There is one overwhelming undeniable truth here which will resonate over the next decade. If ‘arry is so obviously the perceived only choice, what happens after that? All the talk about grassroots football – a generation of wealthy footballers means that TV punditry or golf beckon post career and we have no managerial pedigree at all. A lot of people like Gareth Southgate – I do – but Gareth is smart enough to tell you he doesn’t have the CV. We are not about to unearth a generation of great English managers, so if it is to be ‘arry now, we’ll be back shopping overseas again soon, and possibly forever.
It will be ’arry, of course. The rollercoaster of the verdict in court followed by Fabio’s resignation means that yesterday became a story of mythical proportions with uncanny timing – fairy tale like with fans feeling it was meant to be. Don’t get caught in dreamland.
Just one question, if ‘arry had been sent down yesterday, how would all this have played out?
The author
Tony Horne
Network Broadcaster for UTV Media, Ghostwriter of “Bodyguard – My Life on the Front Line” with Craig Summers and “Tango 190” with PC David Rathband.
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Comments (5)
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To directly answer the question, not in the least embarrassed and quietly confident to be English (but embarrassed to be thought British).
As to the football, I think Capello was the best manager we have had for a goodly while, but I would rather lose with an English manager than win (or more likely lose) with a foriegn manager. Puzzling, ain't it.
09/02/2012 14:40English football epitomises everything that is wrong with England. Owned by foreigners, managed by foreigners and played by foreigners. I include the British as foreigners.
The British are the worst enemies of the English.
Along with the British establishment and media, most sport in England is institutionally Anglophobic.
09/02/2012 14:57It's only a game, watched by morons and played by them as well.
The only difference is the watchers pay for the pleasure and the players get (over)paid for it.
Anyone who pays to watch British football has more money than sense.
A sure fire way of making money is to bet against England.. (Scotland of course have been a waste of space for decades).
Football writers make the News of the World and Sun journalists appear erudite.
10/02/2012 16:04The English vs. Foreign manager debate ought to be irrelevant. If all international players have to be from (or at least moderately related to) the country they represent, so should their managers.
10/02/2012 17:04Wise words. How many of those managers banging the drum for an English manager also bang the drum for kicking racism out of football? Hypocrites.
11/02/2012 11:05