Since Fabio Capello left in February, Tottenham's Harry Redknapp was the frontrunner so obviously England went in another direction by naming West Brom's Roy Hodgson as its new manager.
The 64-year-old Hodgson received a four-year deal with his home country and he'll manage West Brom in their final two English Premier League games before leaving the club and turning all his attention to England and Euro 2012. The Three Lions are in a tough Group D with Ukraine, France and Sweden. To prepare, they'll have friendlies with Norway and Belgium before Euro 2012 begins in June.
My general rule of thumb for national team coaches is that you're best served to hire a native, that is if you're from a country with at least a decent soccer history (Jurgen Klinsmann being a special exception for the U.S. men). In that way, England did nothing wrong by hiring Hodgson who also used to coach Liverpool. The part that worries me as a bandwagon England fan (from studying abroad there) is that his previous national team coaching experience came with Switzerland, Finland and United Arab Emirates. Not exactly three powerhouses that have ever done anything globally.
I want to see him succeed but like cheering for the Chicago Cubs, you know that eventually England will find a way to screw it up no matter what the circumstances. God speed Roy!
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