Your Next England Manager Doomed To Fail: Roy Hodgson

From afar, you have to appreciate the utter ineptitude of the England national soccer team. Despite loads of talent, they fall short in every major competition and bungle every coaching hire.

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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Hodgson resurfaces at West Brom

There is truly nothing like being in the inner circle for coaching in professional soccer. Now matter how bad you've done at your last job, your next gig is always one call away.

Former Fulham manager and most recently Liverpool failure Roy Hodgson was named coach at West Brom, signing a deal that will keep him with the Hawthorns through the summer of 2012.

Far be it from me to question the motives of a team that's in serious danger of being relegated but wouldn't you try for some new blood to shake it up? How does bringing in a guy that already ran one team into the ground this season in the same league (EPL) help your chances? I don't get it.

West Brom confirmed the news on their official website, revealing that caretaker manager Michael Appleton will take charge of the team for their clash with West Ham on Saturday.

"The Club are now channelling all of their efforts into supporting Appleton, his assistants Keith Downing and Dean Kiely and the players as they prepare for tomorrow's vital game," a statement on the Baggies website read.

Hodgson will be at the helm for the first time for the derby clash with Wolves at The Hawthorns next weekend, but admitted he was shocked by the speed of how things developed.

He said: ''It was not my intention to return to Premier League football this quickly. But I was so impressed by the way the chairman (Jeremy Peace) and the sporting and technical director (Dan Ashworth) sold the project to me that I was very happy to accept the offer.

''I am delighted that a club of West Bromwich Albion's stature has given me the opportunity to help them in their quest to retain their Premier League status and to build for the future.

''I hear that Michael has done a terrific job looking after the players this week and preparing them for tomorrow's game. I know from my previous visits to The Hawthorns the kind of atmosphere the fans can generate and I am sure they will get right behind Michael and the team.''

Peace insisted Hodgson was always Albion's first choice.

He said: ''At such a vital stage of the season, we felt it was important we identified and appointed the right man as quickly as possible. Roy emerged as the outstanding and unanimous choice of the football club board and we are delighted to have appointed our number one target.

''We believe his vast experience and knowledge of the game is exactly what we need for the challenge we face, both in the short and long term.

''However, as Roy has stated, the club's immediate focus is offering Michael, Keith Downing, Dean Kiely (club coaches) and the players all the support they need as they prepare to face West Ham. We're very grateful for the way Michael has taken over the reins this week. He has fully justified our faith in him.''

Hodgson will undoubtedly have one eye on April 2, when West Brom welcome Liverpool to the Hawthorns. He endured a disastrous six-month tenure with the Reds, which saw the club suffer their worst start to a top-flight season in 57 years.

And to add insult to Hodgson's injured pride, Liverpool have enjoyed an impressive revival in fortunes since Kenny Dalglish replaced him in the Anfield hotseat.

But Hodgson still boasts an impressive managerial CV that has taken in two spells in charge of Inter Milan, as well as international positions with Switzerland and Finland. And the Englishman was named Manager of the Year by the League Managers' Association last season after guiding Fulham to the Europa League final.

West Brom are currently languishing just above the Premier League relegation zone and Hodgson has been hired with a view to saving the Baggies from the drop, as he did when he was first appointed Fulham boss.

Perhaps the only thing I can shed some light on is the fact that Roy Hodgson looks exactly like the actor that played Duncan (owner of Duncan's Toy Chest) in Home Alone 2. Haha, seriously look at a couple Google images of Hodgson. He could be his twin brother.