I Will Coach England
The office phone at Azzurri Dreams has been ringing off the hook today. Inquires are coming fast and furious from all over Europe wanting to know if I am available for the England job. And with only 136 days left to the World Cup and my deep understanding off what ails the English national team(see my 2004 research Article, entitled, "How to lose Games you should win"), you can understand why I am getting all the attention I am.
My agent and I will be providing our growing readership with a press release shortly that confirms my commitment to Azzurri Dreams and that I am not actively engaged with the English FA to take over for the Swedish-Savant. But I will be honest, while still not completely convinced that the FA was not in on this "News of the World" piece that has caused such an uproar over the last few days, I do believe they have created yet another quandary to deal with, one that might even be bigger then getting the captains arm band from David Beckham.
The FA has gotten their wish; their coach by mutual 'consent' has stated that there was already an agreement in place for him to leave after the World Cup in Germany. And the English being English, they have been total gentlemen and have allowed this to circulate and pass off as truth in the media. Athole Still, Eriksson's agent now has come out and publicly stated that his client might not receive any compensation once the contract is voided. This from a man who had wanted to negotiate an extension for Sven-Goran Eriksson to be England coach until 2010. Of course, who would not want to be paid what the Swedish-savant is paid for doing at best a very mediocre job. One point to the FA which will save millions of pounds annually. The problem is that the majority of English fans(too bad their opinions do not count) want and an Englishman to coach. And I agree. But with the media circus following this coaching spot, the FA is now in the unenviable position of having to assure whoever their top candidate is, that they will be there to support them. The second problem is that the legitimate English candidates for the job will not consider it unless they can split their duties between country and club, which is highly unlikely. The third problem is that the list of potential candidates for this job is split between the contenders and pretenders. Lets look at the pretenders first:
Alan Curbishley, Charlton. Are you serious. Why not give the job to Grahame Souness while you are it.
Steve McClaren, Middlesbrough. Would make a logical fit especially if his team, in a relegation battle goes down since he is already on the England Bench. One of these two, if not both could will be out of a job come the summer and this would make the decision easy for the FA. But the FA should not settle for easy and should not settle until they get a coach that can bring England back to greatness(laughter heard from the staffers at Azzurri Dreams as this was being proofed).
The contenders are:
Guss Hiddink, PSV and Australia. Merely a genius, this guy is too strong a coach to take over this team.
Luis Felipe Scolari, Portugal. Excellent coach, the FA's dream if they cannot get an Englishman to coach this team and more then likely will be done with Portugal after the World Cup.
Ottmar Hitzfeld. Forget about it, with what he will demand financially, he will not be a serious part of any discussion.
Which brings me to this point, when you look at all the names being dropped and bookies taking bets on the likes of Paul Jewell and Sam Allardyce, you have to accept that the FA will try courting two successful coaches in their prime, too driven to only coach on limited basis. These guys live for the everyday, and would not leave. There is no viable English candidate for this job, not at present. Typically you want a coach that can come in and shake things up for you and with retreads like Keegan and Robson being mentioned, you do not have the chance to create the stability the post needs. I suggest you look at Alan Shearer but at this point I would think that while he is sunbathing on some beach come the World Cup, he will be screening endless calls from Freddy Shepard pleading with him to coach Newcastle once they get rid of Grahame Souness and he will not properly consider the job of England manager.
For now, the FA has gotten what they were hoping would happen sometime after the 2004 Euros, a lame-duck coach whom they can finally control and one whom they relied on the media to help oust. What they did not plan on was how this might pail in comparison to the daunting task of recruiting their next coach.
Azzurri Dreams
My agent and I will be providing our growing readership with a press release shortly that confirms my commitment to Azzurri Dreams and that I am not actively engaged with the English FA to take over for the Swedish-Savant. But I will be honest, while still not completely convinced that the FA was not in on this "News of the World" piece that has caused such an uproar over the last few days, I do believe they have created yet another quandary to deal with, one that might even be bigger then getting the captains arm band from David Beckham.
The FA has gotten their wish; their coach by mutual 'consent' has stated that there was already an agreement in place for him to leave after the World Cup in Germany. And the English being English, they have been total gentlemen and have allowed this to circulate and pass off as truth in the media. Athole Still, Eriksson's agent now has come out and publicly stated that his client might not receive any compensation once the contract is voided. This from a man who had wanted to negotiate an extension for Sven-Goran Eriksson to be England coach until 2010. Of course, who would not want to be paid what the Swedish-savant is paid for doing at best a very mediocre job. One point to the FA which will save millions of pounds annually. The problem is that the majority of English fans(too bad their opinions do not count) want and an Englishman to coach. And I agree. But with the media circus following this coaching spot, the FA is now in the unenviable position of having to assure whoever their top candidate is, that they will be there to support them. The second problem is that the legitimate English candidates for the job will not consider it unless they can split their duties between country and club, which is highly unlikely. The third problem is that the list of potential candidates for this job is split between the contenders and pretenders. Lets look at the pretenders first:
Alan Curbishley, Charlton. Are you serious. Why not give the job to Grahame Souness while you are it.
Steve McClaren, Middlesbrough. Would make a logical fit especially if his team, in a relegation battle goes down since he is already on the England Bench. One of these two, if not both could will be out of a job come the summer and this would make the decision easy for the FA. But the FA should not settle for easy and should not settle until they get a coach that can bring England back to greatness(laughter heard from the staffers at Azzurri Dreams as this was being proofed).
The contenders are:
Guss Hiddink, PSV and Australia. Merely a genius, this guy is too strong a coach to take over this team.
Luis Felipe Scolari, Portugal. Excellent coach, the FA's dream if they cannot get an Englishman to coach this team and more then likely will be done with Portugal after the World Cup.
Ottmar Hitzfeld. Forget about it, with what he will demand financially, he will not be a serious part of any discussion.
Which brings me to this point, when you look at all the names being dropped and bookies taking bets on the likes of Paul Jewell and Sam Allardyce, you have to accept that the FA will try courting two successful coaches in their prime, too driven to only coach on limited basis. These guys live for the everyday, and would not leave. There is no viable English candidate for this job, not at present. Typically you want a coach that can come in and shake things up for you and with retreads like Keegan and Robson being mentioned, you do not have the chance to create the stability the post needs. I suggest you look at Alan Shearer but at this point I would think that while he is sunbathing on some beach come the World Cup, he will be screening endless calls from Freddy Shepard pleading with him to coach Newcastle once they get rid of Grahame Souness and he will not properly consider the job of England manager.
For now, the FA has gotten what they were hoping would happen sometime after the 2004 Euros, a lame-duck coach whom they can finally control and one whom they relied on the media to help oust. What they did not plan on was how this might pail in comparison to the daunting task of recruiting their next coach.
Azzurri Dreams
posted by E. Bearzot at 5:09 PM
Seed Newsvine
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