Things couldn’t get much worse after Fabio Capello, could they?
Roy Hodgson’s time as England boss is up. And what a way to bow out. His final act as was to oversee what’s quite possibly the national team’s most embarrassing result of all time as they fell 2-1 to Iceland at Euro 2016.
Inevitably, the conversation has already turned to who will replace Hodgson, with many assuming that the man to follow him will be another Englishman.
But instead of reigniting that old ‘Sam Allardyce or Harry Redknapp’ debate for the millionth time, we’re looking further afield. Indeed, England FA chief Martin Glenn says Hodgson’s replacement would be the ‘best person for the job’ and not necessarily and English boss.
Here are six potential England bosses from overseas:
Laurent Blanc
In his last job as Paris Saint-Germain boss, Blanc won trophies aplenty. That said, winning domestic trophies in France with PSG in recent years is a bit like entering an unlimited funds cheat code on Championship Manager.
Having left PSG, he’s available and also has had a taste of international management with France between 2010 and 2012.
Roy Keane
Hear us out! The former Manchester United and Ireland captain has already turned down an offer from a Premier League club, this summer, but remains in high demand.
Keane has appeared at his most relaxed in years and yet has been entirely capable of letting off verbal bombs to keep the Irish players in check.
He has helped Martin O’Neill bring about a culture change, introduce new players and has taken Ireland further than they have achieved in tournament football since 2002. He is respected by a host of modern players, who grew up watching him play, and, most importantly, would take no shit from primadonnas.
Slaven Bilic
Another man to have had international experience, Bilic worked wonders with the Croatian national side between 2006 and 2012. He’s credited by some with for laying the foundations for the current side which, but for a flukey Portuguese counter-attack the other night, might’ve been on for great things at Euro 2016.
He’s a shrewd tactician and his charisma would make him a popular choice.
Being West Ham manager though is a stumbling block. It’s unlikely he’d leave his position and even if he did, he wouldn’t be able to bring Dimitri Payet with him.
Arsene Wenger
Okay, okay… he wouldn’t be everyone’s choice. But given the style of play we’ve seen at Arsenal during his time there, he might be just what’s needed to teach English midfielders to make successful five yard passes again – something they’d clearly forgotten against Iceland at Nice.
His time at Arsenal is coming to an end, too. If Piers Morgan and the anti-Wenger, banner-wielding Arsenal supporters get their way, we could be looking at the last 12 months of his time with the club. Perhaps the England job would tempt him.
Jurgen Klinsmann
A German? Seriously?
Yep. He knows the international management scene and, as his work with America showed in the last World Cup, he can get the best out of what seems like a bunch of average players.
And don’t forget, the winners of that 2014 World Cup were his legacy. Joachim Low inherited the team having worked alongside him. If people can get over the fact that he’s German, he might be a sensible choice.
Claudio Ranieri
After last season, you sense that he’d be a popular choice.
The one thing England really need right now is a system that they stick to and, as he showed last season, Ranieri certainly knows how to get a team playing in a certain way.
Would he leave Leicester? Maybe. The club’s owners and fans wouldn’t want it, but given his miraculous achievement last season, perhaps they’d reluctantly accept it.
