One Major Honour to Manage England

So Harry Redknapp is the favourite to become the next England manager.

Ask most people their opinion and he is the first name that springs to mind.

But spend a little longer than just your gut reaction and you really start to question why.

Harry is doing a great job at Tottenham at the moment.

A really great job.

Perhaps though, the successful candidate should have done a bit more than just have a couple of good seasons of late.

After all, he took an underachieving Tottenham side into the Champions League during a period when Liverpool, Arsenal and now Chelsea all hurtled towards a rapid decline.

He’s not won anything with Tottenham.

In fact, his only major honour was an FA cup win with Portsmouth.

Splitting 2 spells at Portsmouth, was a brief and unsuccessful period at Southampton.

Preceded by 8 years doing a steady job with West Ham and his first role at Bournemouth.

Harry may be top of mind for most due to how well Tottenham have done this season and last.

But is the best man for the England job really a manager who has only 1 major honour to his name after 28 years in the role?

Not to mention he’s only ever had one season of Champions League football.

His experience of the English league will be great for knowing what assets he has available to him.

His one season mixing it with Europe’s elite won’t have given him much experience on the opposition.

As for Harry being the outstanding ‘English’ candidate - that just highlights the lack of top English managers at the moment.

Nothing more.

An Englishman will not do a better job than a ‘foreigner’ if he is not a better manager.

And with Euro 2012 fast approaching - decisiveness seems paramount.

But the English FA should not confuse decisiveness with haste.

A caretaker role now instead - can mean the decision on the long term future of the England national team be made in due course.

He will not have enough time anyway to shape the team his way.

It will be a case of steadying the ship in Poland and Ukraine as opposed to setting it a new course.

When the Republic of Ireland interviewed for the current position - Paul Jewell was the outstanding choice.

The FAI took their time over the decision and Giovanni Trapattoni appeared.

The landscape could shift dramatically come this summer too.

Jose Mourinho could become available.

Harry’s 1 major honour might need to total 3 if he’s to beat the Portuguese master tactician to the job.

If Martin O’Neill continues his surge up the table with Sunderland and takes fourth spot, would he be considered the outstanding candidate?

He has had relative little success in the English game too but has still won more major honours than Harry.

Coupled with a more sustained period of success.

Glenn Hoddle, Kevin Keegan and Steve McClaren had 1 major honour between them and all had a shot at the England hot-seat.

But it was Sven Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello - with 32 major honours who are the only managers to have taken England to a quarter final of a major tournament since Euro ‘96.

If Fabio and his 16 major honours cannot make a success of this group of players - I’m not sure Harry and his 1 can do any different...

Becoming international manager has become a national debate

Fabio Capello is no longer in charge of the English football team.

Stepping down this week to leave the hotseat vacant for someone else to lead them out at Euro 2012.

There has been a lot of talk since, that the next English manager should be just that - English.

Some go as far as saying that the same rules should apply to international managers that do to international players.

If large countries like England, Germany or Italy were to insist on their national team manager being born in their own country, then I could understand.

They have such a large pool to choose from.

But Dutchman Gus Hiddink did more for South Korean football in his 2 years in charge then anyone in the previous 50.

Giovanni Trapattoni helped Ireland qualify for their first major tournament in 10 years.

In fact, Ireland have never qualified for a major tournament with an Irish manager.

The development of football in Africa has been helped enormously by an influx of ‘foreign’ managers over the past twenty years.

Greece won Euro 2004 under a German.

Portugal reached that same final under a Brazilian.

Russia are currently managed by a Dutchman.

How are the smaller countries supposed to develop if they are only allowed to choose from their own country.

And what happens to players who play for a country they weren’t born in?

Can Deco only manage Brazil?

Miroslav Klose manage Poland?

Patrick Vieira Senegal?

Or do the same rules apply to managers?

Rafa Benitez has never managed another country but has lived in Liverpool long enough to qualify for them.

But after managing England for two years, becomes illegible when the top job in Spain comes up.

Managers like Gus would never have been able to have managed South Korea, Australia, Russia or Turkey as he had already overseen the reigns of the Netherlands for four years.

And some people this week have even put Martin O’Neill’s name forward.

Not exactly demanding an English manager.

But rather a British one.

If the FA are willing to go as far as Northern Ireland to find their new manager, then why not go as far as France?

And then why not as far as Italy?

Surely Martin is as foreign as Arsene Wenger?

I do understand where the English are coming from when they say they’d like an Englishman in charge.

In an ideal world, they would have a strong enough candidate every time the job came up.

But should the birthplace of a manager be a factor when it comes to getting the job?

The best man for England right now might well be from Poplar.

But he might instead be from Glasgow.

Men from Middlesex, Doncaster and York have all been in the hotseat in the Premier League era, but the only man to take them to a quarter finals of a major tournament since 1996 was from Sweden.

Harry Redknapp has proved to be the kneejerk favourite for the job.

But what if someone like a Sir Alex Ferguson or a Jose Mourinho were to declare an interest in the job.

Should Harry get it because he was born in Poplar?

Well if England insist on an Englishman, he surely will.

Meaning they might well get a good man for the job - but perhaps not the best one...

Michael Owen - The best player in the world in his position.

Manchester United 3 Leeds United 0.

Michael Owen scores two goals.

Again.

A reminder to us all he’s never lost it.

Michael knows this.

Leeds United know this.

But a certain Fabio Capello remains unconvinced.

Thankfully for Michael, Sir Alex Ferguson is a believer.

Rescuing him from his nightmare at Newcastle, most people raised an eyebrow or two when Alex signed him 2 years ago.

But he knew well what he was doing.

Having opted not to re-sign Carlos Tevez, his options up front were looking a little thin.

Wayne Rooney was the crown jewel.

But Dimitar Berbatov hadn’t set the world alight since joining.

And there was a youngster or two coming through that were not quite ready for the first team.

They soon would be.

So when the opportunity to sign a 29 year old England striker with 89 caps and 40 goals came up, it was an easy decision.

Especially as he was free.

Easy decision for Michael too.

A chance to join a team that had just reached 2 Champions League Finals in a row and were winning the Premier league most seasons.

He knew he wouldn’t start every game but with his history of injuries, he knew he wouldn’t start every game for any team.

And Alex didn’t need a striker for 60 games.

He had them already.

What he needed was a back-up striker for games they were injured for.

Or suspended.

Or in need of a rest.

And what better man to come on then someone who has played on the biggest stage for so many years.

There was no need to worry about pressure or if he was good enough - this was Michael Owen.

So why isn’t Fabio a believer then?

Michael’s the last world class striker England has produced.

Loads of good strikers of course.

Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch, Emile Heskey.

But no-one in the same league as Wayne is, as a centre forward.

Yet Michael hasn’t been called up in 3 years.

Kevin Davies has.

So too Jay Bothroyd.

But Fabio seems to be thinking of starting eleven’s only.

Playing every game.

Unlike Alex, who knows what a weapon Michael is to have on your bench.

Michael’s best position is not first choice striker needed for 60 games.

But back-up striker when needed in those 60 games.

He’s 5th choice striker at United.

The best 5th choice striker any club has in the world.

Good enough to be 5th choice striker for England?

That’s something England should really start believing in...