Roy Hodgson (new Fulham manager)

[eekers]

There isnt a thread on him yet.
Considering his contract with Finland is most likely up tomorrow do you think the FAI should snap him up.

He's the only strong candidate with experience of international management. Is this important? Is international football that different from the premiership?

[Drumcondra 69er]

Yes we should. He's been touted by a lot of us for a long time on the Ireland manager thread.

Ticks all the boxes for me to trot out the cliche that seems to have taken over this process!

Far better choice then Vanbales despite waht Paul Hyland and Independent newspapers seem to be attempting to brainwash us to believe..

[Wolfie]

There isnt a thread on him yet.
Considering his contract with Finland is most likely up tomorrow do you think the FAI should snap him up.

He's the only strong candidate with experience of international management. Is this important? Is international football that different from the premiership?

Securing Hodgson would be a result.

[Stuttgart88]

Neil McD has been banging Hodgson's drum since the start.

Good candidate with impressive club and international career but a bit in the Roxburgh / Houllier mould maybe?

He certainly has Finland in contention so any fears that he may be yesterday's man (Swiss success was in 1994, Inter Milan was late 90s) seem unfounded.

He has the international experience the "senior players" seem to want. He strikes me as a bit gentlemanly and maybe doesn't have the gravitas required to get our team fired up.

[youngirish]

I'd prefer Jewell tbh. I reckon he would stick around for the long haul if we were doing well. Can't see the same with Hodgson.

[eekers]

i dont believe it should be an international manager's job to get players fired up - if they dont feel pride in playing for their country i cant see anyone helping them.

jewell iss no more likely to stick around
he's got a terrible record for clearing off to clubs
and iim sure he'd love a plum top premiership job

hodgson however is in latter stages of his career and has probably no more interest in day to day management.
and im sure the premiership doesnt interest him anymore

he qualified the swiss for the euros in 96 as well as the world cup in 94 btw

[Wolfie]

He has the international experience the "senior players" seem to want. He strikes me as a bit gentlemanly and maybe doesn't have the gravitas required to get our team fired up.

Yeah Stutts, the often aired concerns in relation to our current crop of players "moral courage" continues to worry me.

[Billsthoughts]

Neil McD has been banging Hodgson's drum since the start.


ah.....first childish giggle of the day...:)

[Stuttgart88]

The ability to set out a well balanced functional team is more of a concern to me in a way. I think the penny has begun to drop with the players now but even still if they get bored during international meet ups (poor pets) I won't underestimate the capacity of some of our players to underperform.

Anyway, I've no idea of Hodgson's football philosophy. Is he an attacking coach, a defensive coach or a guy who can vary it?

[Noelys Guitar]

The ability to set out a well balanced functional team is more of a concern to me in a way. I think the penny has begun to drop with the players now but even still if they get bored during international meet ups (poor pets) I won't underestimate the capacity of some of our players to underperform.

Anyway, I've no idea of Hodgson's football philosophy. Is he an attacking coach, a defensive coach or a guy who can vary it?

Finland have only conceded 7 goals so far in this campaign. That is a good sign. Hodgson to me is a real contender for the job. Speculating here but I believe he would want to manage us over continuing with Finland (bigger profile for him and he would have seen the impact Charlton had with the Irish team).

[NeilMcD]

Roy Hodgson (born August 9, 1947) is an English football manager. He is currently the head coach of the Finnish national team.

Hodgson is probably best known for guiding the Swiss national team to the 1994 World Cup and Euro 1996; before that Switzerland had not qualified for a major tournament since the 1960s. He has also coached many notable club sides, including Malmö FF, Internazionale, Blackburn Rovers, Grasshoppers, F.C. Copenhagen and Udinese.

Hodgson has served several times as a member of UEFA's technical study group at the European Championships, and he is also a member of the FIFA Technical Study Group (TSG) at the 2006 World Cup. Hodgson has worked as a television pundit in several of the countries in which he has coached as well.
Contents


Biography

Hodgson was born in Croydon and educated at John Ruskin Grammar School. He was a moderately successful player with Crystal Palace followed by several years in non-league football with Tonbridge, Gravesend and Northfleet and Maidstone United (where he was assistant coach to Bobby Houghton), before starting his coaching career at Swedish Allsvenskan outfit Halmstads BK in 1976. He spent five years at the club, winning the Swedish championship in 1976 and 1979. In 1980, he moved to Bristol City in his native England, where he was assistant manager and later manager. In 1983, Hodgson moved back to Sweden to take over Örebro SK. In 1985, he took over at Malmö FF, which he led to five consecutive Allsvenskan league championships, two Swedish championships (at the time the Swedish championship was decided through play-offs) as well as two Swedish Cups before moving to Swiss side Neuchâtel Xamax in 1990. Along with Houghton, Hodgson is credited with transforming Swedish football.[1]

In 1992, Hodgson took over the Swiss national team, which he led to the 1994 World Cup, also reaching the second round, and Euro 1996. Before the start of the European Championships, however, he joined Italian Serie A giants Internazionale, where he worked from 1995 to 1997, reaching the UEFA Cup final in 1996-97. In 1997, he moved back to England to manage Premiership side Blackburn Rovers, which he guided to the UEFA Cup in his first season, but was sacked early in the second season because of poor form. In 1998, he was seriously considered to succeed Berti Vogts as the coach of the German national team, but the German FA decided to appoint a domestic coach instead. In 1999, he had a brief second stint at Inter before returning to Switzerland to coach Grasshoppers for a season.

In 2000, Hodgson was one of three candidates to take over as England manager, but when Sven-Göran Eriksson was chosen, he moved to Denmark to win the Superliga championship with F.C. Copenhagen in 2000-01. In 2001, he broke his contract with F.C. Copenhagen to move to Serie A side Udinese, before taking over as coach of the United Arab Emirates later in the same year. In May 2004, he moved to Norwegian club Viking F.K.. On August 15, 2005, he agreed to take over as coach of the Finnish national team for the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign. He started the job in January 2006.

[edit] Managerial stats
Team Nat From To Record
G W L D Win %
Halmstads BK Flag of Sweden 1976 1980
Bristol City Flag of England 3 January 1982 30 April 1982 20 3 12 5 15.00
Örebro SK Flag of Sweden 1983 1985
Malmö FF Flag of Sweden 1985 1990
Neuchâtel Xamax Flag of Switzerland 1990 1992
Switzerland Flag of Switzerland 1992 1995
Internazionale Flag of Italy 1995 1997
Blackburn Rovers Flag of England 1 June 1997 21 November 1998 62 22 22 18 35.48
Internazionale Flag of Italy 1999 1999
Grasshoppers Flag of Switzerland 1999 2000
F.C. Copenhagen Flag of Denmark 2000 2001
Udinese Flag of Italy 21 June 2001 10 December 2001 17 7 5 5 41.17
United Arab Emirates Flag of the United Arab Emirates 2001 2003
Viking FK Flag of Norway 11 July 2004 2006
Finland Flag of Finland 2006 present

[edit] Managerial honours

[edit] Flag of Sweden Halmstads BK

Winners

* 1976 Allsvenskan (Level 1)
* 1976 Swedish Champions
* 1979 Allsvenskan (Level 1)
* 1979 Swedish Champions

[edit] Flag of Sweden Malmö FF

Winners

* 1985–86 Svenska Cupen
* 1986 Allsvenskan (Level 1)
* 1986 Swedish Champions
* 1987 Allsvenskan (Level 1)
* 1988 Allsvenskan (Level 1)
* 1988 Swedish Champions
* 1988–89 Svenska Cupen
* 1989 Allsvenskan (Level 1)

Runner Up

* 1987 Allsvenskan play-off
* 1989 Allsvenskan play-off

[edit] Flag of Switzerland Switzerland

* 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification

Flag of Italy Internazionale

Runner Up

* 1996–97 UEFA Cup
Flag of Denmark F.C. Copenhagen

Winner

* 2000–01 Danish Superliga (Level 1)

[Stuttgart88]

So, not really much more experienced than Stan then.

[NeilMcD]

I would reckon the first thing that Hodgson would do, is that he would make us hard to beat and tight at the back. It really is some achievement to have Finland knocking on the door when they have been in the doldrums of late and have never qualified or even really been in the running.

[eekers]

interestingly duff played his first full season under him at blackburn. scored 4 goal in 26 appearances.
was duff one of the senior players to meet with the fai?
and another point of face is he's getting paid a pittence at finland.
considering he turned turn the wales job, back when hughes got it, because he wouldnt work for less than 100k a year :)

[paul_oshea]

really? duff scored 10 and 11 the next seasons i think though....

its quite mixed though his record. I mean what he is doing with Finland is great, but what were there youth sides doing over the last few years?! I also think that Finland were in the top 4 the last campaign also.....but still if he can make a team beat the lesser oppositions home and away then he IS OUR man.

[Armando]

I'm also a long time Hodgson fanclub member on here:o

There's a good Q&A write up with him here: http://www.uefa.com/newsfiles/548601.pdf

It's gives a good insight into his coaching mindset and philosophy. He is 100% assured at what he does and has adapted to many different coaching roles.

You could also add to his expansive CV that he guided Malmo to 2 European Cup 1/4 final appearances in his time there.

[passinginterest]

Would it not worry people that he has a habit of jumping from one job to another? In his recent past he seems to hardly ever spend more than a year in one place? He's like the littlest hobo, he just keeps moving on.

Still it might be no bad thing if he gets things organised and gives us a good year or two to get back on our feet.

[drinkfeckarse]

Not the worst candidate by any means and obviously a much better bet than El Tel. Jewell for me though would be the right choice.

[Torn-Ado]

I'd take him.

[Stuttgart88]

Finland's results in this campaign to date:

Poland 1 – 3 Finland
Finland 1 – 1 Portugal
Armenia 0 – 0 Finland
Kazakhstan 0 – 2 Finland
Finland 1 – 0 Armenia
Azerbaijan 1 – 0 Finland
Finland 0 – 2 Serbia
Finland 2 – 0 Belgium
Finland 2 – 1 Kazakhstan
Finland 0 – 0 Poland
Belgium 0 – 0 Finland
Finland 2 – 1 Azerbaijan
Portugal – Finland playing tonight

Mixed enough and they’re really only still in contention because Portugal shipped 90th minute equalizers in back-to-back games in September with Poland & Serbia (I laughed sadistically at the time, thinking that I knew how they felt!).

That said, very respectable results with what I guess isn’t that strong or deep a squad and only slipped on one of a few banana skins.

By comparison Portugal and Poland each won by 2 in Azerbaijan, Serbia by 5 whereas Finland lost.

At least Kazakstan didn't beat them 5-2 and draw with them in Helsinki!

[Armando]

Just like to add there has been the question can he motivate the players, he seems quite placcid etc?

Well going by what he's doing with Finland I'd say it's a resounding YES.
He has the whole squad on the same wavelength, not just the starting 11. Senior pros like Hyppia and Litmanen are right behind him. In Litmanens case he has made himself available returning earlier than expected from a bad achilles injury to aid their cause. And perhaps most tellingly Hodgson has even persuaded Antti Niemi back on board from retirement to sit on the bench as reserve to Jussi Jaaskelainen...Niemi originally retired because of lack of starts, but after a conversation with Hodgson, where he was told he would still be back up, couldn't wait to join up again to aid in whatever way he can.

If he can get our players of the same mindset...I'm thinking of someone like Stephen Ireland here and senior pros who might be considering retirement, then we will have a major chance of qualifying for the World Cup - no matter what group we are in.

[Wolfie]

Kevin Moran once said that Jack Charlton pin pointed his initial task as tackling our goals against record.

Irelands goals against record dropped considerably and made us hard to beat.

Many here, me included, often target the midfield as our main problem area. We often overlook the amount of soft and speculative goals our defence has conceded (possibly partly due to a weak midfield).

If we could replicate Finlands goals against record we'd be at least back on track to steadying the ship and restoring lost confidence.

[Stuttgart88]

There's a good Q&A write up with him here: http://www.uefa.com/newsfiles/548601.pdfJeepers, that was a great read. Without twisting the knife in, can you imagine Stan trying to answer those questions?

"Eh, I dunno, you tell me?"

[eekers]

im finding myself watching highlights of finland on youtube now.
hope portugal get a result tonight

[passinginterest]

Jeepers, that was a great read. Without twisting the knife in, can you imagine Stan trying to answer those questions?

"Eh, I dunno, you tell me?"

Excellent reading. They should be the questions all the candidates are asked in their interviews.

[frankbrett]

According to the Guardian..

The Finnish FA yesterday vowed to do all it could to stop its coach, Roy Hodgson, succeeding Steve Staunton in charge of Republic of Ireland. The former Blackburn manager has been a great success since he took over at the start of last year and has moved into the reckoning alongside Terry Venables and Paul Jewell.
Senior Ireland players are believed to want a manager who has international experience, which goes against the former Wigan manager, and the prospect of Venables being available is receding as England now need only a draw against Croatia tomorrow night to reach the Euro 2008 finals in Austria and Switzerland

[jmurphyc]

Yeah I'd say Roy Hodgson is the best candidate. He ticks a lot of boxes. If Beenhakker was available he would also be up there but we can't wait until after the Euro 2008. They're very similar candidates. The interview on the UEFA website was an excellent read and said a lot about his style.

[paul_oshea]

i really like this question. All common sense really, but it takes an intellect to get it across so simply:

12 • What are the key qualities which
a coach requires to be a success?
Briefly, I would say a successful coach
needs leadership skills, a talent for reading
the game, a gift for communication,
a capacity for detailed preparation, a
likable personality, a strong character,
a sense of perspective, and humility.
Books could be written on each of these
aspects of management – some already
have. And when we talk about these
qualities, I remember reading a quote
from the American John Wooden, who
said: “Talent is God-given; be humble.
Fame is man-given; be thankful.
And conceit is self-given; be careful.”
13 • What is your best quality?
Two qualities which I prize most in other
coaches are energy and enthusiasm,
and fortunately I think I have both. If you
are going to be a top coach, you need
to have those core qualities. Of course,
there are many other attributes which
we could discuss, but without energy
and enthusiasm a coach will struggle,
and I hope nobody will ever accuse me
of lacking either.

[NeilMcD]

Coach Roy Hodgson is looking forward to Finland's qualification-or-bust meeting with Portugal in Porto tonight, and so are his players. "The task is tough but I believe in my team. They are up to it," he said.

Final permutations
With Poland already through, Portugal, Finland and Serbia could all yet join them in the finals from Group A. A point at the Estádio do Dragão would be enough for Portugal, but should they lose, Finland would qualify for UEFA EURO 2008™ provided Serbia fail to pick up maximum points in their final games against Poland tonight and Kazakhstan on Saturday.

A simple plan
"I really enjoy these kind of matches," admitted English coach Hodgson, who has a fully-fit 21-man squad to pick from. "We will try to defend well and score when we have a chance. I know this sounds dull but that's the best answer I have. I am very confident that we are capable of fighting for a win and will not be nervous. The task is tough but I believe in my team. They are up to it."

Combined total
Should Finland's captain and vice-captain, Jari Litmanen and Sami Hyypiä respectively, play tonight they will reach a combined total of 200 caps - 110 for Litmanen and 90 for Hyypiä - and the benefit of all that experience has given Litmanen hope. "If there is something I have learned in my long career, it is that nothing is over until it is over," he said.

'We can make history'
"It will be a difficult task but at the same time a great challenge," added Hyypiä. "We can make history and we'll see after the match what happens. All the pressure is on Portugal - they are the favourites. I hope we can make the match really tough for our hosts. Of course we need to win - a draw is not enough - but we certainly have a chance."

[Ireland4ever]

I would like to see him get the job, and if people are worried he will skip off in a hurry i doubt he would...i reckon it would be the ideal job for him... he would be based mainly in Britain, something that should appeal to him, what with him being british.

[OwlsFan]

I'd take him.

And would you like him as a manager as well :p Neill likes to tick his box.

Certainly a wandering minstrel but if we got one campaign out of him for which we qualified, who cares. Yes, his record defensively for Finland is impressive and like Jack, if you start from that basis, you won't go far wrong and will be there or thereabouts.

[jmurphyc]

The important thing with Hodgson is that he'd almost certainly stay for a whole qualifying campaign. I'd be very surprised if he left halfway through. And even if he did leave after one campaign I really wouldn't mind that much, as if we did well with him (which I'm sure we would) then we wouldn't have a problem finding a decent candidate to replace him. And He'll make us competitive and more tactically aware. Whereas I could easily see Jewell leaving for a nice premiership job halfway through.

[JC_GUFC]

Great to see this thread on here! I very rarely come on to this forum but I thought I was on my own in thinking he was the man for the job.

What he's done at Finland is excellent, admittedly it's a pretty poor group but no worse than ours!

I've been saying to my mates all along that I was hoping he'd be appointed and it's good that he's finally been linked! That along with the fact that I've backed him at 60/1 for the job! :)

[eekers]

nil nil at the moment against the portuguese

25 minutes left and im craping myself in case the fins win

[eekers]

job done
roy the fai should send a plane for you in the morning

[Stuttgart88]

England may want him now.

Also, yet another chapter to discredit Venables.

[Noelys Guitar]

I wonder who England will go for. I have a feeling they will wait and leave Venables in charge on a temporary basis. Thus leaving Hodgson free to come to us!

[eekers]

they'll sniff after mourinho to look like they're after a top candidate, and end up with martin o neill no doubt

[geysir]

If Hodgson was keen to stay with Finland then wouldn´t it have been more normal that he sign a contract before the last game.
The Guardian journalist sounds pretty sure that the Finns have the Irish vacancy as a real threat.
I hope he is in the reckoning.

[Stuttgart88]

they'll sniff after mourinho to look like they're after a top candidate, and end up with martin o neill no doubtBoth set piece / attritious / long ball managers? Or is O'Neill playing more expansively at Villa?

[eirebhoy]

Would you say they like to play a long ball game? I think Mourinho really focuses on passing while Celtic played some great stuff under O'Neill.

[Stuttgart88]

Not strictly speaking, but neither would have had as much success without a big forward like Drogba or Sutton.

Both were very heavily dependent on set pieces: Chelsea won so many tight games from frees and corners and almost all Celtic CL goals in MON's first season were from Thompson frees or corners iirc.

During Mourinho's first season in charge at Chelsea I stuck up a piece here comparing Mourinho to O'Neill. Obviously not carbon copies of each other but lots of points in common. Mourinho's style changed a bit after 2005 as well.

Here's the thread: http://foot.ie/showthread.php?t=21300&highlight=o%27neill

I still think it rings true.

[citizenerased]

id agree with that, both managers love the route one, tenacious football, any celtic fan will tell you celtic are alot better to watch under strachan..mourinho is another one trick pony...i hope he is the next england manager!!

[John83]

Not strictly speaking, but neither would have had as much success without a big forward like Drogba or Sutton...
Or Heskey. You know, that guy O'Neill managed at Leicester.


I'm also a long time Hodgson fanclub member on here:o

There's a good Q&A write up with him here: http://www.uefa.com/newsfiles/548601.pdf

It's gives a good insight into his coaching mindset and philosophy. He is 100% assured at what he does and has adapted to many different coaching roles.

You could also add to his expansive CV that he guided Malmo to 2 European Cup 1/4 final appearances in his time there.
I highly recommend that interview to everyone - very good.

[eirebhoy]

Not strictly speaking, but neither would have had as much success without a big forward like Drogba or Sutton.

Both were very heavily dependent on set pieces: Chelsea won so many tight games from frees and corners and almost all Celtic CL goals in MON's first season were from Thompson frees or corners iirc.

During Mourinho's first season in charge at Chelsea I stuck up a piece here comparing Mourinho to O'Neill. Obviously not carbon copies of each other but lots of points in common. Mourinho's style changed a bit after 2005 as well.

Here's the thread: http://foot.ie/showthread.php?t=21300&highlight=o%27neill

I still think it rings true.
Fair points but I put Mourinho as a similar style to Kerr and Strachan tbh, with a bit more charisma. ;)

[CollegeTillIDie]

We should be looking for a top class candidate for the position. It's the biggest job in Irish football and international jobs carry a prestige beyond their salaries.
The people we should be looking at are:- Jose Mourinho ( if you don't ask him you'll never know) Fabio Capello, Marcello Lippi, Roy Hodgson . Any one of those four would be a very credible candidate with the players and anyone of them is the calibre of candidate we should be seeking. No disrespect to Paul Jewell intended but that's what is needed at this level.

[Drumcondra 69er]

Dunno if anyone's noticed or mentioned it but that UEFA interview with Hodgson was conducted by Andy Roxborough who, if the papers are to be believed, is on of the FAI 'Kingmakers'. Am I right in thinking they've done some work together for UEFA. COuld be a positive if Roxborough is involved, fingers crossed.

[tetsujin1979]

Dunno if anyone's noticed or mentioned it but that UEFA interview with Hodgson was conducted by Andy Roxborough who, if the papers are to be believed, is on of the FAI 'Kingmakers'. Am I right in thinking they've done some work together for UEFA. COuld be a positive if Roxborough is involved, fingers crossed.
I think Roxborough is involved with the UEFA Technical Comittee, I'm not sure exactly what they do, but I remember during the Youth Championships in the UAE they picked the team of the tournament, which included Stephen Elliott on the bench

[Stuttgart88]

I wasn't aware they'd gone to Roxburgh.

He, Hodgson and Houllier are part of an inner circle of technical / academic type coaches in UEFA's ranks I think.

Edit: sorry, Tets beat me to it and was more accurate - as usual!

[Drumcondra 69er]

I wasn't aware they'd gone to Roxburgh.

He, Hodgson and Houllier are part of an inner circle of technical / academic type coaches in UEFA's ranks I think.

Edit: sorry, Tets beat me to it and was more accurate - as usual!

He's been mentioned in the tabloids so it's more then likely bullsh1t. Would be a nice contact though, surely he'd see through Venables bluster.