Hiddink to England; Sven to Madrid
The title says it all.
Gus Hiddink has expressed his interest at becoming England's next manager. Hiddink guided Australia to the 2006 World Cup and has taken both Holland and South Korea to the semi-finals. He is without a shadow of doubt a good manager and has proven he can do well in the international arena. But of course he is not English and I don't think the FA will go abroad again to find Sven's replacement. But I ask you this - do you really want someone like Allardyce, McClaren or Curbishley in charge of England? Hiring any of them will take us back to the dark days of Keegan. That's not to say that Hiddink is the right man either. But if we're looking for someone with tactical awareness, experience ofbeing in the 'big time' and with a portfolio of trophies, then we should be looking at the likes of Ferguson, Wenger or Mourinho. Fabio Cappello anyone?
And what about the ice man Sven himself? He says - "In football you don't phone clubs or countries and say 'can I come and work for you'. They offer you the job." Real Madrid have probably already offered him the job. Backham and Sven linking up at Madrid - its a done deal.
posted by SKG at 1/25/2006 08:18:00 pm
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5 Comments:
Hiddink was said earlier to not have interest in the position and now his agent has reverted that. Leading Holland, South Korea and now Australia to the World Cup are strong credentials. Frankly, I said the FA would pick Steve McClaren because that is how I see them thinking but Hiddink is an excellent choice. No nonsense, no bonding, the kind of management I spoke about earlier in my article about Eriksson. If you impress, you're in; otherwise you're dropped and don't moan. The kind of wake up our players need to cajole them into more stringent performances. Hiddink is an excellent choice and more realistic, much more than Wenger, Sir Alex and Mourinho, who wouldn't touch the post at all, so I wish their names wouldn't be so easily associated with it.
RedsMan.
1/25/2006 11:40 pm
Yes, add Hiddink's success with PSV in the Champs league and in domestic Dutch competition and you have a coach who is proven to have got it consistently right in the big matches. It is significant that Hiddink's agent has already entered the English media to state that his client is interested- I'm sure the FA are impressed by such immediate enthusiam for the post.
Place his record against the English candidates and it is superior. The big question for the FA is if they will go against the weight of public opinion and appoint a non-Englishman again. It's a quandary because it would be quite an indictment against English coaching if in five years the FA believe they still need to go abroad to appoint a manager for the English national side.
Redsman and SKG, I sense you would choose Hiddink above the English candidates. Although I am swayed to do this I think its a shame that it will come at the expense of a home-grown candidate.
As for Sven at Madrid- this is a good call SKG.
1/26/2006 9:17 am
I would prefer someone English in charge of the national team, but I'm afraid there is just no one around who is good enough at the moment. It would therefore not surprise me if the FA hired a foreign manager again.
1/26/2006 8:26 pm
Like Stuart Pearce, I wish for the best candidate available to come in. I would like someone similar to Stuart Pearce to be there, he has come some time too early into management to be seriously considered. I don't think Allardyce can do it, I believe he has dreamt of it but saw it as a pipe dream, and now it has come as a possibility he is hesitant to leave a league club for a post such as this. I think Phil Gartside is hoping, by giving Allardyce support publicly to leave for the post if approached and accepted, that Allardyce will not go. Sam Allardyce is Bolton, he will be very hard to replace, he aims to replicate his desire through his players.
Steve McClaren is the only league manager to have hands-on experience. Alan Curbishley is not in my opinion ready for the post. Like Pearce, Jewell considers he is too young in the top flight to be considered, we would need to give Pearce and Jewell more time in the league before they can be considered. Hiddink is, therefore, the choice for me.
Final note: Brian Barwick proposes to choose a successor before the World Cup, saying that to watch the squad build-up in progress will do the successor well. I had my doubts initially (I seem to have doubts about most of what our FA do or propose, lately), but it doesn't sound a bad idea.
RedsMan.
1/27/2006 4:12 am
For me, Hiddink, (along with Fabio Cappello) has been the been the best coach in the world over the past twenty years. His record, achievements, conduct and technique have been exemplary.
But I agree with T, the FA will find it very difficult to be brave enough to appoint another foriegn manager even though Hiddink is by far and away the best man for the job and light years ahead of Eriksson.
Of the other contenders, I think Alladyce has the ability to inspire England to great things. His passion is second to no-one and his tactical awareness is also very astute. He has done amazing things at Bolton and despite what may say - he utilises flair players to great effect (Djorkaef, Okocha, Nakata). He gets the best out of difficult players (Diouff) and is not afraid of reputations or making difficult decisions. In essence, he is everything Eriksson is not.
Bring on Sam!
1/30/2006 9:38 pm
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