Hodgson's arrival brings circus to an end

Chris Hatherall

For years now the England football team has been the greatest show on earth.

In fact, in 14 packed seasons on a dizzy world tour we've seen it all.

Who could forget Glenn Hoddle's magical mystery act with Madame Eileen Drewery to start us off? Then there was Kevin Keegan's Kamikaze Katastrophe show, Super Sven's bedroom acrobatics and Don Fabio's spectacular plate throwing to follow in the second half.

And don't forget the greatest clowns of all; the wally with the brolly himself, Steve McClaren and his slapstick assistants Paul Robinson and Scott Carson. That was a special highlight.

There have been some pretty decent sideshows, too. Wags on Tour in 2006, Beckham's high-kicking spectacular in 1998, a Fake Sheikh making a guest appearance, Wayne Rooney's 'Beckham Reprise' in Germany, David Seaman's comedy roadshow in 2002 and a Hammer Horror special in 2010. And let's not even mention John Terry - because England's on-off captain deserves a tent of his very own.

But on Tuesday May 1, 2012 the circus left town.

Who knows when it will be back, either; because new England manager Roy Hodgson, a studious, serious and experienced performer with a passion for getting things right, is not a showbiz appointment.

The West Brom manager, in fact, is anything but; and although he was not many people's first choice for the post, he may well prove to be exactly what England need.

Journalists turning up for his opening performance at Wembley on Tuesday did so with all the enthusiasm of a Premier League footballer invited to enjoy an evening of Chekhov when he was more used to Legally Blonde or We Will Rock You.

They knew firstly that Hodgson would not give them a screaming back-page headline; and they knew, too, that he was too experienced to bully. And so the afternoon passed pleasantly enough with quotes that filled the pages - and Hodgson making the right kind of noises to get his England career off to a steady start.

He called for the backing of England supporters, praised his friend Harry Redknapp saying they had become 'unwitting rivals' for the job, outlined his credentials, vowed to pick Wayne Rooney - and then expertly side-stepped questions about John Terry and skilfully ducked any attempt to unpick his selection policy any further.

It would all have been very different if Harry had got the job, of course. It would have been an afternoon of slap-on-the-back cheeky Cockney humour, a laugh-a-minute press conference to put England's legendary show back on the road.

There are an awful lot of England fans who feel thoroughly miserable this morning at missing out on such a  performance; and it's easy to understand why. Harry certainly did seem the right man to put the enthusiasm back into England's turbulent season and he would have undoubtedly been a popular appointment.

But after so many controversies, so many distractions, maybe this was the right time for the show to end - and on reflection maybe plain old Mr Hodgson fits the bill after all.

It's time for the circus to move on.

Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/HT-zn3CAqbQ/post.aspx

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