FR Comments (Italics) In this excerpt from his interview to The Telegraph's Henry Winter, Roy Hodgson reveals how since leaving London and England after his early 70's beginnings at the London FA as coach and assessor, the gentlemandly and good spirited European Fulham manager - much like his Italian colleague Claudio Ranieri in Rome - has now headed home after a continental coaching Odissey to collect a long dreamed glory and popularity from his fellow citizens as The Cottagers manager but would love to take charge of England one day. The England dreamRoy Hodgson would love to take charge of national side. Hodgson has achieved so much in his life that it is slightly strange to hear he has further ambitions or that he admits to having regrets. This is the manager who masterminded five consecutive titles with Sweden side Malmo, who coached Switzerland to the last 16 of USA 94, steered Inter Milan to the Uefa Cup final and has now guided Fulham to the knock-out stage of the Europa League and ninth in the Premier League.
Nemo propheta in patriaThe old latin say hints to the fact of how difficult is for someone being successful in your own court yard. Yet a twinge of sorrow clings to this otherwise enthusiastic man. Because Hodgson made his name abroad, his parents passed away without fully appreciating the scale of their son's accomplishments. "My biggest regret was my parents never really understood what I had done,'' reflected Hodgson. "I remember going into an Italian restaurant with my mother when she was quite old and the waiter recognised me. 'How does he know you?' my mother said. '' Simple. Hodgson's good work in Italy."
Coaching Odysseus I was popular with Inter. [Club owner Massimo] Moratti says I was the best coach he'd had. Before I came to Inter, Paul Ince was disenchanted. His wife Claire hadn't settled. He didn't speak the language. So my coming was a boon.'' "We had a young Roberto Carlos and other famous players. And we got to the Uefa Cup final." It was a shame my parents didn't know. Sometimes people wrote nice things about me in English papers and they would be astonished. My career has been off the radar. I built up a fantastic reputation with FC Copenhagen and in Norway. It was strange I couldn't go to Italy, Sweden or Switzerland without being noticed but I walked around London quite unknown.''
At last home cherishedNot now. Fulham's bright football is acclaimed. Their dignified manager is lauded. At 62, Hodgson is the perfect blend of wisdom and energy as he sits in his well-ordered office at Fulham's bubbly training ground. He sees managers of his age like Harry Redknapp and Sir Alex Ferguson, his 67 year-old adversary at Craven Cottage on Saturday, and notes that experience is being cherished.
Hunger and Enthusiasm"Overcoming knock-backs and confronting situations over the years puts us in a better position to do the job,'' said Hodgson. "A native talent for the job can be there from the offset. Alex started very young and very successfully. I did myself: I won the championship in my first job in '76 [with Halmstads]. I had good qualities then but I'm a better manager now.'' Like Ferguson and Redknapp, Hodgson exudes a passion for his chosen trade. "Hunger has to be innate. How come at 80 Brian Glanville is a damned sight more enthusiastic than some journalists just starting off? It's the light that shines within. Nothing has ever killed that light for me.''Nor in Ferguson. "We have been friends for many years from his early days of United when I was at Malmo.
Sir Alex FergusonHis major strength is retaining the desire to repeat something that has been so good the previous year. His single-mindedness is very important. The number of times Alex and United are written off but he just rides right the way through that. Who's the man who has the last laugh? Alex."Alex has a lot of emotion in him. I certainly have. We both attempt to control that emotion but it's also a blessing. The people who don't have that emotion it eats them up from within. Alex and I can get very angry very quickly but it doesn't lie there and fester for weeks, eating away. There are not many managers at the top level who are not emotional people. The quiet introverted man doesn't get to those levels so often.''
Rafa BenitezHodgson nodded at mention of Rafa Benítez, whose trademark response to a Liverpool goal is to bark orders at his defenders. "I can identify with that to some extent. The goal comes as a release and also makes you worry about the step ahead.''The cult of the manager slightly worried this ego-free individual." As managers, we have to be very careful to make sure we don't regard ourselves as centre of the universe,'' added Hodgson.
Coaches' weekBut this has been a week celebrating two showmen, Bill Shankly and Jose Mourinho. "Those two are very different characters to myself, Arsène Wenger and even Alex, who's a modest man. Was Shankly modest? Mourinho could certainly never be accused of being modest. Modesty is a very important quality. But Mourinho's playing a role he thinks is required for the job and he's succeeding very well with it.''
New generation easy lifeManagers of Hodgson's vintage often lament the problem of motivating some players, most of whom in the Premier League are millionaires. "They do lack it [hunger] a bit more than people of my and Alex's generation. People needed to become footballers to get themselves out of the worst possible jobs, going down mines or working in the docks."Alex and I can relate to that. Life is so much more comfortable now: there is no fear of being sent down the mine or dying through lack of food on the table. The player coming to us now is not desperate to make a living. They know life is good whatever happens.'' Sympathy for the modern star then follows. "From the outside, people envy him. He has a fantastic car, lives in a mansion and his wife has wonderful clothes and diamonds.
Audiences love lampooning
The classic example is Beckham being sent off against Argentina: that suddenly turned the most popular man in England to the most vilified. That is the knife-edge they are on." The Swedes don't even hide it: jealousy is their national trait. We are more civilised but it is still in our nature. You see all these programmes on TV where they humiliate contestants, who sit there, tears running down their eyes, and you say, 'You're out, you've won it'. It makes people feel more of a winner if they see someone walk off as an utter loser." We have come into a more dog-eat-dog world. You are never going to see what I watched in the 1950s, where opponents were applauded from the field after beating the home team.
Creating the 'Group'Authority gets challenged now. My players challenge me every day.'' In a good way. "We are developing a thinking group of players. They analyse things. I don't want robots. I'd expect Murphy, Schwarzer, Hughes, Hangeland, Baird, Konchesky and Duff all to chip in. We've got an experienced and good group. I trust them implicitly. There's no one in that group who won't give everything. Those ones have left the club.''
Hodgson's future
And what would make Hodgson himself leave? Only England. "It's perfect here at Fulham, but if I were to look beyond Fulham it would have to be a top-class national team – and what better one than your own? Of course, if the FA wanted me I'd love to do it. I would have no hesitation in accepting." It passed me by on two occasions – when Kevin Keegan got it, then Sven-Goran Eriksson. I regard the job as the pinnacle of English football. I was very close to Bob Robson, especially towards the end of his life, and he always told me his proudest moment was managing England. I was with Terry Venables the other day and his proudest moment was managing England. I'm patriotic.
Standing up for English coachingI don't go down to the Southampton docks and wave the flag when they go off to the Falklands War, but England has been good to me. I'm proud to be English." It's unlikely to happen for me; my chance has probably gone. Fabio is going to be there until 2012 and I shall be 65 and they might not be interested in 65 year-old coaches and a lot of other people will have come up along the way. We don't even know who is going to be in charge of the FA in two years' time." If a Wenger or Ferguson was interested in the job, I wouldn't dream of not saying 'what a good candidate', but I'd like to think they would first go very carefully through the English candidates before they turn abroad. We produce our share of great coaches just as much as any other country. Are you telling me Don Howe, Bobby Robson, Dave Sexton and Terry Venables aren't world-class coaches?'' Selecting an Englishman would send an important message. "I'd like to think the coaching set-up in the country would regain the status it had when I was young,'' said Hodgson. He's certainly playing his part.
Full original article and pictures from The Telegraph's Henry Winter here Football Report : From the Publishers of 1st Interactive Journal. Established 1992.
