The other BIG England Question - Who to Lead the Troops

[loz]

A whole load of us would love to see McLaren replaced as England manager - in fact the only people who don't are surely Scottish.

So who would you put in charge if you had free choice of anyone. I have tried to include a lot of the obvious candidates, some less obvious ones and also some which would never take the post anyway (i.e. Ferguson). I have also included an 'Other' option if you would go for someone else.

So this is not asking who you would want bearing in mind availability, it is simply asking who you would want (given that your objective is to make England successful and good to watch - understand Bluebeard )

[loz]

My vote goes with a return for Glen Hoddle. Probably a bit of a strange call given that he has been out of the game for so long now however of all the names on that list I think he is the one most likely to provide a satisfactory level of entertainment and success.

Glen plays football and insists upon football from his teams, no matter who they are and no matter who the opposition are. Unlike some I don't think we have a world beating squad of players just now but what we do have is a squad, that if playing anywhere near its best can certainly be classified as competing to be one of the top 8 teams in the world. What we do, however, is play like a team struggling to be in the top 32 teams! Glen, for me, is a manager that can correct that.

[Tim W]

I voted for some other Geezer and by that I think I would like to see a team builder and would give Coppel a run for his money. Stop laughing let's face it he can't be worse than Sven McLaren.

[g3.7]

with no exaggeration, all of those are better than mcclaren, some by a long shot.

wenger would help in that arsenal, spending ?5m net a year without him could well sink, and he's obviously a good manager.

lippi is great, proven international manager now.

ferguson... again, obviously good, and wouldn't play favourites... though you suspect he is unable of repairing relationships. if he falls out with a player- that's it.

hoddle hasn't been successful since, arguably, chelsea and if you want, england. how many jobs has he failed to make an impression with. did he sign tarrico? well, he did play him, which is bad enough. I'd expect keiran richardson at wingback. still miles better than mcclaren.

my choice would be that the readers of the sun text in on a national vote to decide the players.

gt steveeG in th middl nw! fat frank is soo rubbish lol.

[Sofa Manager]

(...) in fact the only people who don't are surely Scottish and Portuguese.

For your sake (Brits) Big Phil would fit like a glove. I'm 99,9453436 % sure.

However...I think you should stick with McLaren. Great great manager. Viva McLaren.

P.S. It feels good to sabotage this thread. What ? No McLaren option ? Other geezer then it is. Make him McLaren. Or Curbishley.

[g3.7]

oh, also that presenter of the wright stuff. unassuming fella, can't recall his name. would see swp made the playmaker.

[Liam]

Roy Keane

[loz]

Roy Keane

aargh yes that was a name I meant to put on the poll

[loz]

with no exaggeration, all of those are better than mcclaren, some by a long shot.

Well I could have put Barry Fry on the list and that would still have been the case

hoddle hasn't been successful since, arguably, chelsea and if you want, england. how many jobs has he failed to make an impression with.

I thought he did well turning things round and saving SOuthampton from the drop. He then started well at Tottenham however admittedly it all went wrong there. At Wolves I felt he turned round a club on the slide and although they drew a ridiculous number of games I felt they were clearly heading in the right direction under Hoddle.

Anyway the international job is a different monster from a club manager job. Hoddle always struck me as a manager who could get a pool of players together and in a short space of time get them to play the game the way he wanted them to rather than trying to glue together a combination of tactics that players were used to at club level. Whenever I have heard players interviewed who played for England under Hoddle they always spoke very highly of Hoddle's approach to games and the fact that even in training he demanded a standard of football and concentration that was on a par with the status the players were supposed to be. This is something I don't believe is happening at the moment (and hasn't happened for a long time) which is why England players are performing well below par.

[g3.7]

I'm pretty sure hoddle is notorious for poor man management.

[bjd]

Glenda for me too, he was tactically and technically the best boss we have ever had.

However he lost the press and from that moment on hr never stood a chance - the way he was hounded out was awful.

He will never get the gig again though.

Wenger is a good shout, because it pains me to say it he is a top manager but also because it would screw up Arsenal and at least we wouldnt have to put up with his constant snide pops at Chelsea.

[loz]

I'm pretty sure hoddle is notorious for poor man management.

That has never been the impression I have got. What I have hard is that he doesn't take any nonsense from players and there are certainly no Billy Big Boots in his squads - he isn't frightened to put big name players in their place when needed. And boy oh boy do England need that!

[BlueBeard]

I'd go for either Graham Taylor, Ian Porterfield or Geoff Hurst

I reckon Sparky could do a good job, or maybe Sam Allardyce - a big maybe, though. At least they wouldn't pick players solely on their reputation or because of their popularity with the press. Trouble is, the FA will insist on a 'yes-man', and there's no way that either Hughes or Allardyce could be described as such.

[loz]

Eddie Mac Bluebeard?

[BlueBeard]

Eddie Mac Bluebeard?

Sacrilege!!!!!

If Eddie Mac were ever to return to the UK, he should only be allowed to manage Chelsea

[lauren]

to me it's absolutely daft that a national team could even have a foreign manager and it should be banned.

so that would leave out fergie, sparky, sam, lippi, arsyw**ker, etc

I think the same problem exists with the team as the manager - there is nobody appropriate to lead the team therefore the team is crap.

El Tel is past it now.

[sergeyMS]

And who is El Tel??

[loz]

And who is El Tel??

This fellow

[loz]

to me it's absolutely daft that a national team could even have a foreign manager and it should be banned.

so that would leave out fergie, sparky, sam, lippi, w*****, etc

Why Sam? He's a Brummie! (many would argue that is reason enough to leave him out!)

[sergeyMS]

I want to name `The Special One`, but he`s good for Chelsea.

And why I was the only to name Lippi?

Do you think he is a c**k-sucker??

For me it`s a good manager, having some great expirience and it`s so fresh that you have no need to be young to remeber it.....

[The Moos]

I want to name `The Special One`, but he`s good for Chelsea.

And why I was the only to name Lippi?

Do you think he is a c**k-sucker??

For me it`s a good manager, having some great expirience and it`s so fresh that you have no need to be young to remeber it.....

I'm a huge Juventus fan so I won't say that Lippi is a rooster-licker (or whatever you wanna call it).

Lippi was great at Juventus and he really has got style. He can stand there by the sideline in his expensive suit smoking a cigarr not showing any emotion at all while his team are winning some big game. That man is made of ice. He's cool (you now, like ice).

[Tim W]

Eddie Mac Bluebeard?

Sacrilege!!!!!

If Eddie Mac were ever to return to the UK, he should only be allowed to manage Chelsea

Here here, best manager we've ever had including the Special One?

[Elliott]

Venables.

He's done it before for England, and would do it again.

A brilliant coach.

[andy]

Big Sam for me :-) think he is an excellent manager.... There I said it... anyone see the documentary a couple of years ago on his methods?......top bloke.

One thing I have never understand as a hard working man! ........ IS the England manager job full time ? I just don't get it? What do they do ? ..... they watch a lot of football.. so do I ... they pick a team and a formation ... so do I , in fact I can pick 10 in the next half an hour if you want ? They train with them .. occasionally ... well they don't need fitness so that is a kick about right ? what else do they do ? gee 'em up a bit on match day maybe ?? I am lost.. please explain to a thicko !!

[g3.7]

venables and allardyce are the only englishmen good enough to do it.