The Fallout From Roy Hodgson’s Departure As England Manager Continues
Photo by Dan Mullan/GettyThere was something telling in the FA’s statement yesterday following Roy Hodgson’s prepared resignation speech. With England reeling from their shock loss to Iceland in the Euro 2016 Round of 16, the FA had only this to say.
”We back Roy Hodgson’s decision to step down as England manager and will discuss next steps imminently.”
That the FA couldn’t be bothered to include the usual “we thank him for his service” boilerplate that usually accompanies managers throwing themselves on their swords says a lot about their relationship with Hodgson.
Yet for whatever reason Hodgson and FA chief executive Martin Glenn held a joint press conference today to further unpack the loss to Iceland. For his part, Hodge seemed absolutely thrilled to hold one last press conference.
”I don’t really know what I’m doing here, I’m no longer the England manager but I was told to come. I suppose someone has to come and take the slings and arrows … my emotions are the obvious ones.”
That’s how Hodgson’s presser started. It didn’t get much better from there.
Here are some, uh, highlights from that awkward bit of theater:
– Hodgson: “I’m still recovering from that, it wasn’t a good night and I’m very fragile.”
– Glenn: “There isn’t one single thing we can fix but we must punch our weight in tournaments as we haven’t been able to for the last 50 years.”
– Hodgson: “I honestly believe the players were desperately trying to win the games but last night we didn’t have the right performance.”
– Glenn: “We’re very disappointed. Iceland were a doughty opponent but we didn’t punch our weight.” [“Doughty”? Yikes.]