Gary Neville Is Our Mate

Following the appointment of Roy Hodgson, some of the media immediately laid bare their disappointment by poking fun at Hodgson’s rhotacism (yes RTG had to look it up also) – “Bwing on the Euwos”, screamed the Sun.

Gary Neville immediately tweeted: “Disgusting headlines, good journos under pressure writing pieces for their mates and a certain paper needs putting out of circulation”. Rightly, Neville has gained a worthy reputation for his insightful and honest punditry on Sky Sports but he must have forgotten that the Sun is a sister company to Sky, both being owned by News International. Let’s not forget what happened the last time a Sky pundit, Andy Gray, crossed News International during the phone hacking scandal. Biding their time, News International waited for Gray to slip up and took their revenge.

RTG can’t believe that Neville didn’t fully comprehend the implications of his tweet and we are, therefore, all the more impressed by him not being kow-toed to the evil empire that News International is. But watch your back Gary!

Hodgson – The Smart Choice

Finally, the FA has appointed the next England manager; Roy Hodgson. Vastly experienced and erudite, by English football standards, he was chosen ahead of Harry Redknapp, the football media’s choice, and by extension, the ‘people’s choice’. Whilst the selection process appears to be a bit of a mystery, it seems that Redknapp didn’t even appear to be in the running. Of course, rumours abound about the enmity between him and Sir Trevor Brooking costing him any chance of a successful appointment to the post.

However, it is clear that the prime qualifier for the job was to be English. With that in mind, Roy Hodgson is the right choice. It may be true that Hodgson’s main trophy winning feats occurred on the continent but he has a successful track record, at least, winning many championship titles and cup competitions throughout Europe. He also turned an international ‘minnow’, Switzerland, into the number three FIFA-ranked international side. Redknapp, on the other hand, has just one FA Cup credit to his name with what turned out to be a ‘financially-doped’ Portsmouth. Arguably, Hodgson taking Fulham to the Europa Cup Final was a more impressive feat than Redknapp reaching the last eight of the Champions League with Tottenham.

Many people, especially in the media, have voiced their extreme disappointment that the ‘people’s choice’ didn’t get the job. Given the experience when the last ‘people’s choice’, Kevin Keegan, was appointed, thank god this time we didn’t.