I’m worried players back Harry

Posted Friday, February 10, 2012 by The Sun

I’m worried players back Harry
REDKNAPP FAN ... England striker Rooney

NO MATTER who England appoint as manager, I can't see them winning Euro 2012.

Every couple of years England are installed as one of the favourites to win the World Cup or European Championships, which is strange because they haven't won a tournament since 1966. And that was in England.

Harry Redknapp is the one everyone seems to want and, OK, I can see players maybe being a bit more emotionally attached to him, so he might get a bit more out of them.

But, without even thinking about it, you'd say Spain and Holland are better sides, so England will have their work cut out.

Harry has done well as a manager in terms of getting Spurs into the Champions League and winning the FA Cup with Portsmouth but international football is very different.

The players he has at his disposal aren't going to change. He would have limited time with them so it's not really about coaching. You're trying to develop a team spirit more than anything.

It is a tough job because you have big egos coming in from the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool and, maybe, Harry is the man to make them gel.

Terry Venables did it at Euro 96 and it got England to the semi-finals — but ever since then it's been disappointment after disappointment.

What worries me are the likes of Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand coming out and saying Harry should get the job.

Some players are going on about how great Fabio Capello was, which was odd because they seemed to be saying different things in private.

And whatever happened to players keeping their heads down?

It shouldn't be down to the players who gets the job. OK, you might consult one or two senior players but the problem is that what they want seems to change every couple of years.

They seemed to like Sven Goran Eriksson at first but then the complaint was he was too laid-back and wasn't passionate enough about the job so they wanted an Englishman.

Steve McClaren was given the job and the problem with him appeared to be that he was too pally, joining in at training and calling John Terry 'JT' and Steven Gerrard 'Stevie G' so they wanted more of a disciplinarian.

Then they decided Capello was too aloof and there was a problem with the language barrier so now we're back to them wanting an Englishman.

Whoever gets the job is still going to have to deal with the issue of Terry being stripped of the captaincy.

The FA haven't helped themselves. We're supposed to believe you're innocent until proven guilty. Terry had the captaincy taken away but was still available for selection.

That didn't make a whole lot of sense and to take that decision at a meeting where Capello wasn't present completely undermined him.

When you get into a situation where neither side will back down, then a split is inevitable. We've all been there. I know I have!

Regardless of who comes in, people need to stop placing such importance as the captaincy because it looks like it's an obsession in England.

Terry had a Press conference when he was made captain, David Beckham had a Press conference to announce he was standing down as captain — and cried!

Give me a break! It's not a big ego trip and it shouldn't be about being popular with your team-mates. It should be because you are respected by them and as a reward for your service. Nothing more, nothing less.

Being without a captain isn't as big a deal as having no manager.

And I do think Capello is a loss. His track record is brilliant.

It's hard to judge his reign because of the way it has ended. Yes, the performance in the World Cup wasn't good enough but the Euros may well have turned out better.

Well, it's not an issue now as the FA look for his successor.

I wouldn't call it a poisoned chalice because it's still a very good, well-paid job but it's certainly not an easy role.