Comments on: Who’d Be An England Manager?

By: Svenalike.co.uk

Svenalike.co.uk — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 09:14:56 +0000

Jon T. You say we needed a “bit of luck” which is an understatement perhaps when many of us feel particularly “robbed” of the Euro 2004 championship by a certain dishonest Swiss ref who was clearly determined to see England lose in the game that saw our hopes smashed once again. He was sacked and suffered death threats from all over the world but that didn’t help Sven or the squad.
I truly believe that S-G E provided probably the best chance for England’s international success in decades and I dispair for W-Cup 2010 as there are NO coach managers near his calibre that seem interested in taking the job after the (xenophobic?) treatment that rewarded Sven’s dedication and ability.
The FA officially list Sven as Englands 2nd most successful manager in history after Sir Alf Ramsey’s herioc team won in 1966. In my book however, since Sir Alf was subsequently sacked for failing even to qualify for a later international tournament, the honours are probably even and the foreign press are almost certainly right when they claim that England “threw away” the best manager they (and the world) have ever had??????

By: Jon T

Jon T — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 07:28:57 +0000

I have to agree with Svenalike… I was not the biggest fan of Sven during his reign (because of obvious hurt each time we went out of a finals tournament). Now after McClaren, I have been brought down to earth a little and realise that Sven probably did about as well as he could with the players England have. Alright, maybe with a bit of luck we would have won a penalty shootout here or there, or Ronnie would not have scored that freak goal against Seaman and we would have found ourselves that step closer to gold. With honest reflection, Sven did a good job, which in turn reflects on how badly McClaren did.

By: Svenalike.co.uk

Svenalike.co.uk — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 13:54:18 +0000

Any objective appraisal of England’s “Sven years” would indicate some small measure of coaching skill in the light of virtually the same squad’s more recent results?
As “Johnny foreigner” however, Sven had the “audacity” to lack media charisma and fail to pick up a trophy or two while “disgracefully” cruising to successive top qualification and quarter finals and losing only 5 competitive matches during his stewardship.
Those within the British media who’s continual attacks contributed to him departing from “football’s top job” may now have time to reflect on their charge of “underachievement” during next summer?
On the bright side, England’s loss is Man City’s gain….?

By: DBeech

DBeech — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 13:20:34 +0000

Who’d be an England Manager? Anyone who wanted to be an instant millionaire.