What if…?

What if… Roberto Di Matteo starts badly at Chelsea? – July 18th 2012

The Premier League Owl

You get the sense that Roman Abramovich gave Roberto Di Matteo full-time control at Chelsea rather begrudgingly. Had Chelsea not won the European Cup, the Italian almost certainly would never have been more than a stop-gap in the position, and some illustrious continental manager would now be in place.

Past achievements have never held much significance with Chelsea’s oligarch, and as happy as he know is to have gotten his hands on club football’s most sought-after trophy, Di Matteo would be naive to think that it will give him any kind of a grace period.

This season is a blank sheet.

A lot of money has been spent over the Summer, and if that new talent doesn’t gel quickly, then it won’t be long before the whispers start about Di Matteo’s inability to handle big-name players. From the 29th September, Chelsea will face Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham in the space of thirty days, and that’s the period which will likely make or break their season. If Di Matteo can come through those games with 5 or 6 points at least, then that will strengthen his position as Christmas approaches – but any less than that, and Abramovich may get a little panicky. Historically, managers don’t want to be at their Chairman’s mercy at the turn of the year – a transfer window usually comes with a budget, and clubs don’t trust those resources to managers who they don’t have faith in.

Last season, Di Matteo was able to trade off the relief that seemed to sweep through the club after Andre Villas-Boas was sacked. By all accounts, the players didn’t agree with his methods or his selection policy, and the Italian was the antidote – and an influence that clearly liberated the players.

That was a favourable comparison, but that doesn’t exist this time around – he needs to hit the ground running or face the wrath of his notoriously impatient owner.

What if…England go out in the group stages? – May 11th 2012

The Premier League Owl

Some of the nations more notable sportswriters have already penned their disappointment with the Roy Hodgson’s appointment as England manager, so can you imagine if England flop at the first hurdle in the Summer?

Those writers will waste no time at all in reminding everyone that they were fully on-board the Harry Redknapp bandwagon if that happens. It will be unbearable; there’ll be vegetables, animals, and lots of crude photoshopping.

The long-term effect will be far more damaging though.

After the failure in South Africa, a section of the press were relentlessly and aggressively negative in their approach to Fabio Capello. Everything he did was wrong, anything one of his players did was the Italian’s fault, and the tabloids took every opportunity to print derogatory puns as headlines. They’ll hound and antagonise until the FA has no choice but to remove him from the position. The press think they should pick the England team and the manager – and because they don’t, the next best option is to dictate the atmosphere that surrounds the side so that they can hold some authority. Placating our media is harder than winning the World Cup.

If Roy Hodgson’s England come home after the group stage, the media hammering will start at the final whistle in Polkraine, and continue until his reign is over. That’s they way they are – endlessly clinging to their agendas.

England won’t win the European Championship, we all know that, but the manner in which they fail this Summer is very important. The media, as they’ve shown time and time again, are capable of creating an atmosphere so poisonous around the England team, that the players become petrified of wearing the white shirt. We can’t afford to go through another cycle of this, it’s so self-destructive.

Hodgson and his players better pray for a good showing in June, otherwise they know what’s coming.

What if…Roy Hodgson is the next England manager? – April 29th 2012

This could be a very savvy move from The Football Association.

The clamour around giving Harry Redknapp the England job has been based, as always, on the flavour of the month thinking of the press. In reality, there’s very little that suggests that Redknapp’s management style would translate into an international environment – his motivational skills, his trump card, rendered almost redundant by sporadic interaction with his squad.

What’s so appealing about Hodgson is the breadth of his experience; this is not somebody who’s been afraid to step outside of the comfort zone of English football. Through his thirty-six years in management, Hodgson has taken charge of teams in Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Italy and England – and has taken charge of the national sides of the UAE, Switzerland, and Finland.

This is a safe pair of hands.

What’s more, in his spells at West Brom and Fulham, Hodgson has extracted the most out of, what would relatively be considered, inferior players. Hopefully, what the FA have realised, is that that’s the quality an England manager needs to have. Realistically, any opponent that we would encounter beyond the quarter-finals of a tournament is likely to have a more talented set of players, hence the need for a manager who understands what’s required to overcome that situation – and how to bridge the gap in technical ability.

This, if it happens, would be a good decision. Hodgson understands international football, he’s been there before, and he probably has as good a chance as anybody of remedying the disconnect between English players’ club form and their performances in white.

Where Harry Redknapp would have been a guess, a hit-and-hope of an appointment, Hodgson would be the sensible choice – and he’s also gettable without having to go through a painful and expensive negotiation with Daniel Levy. He represents a downscale in our self-perception, which has been long overdue and may very well be of huge benefit to the players.

As alien concept as this is, the FA deserve some credit if they follow through with it.