[MagicNMedicine]

As we all know the pendulum of media/public opinion swings from "the manager should be English" to "we need the best manager whereever they are from" and I wouldn't be surprised if after Hodgson the call is to open the doors to a foreigner again.

However one view which I have always had sympathy with, is that when we have gone for foreign managers, we have made a mistake in going for 'outsiders' like Eriksson and Capello, and instead should have gone for foreign managers that have worked in England and know the Premiership, eg Wenger, Benitez etc.

I reckon Roberto Mancini might be a good fit for this type of England manager, and by then he might be looking for a new challenge and if City win a few honours between now and then his reputation will be very high. I know people will throw the line "City just won because they spent money" but part of that was spending money to get a top manager in and Mancini was clearly that as he proved in Inter who hadn't won a trophy in Italy for nearly 20 years and he made them the dominant team in Serie A, set an all time record for consecutive wins etc.

But also I think Mancini has got the temperament to be able to handle it and handle the pressure, he's had a lot on his plate with Tevez, Balotelli etc and the media have tried to wind him up but he always deals with them with charm and politeness and seems like the man in control rather than losing his rag. I also think his tactics would be well suited to the generally attritional and boring international game, he would make England a well organised and hard team to beat and as for the whole business of handling players with egos and having the balls to drop players, Mancini can definitely do that.

I know it's looking a while ahead but I can see Mancini being a good choice when the next England manager is discussed. I also think he would be able to be a lot more popular with the fans too, Eriksson and Capello never really had the fans onside that much, but Mancini has a cool image and seems like a good bloke so I reckon he could rally England fans behind him.

[Xotol]

Why would Mancini want to ruin his career?

[Drewski]

Doubt the FA would pay enough. Or want to.

[Play-A-Record!]

Why is Sven thought of as a failure?

[MagicNMedicine]

(Original post by Play-A-Record!)
Why is Sven thought of as a failure?

I think overall Sven was ok to be honest, in time his record and Capellos will be seen as quite good. Sven was not so much a failure as a disappointment, because of the explosive start he made, bearing in mind how crap we were at the end of Keegan's time and how difficult it looked for us at the point he took over, for us to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, Sven was building a young team that looked like a golden generation and went and smashed Germany 5-1 away, then beat Argentina in the World Cup and led Brazil 1-0 in the quarter finals. Had we held on in that game I firmly believe we would have won the 2002 World Cup. At that point, when Owen scored and we were 1-0 up there seemed so much massive promise for England.

Gradually over the following years England just subsided and never seemed real contenders BUT in fairness we only lost on penalties to Portugal in two quarter finals, had we won those shootouts then we'd have been in semi finals and those would be regarded as successful tournaments like 1990 and 1996 were.

So I think Sven was OK, the main negative I have with Sven is that there's an element of the Emperor's New Clothes about Sven. He is a well experienced reasonably decent manager similar to Hodgson, Houllier, Martin Jol etc, but he managed to convince people that he was the ultimate all time great manager, landing the biggest salary in the world for a manager when he was at England. People like the FA and a succession of other clubs have got suckered in by his ability to self promote himself as a coaching genius that you have to pay top dollar to get. If you pay the top rate I expect someone like Ferguson, Wenger etc.

As for Capello if you take out a shambolic World Cup the rest of his time was good. Over a longer time period I think he could have been more successful. Even Bobby Robson who was regarded as a very good England manager, had a shambolic tournament at the Euros in 1988.

[rickjames]

Roy Hogson is our England manager. The case is closed until he proves himself unworthy of the job and gets sacked or quits.