On Tuesday May 1st, Roy Hodgson was named the new England manager, replacing Fabio Capello ahead of Euro 2012 this summer.

Hodgson met with the Football Association on Monday April 30th after being publicly announced as the leading and only candidate for the job. Talks continued into the following day, before Hodgson was called in front of the  media, as the FA confirmed his appointment.

The decision was met with some disapproval from the public, whom the majority of, had expected Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp to lead the country to the Euro’s in Poland/Ukraine this summer, after he had publicly declared his interest and desire to succeed Capello. Despite having successful stints at both Fulham and West Brom in England, Hodsgon has often been condemned for his poor reign at Liverpool, during which the 64 year old commanded a 35% win ratio, winning 7, drawing 4 and losing 9 of the twenty league matches under his stewardship.

Unsurprisingly, this poor run of form led to Hodgson’s dismissal and an immediate battering from the nations press. Despite this low point in Hodgson’s career, the remarkable story of what the Englishman has achieved prior to his management in England is impressive.

After a less than exciting playing career, Hodgson landed his first managerial role at Swedish side Halmstad BK, staying there for 5 years. In the years spent in Scandinavia, Hodgson managed to guide Halmstad  BK to their first championship title in what was considered an unbelievable achievement with a side that was tipped by many for relegation.

Following his success in Sweden, Hodgson was offered the opportunity to return to England with Bristol City, initially as assistant manager before taking the full time managers job shortly after. Despite his excitement at the role, Hodgson’s homecoming was unsuccessful, prompting an immediate return to Sweden.

Hodgson first job upon his return was at Oddevold before moves to Orebro and Malmo helped consolidate his Swedish legacy. His biggest achievement after his move back to Sweden was the five consecutive titles won with Malmo, after which he was offered a lifetime contract, an offer he politely declined.

After all the success in Sweden, extremely high taxes of around 65% saw Hodgson leave the country for Switzerland in search of a more financially rewarding home. Hodgson took over at Swiss side Neuchatel Xamax, leading the club to impressive European victories over Spanish giants Real Madrid and Celtic. Despite reasonable success with his new side during two years, Hodgson welcomed the prospect of managing the Swiss national side after being approached by the Swiss FA.

In his three years as the coach of the national side, Hodgson managed to secure qualification for World Cup 1994, losing only one game in a group that contained Portugal and eventual finalist Italy. During this magnificent run, Switzerland lost only once, rising through the FIFA World Rankings, sitting as high as third in the world at one point, a remarkable achievement for the Swiss and Hodgson himself. During the tournament in the USA, Switzerland made it to the last 16, where they were eliminated by a strong Spain side, in what was a definitive moment in Swiss soccer.

Following on from the World Cup, Switzerland, under Hodgson, sailed through qualification for the European Championship, held in England, only to see their iconic manager leave after calls from Italian giants Inter Milan.

After a less than successful, if glamorous stint in Italy, Hodgson was brought back to England with Blackburn Rover, leading this one time Premier League champions to sixth and qualification for the UEFA Cup. Despite this, Blackburn struggled the following season and Hodgson was relieved of his duties in November 1998.

This dismissal was followed by spells as caretaker at former club Inter Milan, Grasshopper, Copenhagen and Udinese. With some of these stints more successful than others, Hodgson found himself again in International management, as the new coach of the United Arab of Emirates. Hodgson spent two years in charge of both the senior and Olympic sides and despite initially struggling, Hodgson felt enriched after the experience.

 ”That was a period where I didn’t know where my career was going. But all these experiences enrich you and it was good to know I could get my message to players who many say are uncoachable. It’s hard work; they’re basically lazy. But I had them drilled and pressuring opponents almost like an English team. Most coaches who go there are just fannying around, but it’s not my nature” he said.

After leaving the U.A.E. and serving a short stay at Danish side Viking, Hodgson was appointed as the new manager of Finland. Despite failing to qualify for Euro 2008, Hodgson was praised by the nation for organizing their side in such a way that they could now develop and prosper under new management. After his contract ran out and the best effort from the Finnish FA to extend the said contract, Hodgson found himself back in England, as manager of Fulham.

In what was considered by many to be a somewhat surprise appointment, Hodgson, against all the odds managed to keep Fulham in the Premier League in his debut season, a feat which was epitomized by Fulham’s four victories in their final five games. The  following seasons saw a huge improvement by Hodgson’s men as they finished in a record high position of 7th, qualifying for the UEFA Europa League.

Hodgson’s third year in charge proved to be the most successful, with Fulham enjoying an incredible European adventure, which saw them defeat holders Shaktar Donetsk, German side Wolfsburg and Italian giants Juventus, coming back from 4-1 on aggregate to win 5-4 after both legs. Despite their incredible journey, Fulham lost in the final to Atletico Madrid, 2-1.

At the end of that year, following Fulham’s season defining European run and their solid 12th place finish, Hodgson received the LMA manager of the year award. This achievement led to increasing speculation of a move away from Craven Cottage, rumors which soon materialized into his fatal spell at Liverpool.

Despite his apparent failure at Anfield, Hodgson has been able to revive his reputation in England, leading relegation threatened West Bromwich Albion to back to back mid-table finishes, as the Midlands side look to consolidate their Premier League status.

This remarkable career seems to have peaked with Hodgson’s appointment as England manager. Although the majority of the public and even some players seemed to be backing Harry Redknapp for the job, Hodgson’s wealth of experience, both at club soccer and internationally, stands the former Switzerland boss in good stead for his new position.

The press conference itself and images surfacing from shortly after his assignment, captured an Englishman delighted at the opportunity to lead his nation into a major tournament and an individual determined to do his very best to succeed where so many before him have failed.

Image Courtesy of   ajlisss

The article Roy Hodgson Appointed New England Manager appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Tonight the Champions League Final saw the English and Spanish domestic trophy holders clash for the undisputed title of being the best team in Europe. Both teams entered the Final with 3 Champions League trophies to their name; to win this 4^th trophy would mean that they could take their place in history alongside the European legends of Liverpool,  Ajax, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

Manchester United had the majority of the possession in the first 15 minutes, white shirts hounded the Barcelona defence but their attacks came to nothing more than a few brief encounters in and around the box.

Finally Barcelona got up to operating temperature and Pedro sent the ball wide after some quick football from David Villa and Xavi – there was much more of that to come.

Two more shots came from David Villa which went even closer than Pedro’s effort and Manchester United must have been yearning to get back to the possession they had enjoyed during the early minutes – Barcelona were settling into their ominously predictable, unpredictable forays from midfield.

United were not going to be spared from the brilliance of Lionel Messi it seemed, his first real action was to make four United players look like statues as he dribbled the ball past them. Minutes after, he was denied a clear shot on goal only by a perfect tackle from Vidic.

At this point Sir Alex Ferguson had left his seat and joined Pep Guardiola on the touchline to try command his men back on course. Whatever he was ordering was not in time to stop Pedro scoring first. A pass from Villa, probably not the most dangerous of the night so far, found its way to Pedro who had plenty of time to slot the ball into an opening at the near post.

After half an hour Barcelona had completed 265 passes compared to a mere 100 from Manchester United, however Wayne Rooney was about to show that his team was not fazed by the Barcelona possession. Great link-up play between Ryan Giggs and Rooney led to a shot being fired from 16 yards out which sailed past Victor Valdes and into the net. It was back to level again and game on.

The goal did not mark the start of a United charge, Barcelona still threatened. Iniesta launched a shot from range which wasn’t far off, but an even closer chance was at the very end of the half when Villa supplied a pass across the goal mouth which Messi at full stretch narrowly missed connecting with.

The half time whistle blew dead on the 45 minute mark. It was a half that was relentlessly quick, neither side had sought to reduce the tempo of the game and I’m sure the break came as an unwelcome distraction to two teams who both looked incredibly focussed.

After the resumption of play there was clearly little change in either of the teams tactics, neither manager had made a substitution and Barcelona were back on the offensive with United trying to break their spells of possession.

It was at this point in the game that Barcelona looked most menacing. Their pressure was relentless and tiring for the Manchester United defence who could not anticipate what was coming from a team who did not use a striker but instead attacked from midfield.

Lionel Messi scored his 53^rd goal of the season in the 53^rd minute in spectacular fashion, firing a shot from 25 yards out and past Edwin Van Der Sar who, on a better day, would have saved it. It really was an excellent goal from Messi, a player who has made excellence a habit – his manager was jubilant but seemed unsurprised at his prodigy’s goal.

Messi was fouled for the 3^rd time by Antonio Valencia who seemed intent on keeping him on the floor, but in typical fashion, the most prolific scorer in La Liga returned to his feet without complaint and proceeded to terrorise the Manchester defence and midfield.

Dani Alves received a yellow card just before 60 minutes for tripping Patrice Evra and soon after Micheal Carrick was booked for a very late tackle on Andres Iniesta. Overall, it was to be a very good performance from the Hungarian referee Viktor Kassai.

Barcelona had Manchester United in the corner, their constant attacks and swift passing left the English Champions looking punch drunk. Dani Alves could have delivered the knockout blow at 64 minutes after a Barcelona attack had left the United defence dangerously exposed.

Sir Alex Ferguson tried change his fortunes by removing the flagging full back Fabio and replacing him with Nani. No substitution could have prevented Iniesta’s shot in the 66^th minute however, it was a 20 yard curling strike which looped into the top corner, Van Der Sar could have done nothing this time.

The trophy engraver had probably started carving FC Barcelona’s name into the massive Champions League cup at this point – Man United showed no sign of getting back into the game.

The remaining 20 minutes were a little more contested, Giggs threatened and Nani shot but their attacks were not carried out with the relentless conviction Barcelona had displayed throughout.

Puyol came on after 87 minutes, the captain had played no starting role in the final but it was only right that such a key figure in their Champions League campaign was on the pitch to savour the moment the final whistle blew.

When it did Sir Alex Ferguson looked dejected but you could see that he knew his team had been wholly outclassed on the night – he would have to wait another year to play Barcelona, who would almost certainly be in the final if they remain at this exemplary standard.

I don’t think anybody would have left Wembley tonight feeling short changed, a ticket to the final bought a seat to witness some beautiful football. It is hard to see how anyone can come close to Barcelona in the near future if they can dispatch Manchester United with such ease.

The article Barcelona Dominate Champions League Final appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.