ROY HODGSON: MR NICE BUT WE NEED A MOURINHO

I HAVE been told off by some friends for being too harsh on England boss Roy Hodgson.

One said: 'Why do you have it in for Roy all the time - he's a genuinely good bloke. A nice guy who is bringing a breath of fresh air to the England set-up. Making it more accessible to the press and the public and setting up a really nice atmosphere. Hodgson is someone you should be applauding, not moaning about all the time.'

I replied: 'I don't disagree with you one bit. Roy is a lovely guy and he is doing all the things you say. He has made the camp much more pleasant, no doubt about it.'

'Oh,' the friend said, taken aback. 'So why do you keep having a go at him?'

I replied, slowly but surely: 'Because he's not a winner on the pitch. Tell me anything he has won? Tell me who he has managed to glory in England? Tell me why he is overtly cautious? Tell me why he didn't make a substitute until it was too late in Montenegro last night? Tell me why we are going to struggle to make second place in the group - let alone win it - under his guidance?

'And answer me this: would we have drawn last night with someone who wouldn't be nice and pleasant like Roy - someone who would snarl and ensure the players reflected his determined, dark character - rather than someone who consistently says we shouldn't get over-optimistsic and damps down spirits. Someone who says we are average and should simply accept it - even though he is paid 3 million quid a year to prove we are not average!

'Someone who is a dirty deeds man, but an out and out winner like Jose Mourinho?'

'Are you seriously telling me,' I asked, 'That England wouldn't already have qualified under Jose?'