YOU put a manager who is used to doing well at West Brom and Fulham - but who struggles at Liverpool - in charge of the English national team and expect him to be a success?
As I said at the time of his appointment, Roy Hodgson is a small fish in a big pond with England and is rapidly getting found out.
His bumbling performance of late with Rio Ferdinand highlights this perfectly. He should have been big enough to ring Rio and Fergie and get the situation sussed. Instead he got stage fright and the whole thing backfired with him looking extremely foolish in the public eye.
What it means now is that Rio certainly will not be heading to Rio next summer - his international career is over.
And what are the odds England will also not be there?
I reckon Montenegro could well now go on to win the group by beating us next week and confine us to the play-offs. And at that stage we would need a favourable draw to progress to Rio.
This is what we have ended up with - a second-rate England bossed by a second-rate head coach.
Hodgson is not up to the job and never was. What has he ever won in English football?
About Me
- Frank Worrall
- is a Fleet Street journalist who has written regularly for The Sunday Times, The Sun, The Mail on Sunday, FourFourTwo magazine, Melody Maker/NME and many other newspapers and magazines. The subjects of his critically-acclaimed books include Gareth Bale, Roy Keane, Lewis Hamilton, Alex Ferguson and Rory McIlroy.