It has been labelled ‘the impossible job’ – and after another tournament ends in ignominy for England, it appears there’s no clear consensus on who should be the new national team manager.
Following another summer of hurt for England fans, which culminated in what is surely the lowest point in England’s tournament history – a defeat to Iceland in the round of 16 – Roy Hodgson resigned his post, setting off the usual speculation about who would take over.
YouGov asked football supporters across the country who they believed would be the best choice. Former England and Newcastle striker Alan Shearer has said he would like to take over, and he is marginally the top choice, with 13% of respondents choosing him as their preferred candidate.
The rest of the field is tightly grouped, Harry Redknapp, who was overlooked in favour of Hodgson, follows on 11%, ahead of former England manager Glenn Hoddle on 10%. Current USA manager Jurgen Klinsmann follows with 8%, ahead of Sam Allardyce (7%) Arsene Wenger (5%) and Eddie Howe (4%).
Perhaps most tellingly, 21% said they simply ‘don’t know’ who would be the best choice, highlighting the paucity of available options on this occasion.
As always, there has been a debate about whether the new manager should be English, or whether a foreign coach should be considered, as the FA did when it hired Sven-Göran Eriksson and Fabio Capello.
Again there is no clear consensus. Over half (51%) believe it to be important that the manager is from England, 46% see it as unimportant.
Notably, Conservative voters and UKIP voters are far more likely to say an English manager is important (60% and 63%), compared to Labour voters (47%) and Lib Dem voters (39%).
Image PA
