Hodgson gets four-year England deal
Roy Hodgson was appointed England manager on a four-year contract,
the Football Association announced Tuesday.
The West Bromwich Albion boss emerged as the surprise front-runner
for the England job on Sunday as the FA confirmed it had ignored the
popular clamour for Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp to be
appointed.
"It is a very proud day for me, I'm a very happy man to be offered
the chance to manage my country," Hodgson told reporters at a Wembley
press conference.
"I'm looking forward to the task ahead. Everyone knows it is not an
easy one but I'm hoping that everyone, fans and supporters will get
behind the team.
"It's the team that counts, they go out and win football matches.
"What I'll do is try to make sure the team is well prepared for the
challenge ahead. I'm really looking forward to it." Hodgson had held
around four hours of discussions with senior FA officials at Wembley on
Monday, paving the way for the 64-year-old's appointment to the most
demanding role in English football.
Since Italian coach Fabio Capello resigned as England manager in
February, in protest at the FA's decision to strip John Terry of the
England captaincy, Stuart Pearce has been in caretaker charge of the
national side.
That is despite the former England defender also being the manager of
England's Under-21s and the British Olympic team. Concerns have been
raised about the FA's 'delay' in getting a permanent manager on board so
close to the European Championships in Poland and Ukraine, where England
begin the tournament against France in Donetsk on June 11. Hodgson's
first game as England manager will be the warm-up match away to Norway
in Oslo on May 26. That is followed by another friendly, with Belgium at
Wembley on June 2, before their Euro 2012 opener.
Hodgson admitted he had little time to acclimatise to his new job
before Euro 2012. "It's going to be difficult of course but hopefully
I've got time. Obviously I've been working here for the last five years
so the players are pretty well known to me even though I haven't worked
with them all," he said. AFP
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