Today's letter from the Editor
Today's Matrices

i Editor's Letter: Give the man a chance

 

Roy Hodgson is that rare beast in modern-day sport: a modest bloke. He is also a decent man, and more importantly (despite Liverpool FC fans' bile) a talented coach with a CV that has – uniquely for the England boss – international experience. You try getting the Swiss to third in the world rankings. Actually, you try getting England to third!

As you would expect of a Croydon-born man, he is a cultured, studious polyglot held in high esteem around the football world — bar Anfield and Britain's red-tops. And, as he made abundantly clear yesterday, there can't have been anyone prouder to have been appointed England boss – which, never mind the salary, brings with it a unique world of grief.

That grief began before he was even confirmed in the role. In i and elsewhere, pundits including our own James Lawton took the FA to task for not picking Mr Redknapp, and for their "poor" treatment of said Harry. I don't agree. The FA have previously proven themselves not capable of organising a p***-up in a brewery, but not this time.

They said they would prefer an Englishman, would conduct a search in private, and would decide at the back end of the season. All of which they did. Then they approached their first-choice man, and he said yes.

So, as a proud Fulham FC season ticket holder (though still a LUFC fan), who enjoyed the rescue from imminent relegation, the return of decent football, the rise to seventh and the Europa League fantasy, I'd say "Woy Woy Woy" deserves his chance. He is the best candidate.

Let no one begrudge him the job. What does it serve anyone in England (Scots, Irish and Welsh can pile in as much as you like) not to offer him anything other than our full support? Ignore manufactured outrage, and give the man a chance.

Career Services

Day In a Page

Andrew Mitchell: 'It's no good feeling hard done by'

Andrew Mitchell: 'It's no good feeling hard done by'

In his first interview since 'plebgate', the former Chief Whip opens up just enough to concede that, in politics, you have to take the rough with the smooth
Corruption and the FCO: Blue skies, white sands, dark clouds

Corruption and the FCO: Blue skies, white sands, dark clouds

Special report: Met police call for criminal inquiry into former diplomat's Cayman Islands rule
Fallen angel: Winona Ryder on bouncing back from her decade in the wilderness

Fallen angel: Winona Ryder bounces back

She owned the 1990s... but then she disappeared. Now, Ms Ryder is back with quite the bang in her latest role, as the wife of a notorious real-life Mob hitman.
Roman Polanski shakes Cannes Film Festival

Roman Polanski shakes Cannes Film Festival

The director's new film, 'Venus in Fur', is one of the raciest on offer
Rev Richard Coles: 'I don’t have any concerns that God is cross with me for being gay and eventually the Church won’t either'

Rev Richard Coles on the Church and homosexuality

The mellifluous, erudite and witty Coles is the nation's most pop-culture-friendly priest
'Baghdad likes to live from crisis to crisis': Civil war looms in Iraq

Patrick Cockburn: Civil war looms in Iraq

The governor of Kirkuk - one of the country's most violent but successful provinces - fears the worst
Written on the body: Tattooists at pains to point out their artistic credentials

Written on the body

Tattooists at pains to point out their artistic credentials
Conquering Everest: 60 facts about the world's tallest mountain

Conquering Everest: 60 facts about the world's tallest mountain

The IoS marks the sixtieth anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first reaching the peak of the highest mountain on Earth
A new, and irreversible, Dust Bowl looms

Rupert Cornwell: A new, and irreversible, Dust Bowl looms

The destructive power of tornadoes will be as nothing once the Great Plains' vast underground water reserve dries up
Every creature's needless death diminshes us all

Philip Hoare: Every creature's needless death diminishes us all

A 60 per cent decline in our national species should alarm us, yet few of us act. But to mind more about animals would reflect well on society
Killing with kindness: Burma's religious battleground - and the monks at the heart of it

Killing with kindness: Burma's religious battleground

Six years ago, the world cheered the monks behind Burma’s Saffron Revolution. Now, a horrific new eruption of religious slaughter is being blamed on a 'Buddhist Bin Laden'.
Let's take it outside: Bill Granger's Bank Holiday feast

Let's take it outside: Bill Granger's Bank Holiday feast

You can’t always depend on the weather – but you can avoid the pitfalls of the British barbecue by preparing an elaborate outdoor feast indoors ahead of time...
The Calvin report: Stirring Champions League final shows how far English game must advance

The Calvin report

Stirring Champions League final shows how far English game must advance
10 big questions for the British & Irish Lions to answer

10 big questions for the British & Irish Lions to answer

Warren Gatland's squad fly Down Under aiming to do justice to the expectations – and hoping the Wallabies stay in the pub
The Last Word: Golf must end the hypocrisy before its halo slips totally

The Last Word

Golf must end the hypocrisy before its halo slips totally