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Roy Hodgson told to wait for new England deal until after European Championships

New FA chief executive, Martin Glenn, said the Three Lions manager 'would not expect to be kept on' if the team had a bad tournament next summer

Ian Herbert
Wednesday 12 August 2015 23:58 BST
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Roy Hodgson has guided England to six wins in a row in Euro 2016 qualifying
Roy Hodgson has guided England to six wins in a row in Euro 2016 qualifying

The new Football Association chief executive, Martin Glenn, has said he persuaded the England manager Roy Hodgson that the possibility of a “bad Euros” meant that it was reasonable to delay a new contract offer for him until late next summer.

Hodgson appeared to be perturbed when Glenn made it clear last month that the governing body wanted to assess the national team’s performance in next year’s finals in France before deciding whether he would be the man to lead the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.

But Glenn reiterated that there would categorically be no conversations until after the European Championships, for which England are on the brink of qualification. He said Hodgson was happy with the position.

“I have spoken to Roy,” Glenn said. “The air didn’t really need clearing, to be honest. I had a cup of coffee with him which turned into a few drinks. We are all on the same page. Roy is a really good manager and he would be the last person in the world who if, and I don’t think it will happen, but if we had a bad Euros, he would not expect to be kept on.

“He is a proud man. It is a bit of a storm in a teacup. But I spoke to him about it, the position I thought was clear anyway, so yes the air has been cleared. The question for Roy is how do we set Roy up to be as successful as we can in the Euros. What can we do, and that is what we plan to do.”

Asked if the two of them were agreed that there should be no contract renewal until after the Euros, Glenn confirmed: “Yes.”

After Glenn had made his initials comments on the subject, Hodgson did seem confused. “I haven’t spoken to Martin yet. Am I happy with it? I don’t know,” he said last month. “There are a lot of considerations. It means there will be lots of speculation the moment we qualify until the tournament itself.”

Hodgson’s predecessor, Fabio Capello, was awarded a new deal before the disappointment of the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, while Hodgson’s own position came under threat after last year’s disappointing return in the World Cup in Brazil. But since then he has guided England to six successive wins in their Euro 2016 qualifying group.

Glenn had already said that the uncertainty surrounding Hodgson’s future would motivate him, declaring last month: “Roy is a consummate professional and he knows how we want to work. One of my values is, you pay for performance. Roy understands that if we have a great Euros, it will set him up well.

“I can see why giving England managers long, long contracts gives certainty. But I like to have a bit of uncertainty to encourage people to go that extra yard to get results.”

Hodgson, who will turn 70 before Russia 2018, remains keen to stay in charge.

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