This coming Saturday sees the 50th anniversary of the greatest moment in English football history. Nobby Stiles dancing on the Wembley turf, Kenneth Wolstenholme’s immortal utterance ‘They think it’s all over – it is now!’ and Bobby Moore almost nonchalantly holding up the Jules Rimet trophy one-handed as if it was a weekly occurrence.
30 years of hurt has now turned into 50. The England that so woefully capitulated to the mighty Iceland at EURO 2016 was no more likely to match the feat of Sir Alf’s lads than Jeremy Corbyn is to be named by his peers as the Labour MP’s MP of the Year.
Of all that have come and gone since only Bobby Robson’s 1986 and 1990 squads really competed on the World stage whilst Terry Venables led the home team to a EURO 1996 semi-final that was almost demanded by the locals as opposed to deserved by the players.
The baton has now been handed to Sam Allardyce who it seems sees this as his ultimate challenge and quite possibly his final job in football. Some very big names have brought equally big expectations to the role of England manager only to go the way of the Dodo.
Glenn Hoddle and Kevin Keegan both arrived with illustrious playing careers; Graham Taylor and Steve McClaren had domestic managerial successes behind them whilst Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello brought an international point of view. None managed to emulate Ramsey’s ‘Wingless Wonders’. How come no-one has guided England back to the very top of the pile in half a century?
The late Sir Bobby Robson felt plenty of opposition and derision when he ended the international careers of some of the Keegan and Brooking generation. A failed qualification campaign for France ‘84 seemed to provide evidence to back his detractors and when England headed off to Mexico in the summer of 1986, confidence was not high. Cue Gary Lineker’s arrival on the world stage and a performance against Poland that saw an England side play their own way as opposed to trying and failing to match the continentals at their own game.
England’s exit quite literally at the hands of Diego Maradona is one of the memories all England fans have of World Cup campaigns. The ‘Hand of God’ moment followed minutes later by the ‘Feet of God’ goal muddy the waters of memory for what was up to then an increasingly self-belief-filled England side who appeared to have a real chance.
An exit in the group stages of EURO 1988 seemed to confirm it was back to business as usual for the national side but then came Italia 90. Nessun Dorma; World in Motion; Gazza!
The World Cup of 1990 seems, if you pardon the pun, a world away from today. It was over half a century ago but when thoughts turn to that summer, it sometimes seems as if it was only yesterday that fans were chanting New Order on the terraces and in the pubs, John Barnes was rapping himself into football music folklore, and David Platt was spinning himself and England into a World Cup semi-final. And then came those two now infamous words – ‘penalties’ and ‘Germany’.
Paul Gascoigne was not the only one shedding tears that night.
And so we were given Graham Taylor. Promotions and a Cup Final with Watford saw Taylor move up the ranks of domestic managers to the apparent pinnacle of the game. Sadly, his reputation, as a Norwegian commentator may have said, ‘took one hell of a beating’ during his tenure in the England hot seat.
The 1992 European Championship was hardly a fitting encore to the heroics of two years previous. Taylor became public enemy No.1 when England were chasing what turned out to be a losing position against Sweden. Taylor substituted Gary Lineker who was only a goal away from equalling Bobby Charlton’s international record and brought on the less prolific Alan Smith. Lineker’s international career was over and Taylor had a lot to prove.
His first and last World Cup campaign was the road to the USA. England were almost there but Taylor fell just short, very much like David Platt fell just short of the Dutch penalty area following Ronald Koeman’s foul. German referee Karl-Josef Assenmacher still has a lot to answer for on that night. He abjectly failed to apply the laws of the game as Koeman should have been given a straight red for what was a professional foul. Instead, the newly installed Everton boss was issued with a yellow and not ten minutes later scored the goal that meant England were staying at home and Taylor and was looking for a new employer.
Terry Venables, baggage and all, got one shot at the national coach role and almost pulled it off. Home advantage in EURO 1996; a resurgent if not 100% fit Gazza; THAT goal against Scotland and Three Lions. And then came those pesky Germans and their twelve-yards efficiency again.
Glenn Hoddle’s reign was dominated by off-the-field controversy as he tried to introduce the concept of sports physcology different way. Faith healers and mystics may or may not have been responsible for the introduction of an 18-year old Michael Owen and for a fleeting moment, England felt confident again. But David Beckham’s trailing leg and the histrionics of another Diego (Simeone, this time) saw them once again struggling against the odds. For once, England lost to someone other than Germany in a penalty shootout.
Following Hoddle’s ignominious exit from the role, Keegan took over from the interim care of Howard Wilkinson and promptly saw England crash out of another tournament to what were considered lower level opposition. It remains to this day a mystery why Phil Neville made that tackle in the penalty area in the last minute when he was never going to get the ball and was always going to concede a penalty, especially when he must have heard half the nation back home shouting ‘stay on your feet!’.
Defeat in England’s final match at old Wembley courtesy of a scuffed Dietmar Hermann free kick was the final straw for a man whose playing career was never matched by his tactically naïve coaching.
The next Englishman to take charge in earnest was Steve McClaren. Fresh from guiding Middlesbrough to their first ever major trophy and leading up to an unprecedented UEFA Cup Final appearance, the FA announced somewhat precipitously that he would success Sven-Goran Eriksson. Many on Teesside still feel the failure to wait until after the final itself contributed to their 4-0 defeat.
The former Manchester United number two had one job to do – lead England to the 2008 EUROs. The less said about the following 24 months the better as all that seems to be remembered of McClaren’s reign is the ‘wally with the brolly’ incident which summarised England’s exit in the qualifiers to Croatia and his subsequent exit through the side door.
His predecessor Eriksson was a controversial appointment. ‘A foreigner in charge of the England team? Preposterous splutter, splutter’.
Ten days before the world changed forever, many of his doubters were silenced. September 1st 2001 remains to this day for many who witnessed it one of the finest ever England performances. A 5-1 win in Germany? That just does not happen.
It wasn’t just the score (which of course we mustn’t mention) but also the manner of the performance, epitomised by Steve Gerrard taking the ball past his then-Liverpool club mate Hamman and audaciously turning back and nut-megging him as if to say ’yeah… and another thing…’.
An expedition to Japan and South Korea again promised much with a rehabilitated Beckham a squad filled mostly with young English Premier League talent. Unfortunately, one of the senior members of the squad suffered humiliation at the hands of Ronaldinho and Brazil put paid to yet another onslaught on the World Cup.
Euro 2004 followed and looked good right up to the point where penalties once again reared their ugly heads. Despite practice and more practice, Portugal triumphed.
It was the same opposition that ended Eriksson’s second and last World Cup as England manager. Cristiano Ronaldo played pantomime villain this time as Wayne Rooney saw red and his then Manchester United comrade scored the decisive penalty to send England and Eriksson packing.
Fabio Capello arrived with success in Italy and Spain as well as Champions league titles to his name. A confident qualifying campaign saw England safely through to South Africa. Once again, outside influences added to internal shortcomings and controversy. A second round match against Germany was always going to be tough and, all things being equal, England would probably have been expected to lose and the 4-1 defeat on paper proved that. Having grabbed a goal back from 2-0 down, England equalised. Or should it be said, England should have been awarded an equaliser. The only entertaining moment after that incident where Frank Lampard’s shot was so far over the line a bus could have been parked in the gap was seeing FIFA and UEFA officials clearly squirming in their seats as the result of their corruption and abject refusal to introduce video replays was played out to a global audience.
Capello was set to lead England into the 2012 European Championships when John Terry’s removal as England captain was imposed apparently against his wishes. Capello resigned immediately.
Since then, England have undertaken three successful qualifying campaigns and three sadly predictable exits. The loss against Italy, yet again on penalties, was sufferable but the pitiful performance in the 2014 World Cup and the equally disappointing result this summer where the late win against Wales papered over the cracks showed that the national team were once again coming up woefully short.
Roy Hodgson was quite possibly always going to go if England had not progressed to the very late stages. The fact that his reign ended in the ignominy of a loss to Iceland of all teams summed up this record – qualifying = excellent; tournaments = poor.
Sam Allardyce now takes up position in his dream job. It is quite possibly going to be his last managerial role.
The early signs such as refusing to confirm Rooney as captain show promise. ‘Big Sam’ must be his own and not the FA’s man if he is to succeed where so many have failed. Returning to the usual formula such as naming Wayne Rooney as captain and Joe Hart as No.1 will lead to one result – probable qualification for Russia followed by an early trip home after the group stages.
The status quo is the issue for England and has been since 1966. Play players who are in form, not who have a big name and whose club or reputation mean they expect to be starting for England. Play players who want to play for their country, not who see it as a right and also a jolly and break to their bread and butter of the Premier League and Champions League.
Never one of Cristiano Ronaldo’s biggest fans, the sight of him injured and out of the EURO 2016 final yet jumping up and down on the side-lines, shouting at his teammates, kicking every ball and ultimately forgetting his own disappointment and celebrating the team’s success not only nominally changed the writers view about the player; it showed up what England lack.
Passion.
That and a fitness to wear the shirt.
Come on, ‘Big Sam’s’ first squad – prove me wrong.
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