Roy Hodgson expressed his desire to stay on as the England manager despite a very poor World Cup 2014. His wish was granted after his contract was extended until Euro 2016, but growing speculation about his future has led to the manager stating that he would step down if he is no longer needed.
England have managed to win all their Euro 2016 qualifying matches up until now. This has put them in an excellent position as far as reaching the tournament final in France is concerned. However, doing well in a major tournament is a totally different aspect and it is something has Hodgson struggled with.
After replacing Fabio Capello just before Euro 2012, Hodgson did not create a major impact at this tournament. It was understandable given that he only had a few months preparation with the team, but the big disappointment came last summer when England were knocked out of the World Cup 2014 at the group stages.
Following this disappointment, Hodgson claimed that he needed to restructure the entire England team with new faces and he needed time for it. As promised, there have been several new faces in the national team and this has been accompanied with a number of good results too, though many fans have vented their anger online, saying that they thought there should have been more progress.
“It’s tempting to think that one could stay longer, but it has got to be wanted. Sven (Goran Eriksson) and Fabio (Capello) were not that unpopular going into the tournament, but they come out of it and everyone was saying ‘oh God, we don’t want the next two years (with them)’. I don’t want that at 68 or 69 years of age. I love doing the job. I would want that to continue if I was to continue. If I felt that was not to be and my time was being called, I would prefer to move away,” said Hodgson.