By Ross Mackiewicz.
Tottenham manger Harry Redknapp has admitted that he would not turn down the offer of managing England if the opportunity ever presented itself. The whole of the English nation is left reeling after witnessing the 4-1 drumming in the round of sixteen to rivals Germany. In a tournament that has been a complete fiasco from start to finish for the Three Lions there are many quarters of the media and public who are calling for Fabio Capello to be axed from his position. The Italian has admitted that he wants to remain in the job but the hierarchy of the FA have told him they need to assess his position in the coming weeks.
With questions now surrounding the future of Capello the likes of Redknapp, Roy Hodgson and Stuart Pearce are now being touted as possible successors. Speaking to ‘Talk Sport’, Redknapp refused to give his opinion on Capello’s position but did admit as a proud Englishman he would want the job if it ever became available.
“I’m English, who wouldn’t want to manage England?”
“There’s not an Englishman — whether it’s me, Roy Hodgson or Sam Allardyce who would turn the job down because it’s our country and we want to manage our country.”
“No-one is ever going to turn that job down.”
The 63 year old is adamant that the next appointment should be handed back to an Englishman. He believes that the other football super powers would never offer their top job to an overseas manager because they believe in their own talent.
“Could you imagine an Englishman managing the Italian national team? It doesn’t happen.”
“The Germans are the same, they have a German manager. We’ve ended up with two foreign managers. This guy [Capello] has a fantastic record at club level. But look, we’ve had a go with it now. When he finally moves on, in four years or whatever, surely there has to be a young guy or somebody in this country, surely we have to find a manager from England, an English manager.”
“I’m not talking about a Scottish manager or an Irish manager, I’m talking about an English manager because this is where we’re from, this is our country. We should be able to produce someone who can manage the England football team and let’s be honest, they can’t do any worse than what they’ve [Eriksson and Capello] done.”
Redknapp has taken Spurs from mid table mediocrity to the pinnacle of the UEFA Champions League within the space of eighteen months since he took over from Juande Ramos in the fall of 2008 where the North London outfit were at the foot of the Premier League table. Ever since his stock has risen but the debacle over his tax problems may scupper his hopes of managing his beloved country.
Would you like to see Redknapp as England manager?
