Roy Hodgson appointed new England manager

Roy Hodgson

The FA have appointed Roy Hodgson as the new England manager on a four-year contract.

Hodgson succeeds Fabio Capello in time for the Euro 2012 finals in the summer, but will take charge of current club West Bromwich Albion for the final two matches of the Premier League season, away at Bolton and at home to Arsenal respectively.

The 64-year-old has managed 18 teams across a 36 year coaching career, including the national teams of Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and Finland.

A club manager at various sides including Inter Milan, Blackburn, Fulham and Liverpool, Hodgson was appointed ahead of the Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp, the long-standing favourite for the post since Capello resigned in February.

“I've got great respect for Harry,” said Hodgson during his introductory press conference at Wembley. “He sent me a voicemail message. He's been very gracious. I hope we stay friends. We have unwittingly become rivals.”

Hodgson announced that he will name his squad for the Euros after the final match of the Premier League season, and stated his hope that the Three Lions perform well in Poland and the Ukraine.

“I think England always have to go into tournaments to win them because we are a major football nation,” he said. “The players would be disappointed if we didn't expect less of them than trying to win the tournament. It's always a big job to win people over and it's important first of all to have the chance.

“It's going to be difficult, of course, but I've hopefully got a lot of time to think and a make decision [on the squad]. All players are pretty well known to me despite not having worked with many of them. It's important after this press conference to get down to work - we will put back announcing the squad until after the last game of the season so that I've done as much research and spoken to as many people as possible."

The FA said that they were “delighted” with the appointment in a statement, with chairman David Bernstein insisting that Hodgson was always their number one choice.

“Over a period of time, Roy emerged as stand-out candidate,” he said.

“We canvassed opinions across a large part of the game. We did not approach West Brom until last week. We met at Wembley on Monday and quickly decided Roy was the right man to guide us through the European Championships.

“The board was unanimous in choosing Roy. It's the first time the FA has appointed an English manager with international experience.”

“It's [the Euros] going to be a tough job, whoever the manager is,” added FA director of football development Sir Trevor Brooking.

“In 2006, we had some injuries, 2008 we didn't qualify, 2010 was a poor tournament. The lack of success we've had is something that will affect the expectancy level. I do believe we have a really good coach and a good choice who can improve this current squad. The priority has to be the results of the senior team.”

Hodgson led Fulham to the Europa League Final in 2010, and after an unhappy six-month spell at Liverpool was cut short in January last year he has been in charge at West Brom for the past 15 months.

His appointment as England boss was met with a mixed reaction from The Hawthorns.

“Roy's appointment as England manager is obviously disappointing news for the club as we would have liked him to sign a new contract, which was in the process of negotiation, and remain as our Head Coach,” said Baggies chairman Jeremy Peace.

“But we understand Roy's desire to take the England job and he will leave us after the Arsenal game on May 13th with our best wishes.

“The board will now concentrate on the important task of appointing a new Head Coach to continue our project as we prepare for a third successive season in the Barclays Premier League.

“We did not want Roy to leave and he will be a tough act to follow.”

Mark Jones – follow me on twitter

Join us on Facebook

Follow our Bettor Football updates on twitter