The Premier League veteran has been battling with an injury crisis, but his quiet arrogant streak may soon cost him his job
The full-time whistle blows at the Emirates: the trigger for roughly 400 coaches, stewards, broadcasters, support staff and various other items of football’s background scenery to swarm the pitch. Roy Hodgson folds his glasses into a coat pocket and stands on the touchline, gazing bleakly out into the maelstrom, looking – as he often does these days – like a man reminiscing about a sandwich he once had in 1962. A cameraman spots the opportunity for the perfectly framed shot; he wheels around Hodgson and captures him from behind, staring out at a distant banner in the Crystal Palace end: WASTED POTENTIAL/ON AND OFF THE PITCH/WEAK DECISIONS/TAKING US BACKWARDS.
The natural tendency here, at least for the professional storyteller, is to superimpose some kind of human narrative on this confected tableau, to peer inside Hodgson’s brain and empty its contents on to the page. Was he contemplating the end? Wondering whether this great weathered career had finally run its course? Perhaps even absorbing one last ray of footballing daylight, making one last memory, before disappearing down the tunnel and into the sweet embrace of oblivion.
Continue reading…The Premier League veteran has been battling with an injury crisis, but his quiet arrogant streak may soon cost him his jobThe full-time whistle blows at the Emirates: the trigger for roughly 400 coaches, stewards, broadcasters, support staff and various other items of football’s background scenery to swarm the pitch. Roy Hodgson folds his glasses into a coat pocket and stands on the touchline, gazing bleakly out into the maelstrom, looking – as he often does these days – like a man reminiscing about a sandwich he once had in 1962. A cameraman spots the opportunity for the perfectly framed shot; he wheels around Hodgson and captures him from behind, staring out at a distant banner in the Crystal Palace end: WASTED POTENTIAL/ON AND OFF THE PITCH/WEAK DECISIONS/TAKING US BACKWARDS.The natural tendency here, at least for the professional storyteller, is to superimpose some kind of human narrative on this confected tableau, to peer inside Hodgson’s brain and empty its contents on to the page. Was he contemplating the end? Wondering whether this great weathered career had finally run its course? Perhaps even absorbing one last ray of footballing daylight, making one last memory, before disappearing down the tunnel and into the sweet embrace of oblivion. Continue reading…
