Hodgson vows to deliver

LONDON - Agence France-Presse

Newly appointed England national manager Roy Hodgson poses at the dressing room at Wembley Stadium in London.

Roy Hodgson insists he can win over the sceptics following his surprising appointment to the England manager’s job ahead of Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp.

Hodgson was unveiled as England manager by the Football Association on May 1 after emerging as the shock choice to succeed Fabio Capello following the Italian’s resignation in February.

The 64-year-old’s elevation to the poisoned chalice of English football came amid a lingering sense of incredulity that the FA had not sounded out Redknapp as a possible candidate for the role.

However Hodgson, whose long career includes stints as coach of Switzerland and Inter Milan, is confident that his experience of elite management will equip him for the task of convincing his detractors.

The most important audience will be England’s senior squad, several of whom such as Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Jack Wilshere had already issued public calls for Redknapp to be appointed back in February.

“Every coach has got to win over players,” Hodgson acknowledged. “It won’t be the first time I’ve stepped into a job where I’m meeting a group of players, many of whom I don’t know, and my job is to win them over.

“I think that given my CV, given the work I’ve done over the years I’ve succeeded well with that. Every coach’s job when he enters a new job is to win the players over and make sure he gets the players united behind our cause. And our cause is a very big one -- we’re England. It interests an awful lot of people.”