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Back
in the 1980s, Richard Sneekes became the youngest player ever to
feature in the first team for Ajax Amsterdam, no mean feat at a
time when the side was still one of the most feared in Holland and
in Europe. Thereafter, Sneekes went on to play for Fortuna Sittard,
Bolton Wanderers, West Brom, Stockport and Hull, but he still has
his finger on the pulse of European football. So with England having
shelved the Swede, what’s his take on a very English fiasco?
“As far as Sven is concerned, I think unfortunately he brought
a lot of problems on himself. Whatever the papers did to trap him,
he was pretty naïve I think in going along with it. Any other
England manager in the past that had been caught in that position,
or who had gone through as many revelations as he has, they would
find themselves being moved out of the job, so it can’t be
any surprise to him.
Terry Venables, Glenn Hoddle, they were brought down by various
things away from the football field, so he should have expected
it I guess. Probably it’s only because the World Cup is so
close that it wasn’t an immediate thing.
“The interesting thing now will be to see if his relationship
with the players changes. He’s always been very popular with
them because he doesn’t rant and rave, he doesn’t attack
them in public, and they responded to that, most times on the field,
but also backing him in the press whenever anything happens. This
time though, a lot of stuff has come out about players and that’s
different.
We’re all human, we all make mistakes, we all confide in our
closest friends, but to say the things he’s supposed to have
said to people he barely knows, that’s very dangerous for an
England manager. The way the media is now, you have to always be
on the lookout for trouble if you are in a high profile position
I’m afraid
“I
think it would be sensible if the contract was just terminated the
day England finish their involvement in the World Cup, no pay off
as such, just a mutual ending of the contract, and then he would
be free to look for another job after that. I think for him to be
able to look for one now is disrespectful to the England supporters.
It’s the biggest job in English football, but it’s being
treated as if it means nothing. There needs to be some respect brought
back to the job in future.
“Of course, Sven can still go out as a hero if England do really
well in Germany and as I say, it will be interesting to see how
players react now. The stories attributed to Sven that Michael Owen
only went to Newcastle for the money for instance and I wouldn’t
think he was happy to see that.
Whether it is true or not, it must have made the Newcastle fans,
who are very passionate, wonder about the transfer. Whether it’s
true or not, the whole distraction certainly hasn’t been helpful,
especially as now everyone will be talking about Sven’s successor.
“It seems that Guus Hiddink is one of the favourites and that
would be a very interesting choice. Some guys that I know who have
played under him speak very highly of him. He’s laid back,
tactically very sharp, and he is clever enough to surround himself
with very good coaches, people w ho do a lot of the work for him,
and that’s good management.
They take a lot of work off him without getting the plaudits maybe,
but I’m sure he would want to bring people with him were he
to get a chance with England.
He is very devoted to the game, dedicated to football, there hasn’t
been any controversy around him, so he would be an interesting try.
He also knows what being national team coach means – he’s
done it with Holland, South Korea, Australia, been very successful
at the job, so I understand why people link him with the job.
“Having had a foreign manager for five years, the FA may think
it’s time to go for someone English again. I don’t know
what their thinking is, but personally, I think it would be a shame
to dismiss people just because they’re not English. Bringing
in coaches from overseas brings new ideas and that’s very valuable
at the highest level, it makes you more outward looking which is
important from time to time.
“Also, it is different when you become national coach because
the day to day involvement has gone and that’s hard for club
coaches to cope with at times. Although Hiddink is at PSV too, he
knows what it is to just be a national coach as well, so I think
that’s in his favour.
Would someone like Sam Allardyce want to leave Bolton for a job
where you play ten times a year?
Managers love working with players every day, but you can’t
combine the England job with a club job.
“Whoever takes over, the draw for Euro 2008 is favourable.
The groups are so big, with seeding as well, with two teams to go
through, it’s harder for the big countries not to qualify!
But you can always get upsets I suppose and it is true that even
the tiny nations are becoming harder to play against, because they
import good coaches, they become more organised and disciplined
and if they don’t concede an early goal, they can make life
tough.
“In the World Cup qualifiers, Liechtenstein got eight points
in a group with Portugal, Slovakia and Russia – that’s
pretty good for a country with the population the size of Sutton
Coldfield! In another group, Holland only beat Andorra 3-0 in their
country, then Holland drew with Macedonia, so it is levelling out
a little bit because tactics can play such a big part, they put
ten men behind the ball, keep a good shape and ask you to break
them down. That’s a tough job at any level. Whoever takes the
England job will need to be wary of that – and of the media
too maybe!”
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