SOCCER NEWS ROUND-UP:FABIO CAPELLO'S announcement that he intends to step down as England manager in 2012 has served as a starting gun, opening the race to succeed the Italian. Despite playing down his own candidacy, Harry Redknapp did concede he would not be able to turn down the job if it were offered while Steve Bruce made it clear that he would happily accept the baton.
“Of course I would like to manage England,” said Sunderland’s manager. “I rarely blow my own trumpet, I don’t promote myself but I’d have a go, why not? It must be the time of your life to manage your country, even though you know what’s going to go with it. It must be wonderful, absolutely wonderful.
“I would have thought Harry Redknapp must be the main contender but there’s not many of us Englishmen managing in the Premier League so why not? ”
Asked if the post would be worth the inevitable hassle and scrutiny that accompanies it, Bruce’s reply was unequivocal. “To be England manager, it would be 100 per cent worth it,” he said. “You need a thick skin of course, but then you need one of those to work up here in the north-east.
“If you’re going to do something in life you’ve got to try to get to the top, that’s what I’ve always tried to do. I’ve striven for whatever I’ve done, so, if that’s the highest I can go, I’ve got to aim for it.”
When it came to discussing his own ambitions to swap Tottenham for England, Redknapp came over a little coy. Asked if he would turn the chance to succeed Capello down, he replied. “No, but I don’t want to start saying I want the England job, because I don’t. It’s not something that I push myself for. I think there’s enough lads out there, given the opportunity, to do a great job. There’s a lot of good English managers out there who never get the opportunity to manage at a higher level, who would be just as good and just as clever given the chance.”
Elsewhere, Everton have no special plans to increase security at Goodison Park on account of Wayne Rooney tomorrow, when the Manchester United striker is expected to make his first appearance in the Premier League since allegations were published about his private life. Rooney’s England team-mate and Everton defender Phil Jagielka has warned the 24-year-old to expect another hostile reception.
Everton, however, see no reason to bolster the security presence at Goodison on the basis of allegations that are unconnected to football and concern a former player’s private life. The visit of Manchester United is one of two “Category A” league matches that warrant an increase in police numbers at Goodison every season – city rivals Liverpool being the other – but that has been the practice since before Rooney left for Old Trafford in 2004.
With matches against Rangers and Liverpool to follow his latest Everton reunion, Rooney faces several uncomfortable appearances. His last appearance at Goodison, ironically, marked a thawing in relations between Rooney and Everton when, after conciliatory words from the player towards his former club and David Moyes, plus the Everton manager towards Rooney, his reception lacked the venom of previous years.
Despite the latest allegations against the Croxteth-born star it is highly unlikely he will be treated to the same levels of abuse tomorrow that followed his acrimonious transfer six years ago.
Tom Hicks and George Gillett’s ill-starred reign as owners of Liverpool looks like having less than a month to run after the club’s loans with Royal Bank of Scotland were placed into its toxic-assets division.
The deadline for the refinancing of the owners’ personal loans from RBS is October 6th, and that now looks set to be the date that Hicks and Gillett’s association with England’s most successful club will end. The bank’s decision to switch the debts to its Global Restructuring Group is the strongest possible signal that these loans will not be extended.
- Guardian Service
