Wright, Dixon, Hoddle, McClaren react to England
Former England internationals Ian Wright, Lee Dixon and Peter Crouch believe Roy Hodgson’s decision to resign as manager was the right one after their elimination by Iceland from Euro 2016.
England slipped to a deserved 2-1 defeat to the European minnows to exit Euro 2016 at the last-16 stage on Monday.
Roy Hodgson resigned as manager in the aftermath, and Harry Redknapp, Alan Shearer and Jamie Carragher have offered their reactions to an “abject” performance. Matt Stead even brings you player ratings. They are positively glowing in praise.
Wright, Dixon and Crouch criticised England’s “abject” performance in the disappointing and shock 2-1 defeat that came after Wayne Rooney’s penalty gave them a fourth-minute lead.
Wright also endorsed Under-21s manager Gareth Southgate as a potential successor.
“He’s done the right thing,” Dixon told ITV. “From his point of view, but also the team’s point of view. He couldn’t have taken the team any further.
“He’s a lovely guy, honourable.
“(But) from a coaching point of view, there were glaring errors there from the set-pieces, etc, which weren’t taken care of.
“It was just abject. There was no organisation, there was no speed, the organisation of letting a goal in from a throw-in: there was little attention to detail.”
Wright added: “It was an abject performance from the boys, but the preparation in what Iceland do was pretty obvious. We were found wanting in that respect.
“(Hodgson) said ‘They’ve been fantastic’, which is a nice thing to say, but they’ve not been fantastic.
“I’d go with Gareth Southgate, what he’s done for the England Under-21s.
“We’ve done the foreign manager (route), and as good as they’ve been in previous jobs, they’ve done nothing for us.”
Crouch, who refused to be on standby for Hodgson at Euro 2012, said: “These are good young players. With him resigning, it takes the pressure off the players a little bit.
“Hopefully people will start talking about him leaving rather than the performance, and I think that’s why he came in and did it so early.
“I don’t think there’s a fundamental fault (with English players), I think it boils down to pressure.”
Former England manager Glenn Hoddle felt Hodgson had made the right call.
He told ITV: “I’m not surprised. He did it with dignity. It’s the right timing, with his contract coming to an end, and the way we played in this game.
“It’s the right decision. He’s done it with dignity and it just hasn’t worked out for him.
“There’s not much else he can say – he’s resigned and the FA can move on, I’m sure. That will start in the coming weeks.
“It’s a sad moment. You don’t like to see any England manager moving on, but it’s the right timing.
“It was very lacklustre, there was no movement, not enough options on the ball. Iceland deserved their win.”
Another former Three Lions boss, Steve McClaren, was equally dismayed at the national team’s performance.
Speaking soon after the full-time whistle on Sky Sports News, he said: “They’ve not been good enough tonight, not at all.
“The repercussions of this are going to be absolutely enormous.”