Roy Hodgson Approached To Be England Manager

It's been very quiet as The FA have searched for a new England manager ahead of this summer's Euro 2012 tournament, however it has emerged on Sunday night that English football's governing body has been granted permission by West Bromwich Albion to speak to their manager Roy Hodgson about taking the role.

In a statement released on The FA's official website, Chairman David Bernsetin said;

I'm grateful to Jeremy and all at West Bromwich Albion for their co-operation in allowing us to approach Roy, who I have since spoken with. Roy is the only manager we have approached and we remain on course to make an appointment within the timescale we set-out soon after Fabio Capello's departure. Further conversations will now take place with Roy and my Club England colleagues before any further announcements can be made.

It's interesting that Hodgson is according to Bernstein the only manager that they have approached. Many in the media had speculated that the job was Harry Redknapp's to lose, while others had speculated that recently appointed Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill and current interim manager Stuart Pearce were outsiders for the biggest job in English football.

Hodgson, 64, has had quite a sotried and varied past, including previous national manager roles with Switzerland, The UAE and Finland, as well as having coaching roles all round Europe as varied as Orebro in Sweden to Internazionale in Italy.

Back in March, former chairman of the FA, Lord Triesman said that Hodgson was ideal for the England job, stating that his record in international football, both at a club and national level was extraordinarily good.

At the same time, Hodgson also spoke about the job, claiming that he would be flattered to be approached over the position.

All signs now point to Hodgson being in place for the European Championships held in Poland and Ukraine this summer, and maybe even in time for England's upcoming friendly with Belgium on June 2nd at Wembley Stadium.