Sven must be smiling
His England sides always qualified for major tournaments. His successor and home grown Englishman Steve McClaren failed to do that in his first attempt.
He took Man City to 9th place in the premiership and a derby double over Man United. Mark Hughes finished 10th next year after spending a lot more on transfers.
Sven’s English sides made the quarter-finals of every major tournament they played and always went out with their heads held high - twice beaten on penalties by Portugal and once by a freak/wonder goal from Ronaldinho.
Sven also got the better of England’s arch nemesis’: a 5-1 win over Germany in the qualifiers and a 1-0 win over Argentina in the World Cup.
And now England under their much vaunted saviour, Fabio Capello, have made a humiliating exit in round 2 of the 2010 World Cup, with the added embarrassment of having suffered their biggest world cup defeat at the hands of a bunch of fledglings from bitter rivals Germany.
Sven came under heavy criticism during his time in England: he was criticized for being ice cold and aloof in the dugout; for repeatedly failing to inspire England (Gareth Southgate criticizing him for being an Iain Duncan Smith and not a Winston Churchill when it came to half time speeches); for lacking imagination and for openly having a string of love affairs.
Now, with England numbed into submission by the greatest blitzkrieg seen since the days of the Battle of Britain, Sven must surely be grinning from ear to ear.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a post match celebratory party with Nancy Dell’Olio and sent a message to all his former bashers.
SERVES YOU RIGHT SUCKERS!!!
