Hodgson denies Euro player revolt before Iceland loss

Outgoing England manager Roy Hodgson has denied reports players questioned his selection decisions before the Iceland defeat.

Former England manager Roy Hodgson front the press following the team’s 2-1 defeat to Iceland

Departing England manager Roy Hodgson has denied reports his players questioned his selection decisions before the embarrassing 2-1 defeat by Iceland which sent the team crashing out of Euro 2016.

At a news conference the day after he quit, Hodgson was asked about reports of team disharmony and claims that senior players queried the selection of winger Raheem Sterling against Iceland and the six team changes made before the final group game against Slovakia.

“There was no indication that they weren’t behind us, that they weren’t behind the game plans and trying hard to execute,” said a tense Hodgson before a Football Association official stepped in to say the claims had also been denied by captain Wayne Rooney.

Rooney released a statement that said: “In response to recent media reports, I’d like to say that is completely untrue. On behalf of the players, we completely supported the England manager.”

The claims had been reported by Sky Sports, which said they had come from unidentified sources inside the England camp. Hodgson, whose selections and tactics were heavily criticised in the media, said he was feeling “fragile” after the defeat, considered by some the worst in English football history.

“I don’t really know what I’m doing here but I was told it’s important for me to appear as everyone is still smarting,” said Hodgson, who apologised to supporters for the result.

“My emotions are obvious. I was really disappointed and I didn’t see the defeat coming. If you don’t turn up and play to your abilities, you can be beaten. I’m very fragile today, as you can understand.”

But he predicted that England’s players would bounce back and show they could perform at an international tournament.

“I’m sure that these players will get better and better. One day, I think we will do well, and hopefully that can happen in 2018 (at the next World Cup).”

Hodgson was accompanied by FA chief executive Martin Glenn, who said a review would be conducted into why England were so “brittle” at tournaments. “When it comes to the business end of the tournament, we’ve come up short for many years,” Glenn said.

“We’re not denying that our perennial problem is that England seem brittle at the business end of the season.”

As for a new manager, he said they were looking for “the best person for the job”, and didn’t rule out appointing a foreign manager.

Agencies