For Roy Hodgson, the “easy thing would have been to disappear off into retirement”. So said Dan Ashworth in February 2019, as he reflected on Hodgson’s failed tenure as the England manager, and the view of the Football Association’s former technical director would have found broad agreement.
Only not with Hodgson.
What happened with England remains the biggest stick with which to beat the 74-year-old, even if the Liverpool support might beg to differ. The quarter-final showing at Euro 2012, after Hodgson had been parachuted in at the last minute, was creditable but then came the group stage exit at the 2014 World Cup. And then came Iceland at Euro 2016.
Hodgson is not the sort of ma…