hackwatching

The Expert Knowledge of Mark Hateley

- World Cup 2010

Taken from Hateley’s crayon scribblings in the Daily Record

Can England Top the World? May 26, 2010

Capello made Mike Bassett look more like Sir Alf Ramsey June 29, 2010

I haven’t seen this much unjustified confidence, hype and hypocritical hindsight since Paul Le Guen’s time at Rangers.

Hateley on Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard:

May 26 - “I also forecast that Ledley King will be the star defender at this World Cup and I expect Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard to play out of their skins because this might be their last chance to win the tournament.”

May 26 - “Then I mix in Wayne Rooney - a genuine global superstar.”

Fast forward to -
June 29 - “Yes, Steven Gerrard looks like a superstar at Anfield when playing next to Xabi Alonso but look what happened last season after the Spaniard moved to Real Madrid. All of a sudden the Liverpool skipper looked a lot more ordinary. Don’t tell me Frank Lampard doesn’t look like a better player when he’s surrounded by guys like Michael Ballack, Deco and Michael Essien. It’s the same with Wayne Rooney at Man United.”

Hateley on England’s chances of winning the tournament

May 26 - Hateley’s done the maths and his belief is that two games hold the key to England being able to emulate the legends of 1966. He explained: “If all goes according to plan then we’ll face France in the quarter-finals. “If we win, then the Brazilians will await us in the semis. And if you get past them then anything can happen.”

Fast forward to -
June 29 - “Now let’s be straight here, I never did buy into all the hype regards Capello and England. I know my compatriots are guilty of building their team up every four years and then being struck dumb by shock when they get booted out and realise they weren’t world-beaters after all.I knew England were never going to win this one but they were even worse than I expected.”

 

Hateley on Capello

May 26 - The odds on all of that happening lessen in Hateley’s mind when the man in charge belongs to what he calls the “Golden bunch” of European coaches. He said: “Capello’s like Jose Mourinho in my mind. You get what you pay for and Fabio’s proved he has the credentials to be called a managerial great.”

He’s the strongest point in England’s favour because he’s made a disjointed team into a unit. “The qualification campaign was well nigh perfect and Capello’s already on record as saying he’s going to South Africa to win the World Cup... He gets inside the England players’ heads and can have the same effect on the manager of the opposition.”

Fast forward to -
June 29 - “In truth he’s [Capello] made Mike Bassett (the fictional boss in the comedy movie) look like Alf Ramsey. From his relationships with the players to his tactics, team selections and systems, Capello made one almighty balls up of being England manager and now he is likely to pay for it with his job.

Even so, Capello ought to have made a far better fist of it than he did. He failed because he wasn’t good enough to build a team capable of dealing with the likes of Germany and made a catalogue of blunders.

Capello formed no bond with his players and appears to have rubbed many of them up the wrong way. It would also have helped if he hadn’t thrown on Emile Heskey when we needed to score three goals in less than half an hour. Yes, there really is no case for Capello’s defence.”

 

Hateley on the Premiership

May 26 - “England has a team drawn from the Premiership - quite simply the best league in the world.”

June 29 - “The English truly believe they have the best league in the world. I’m not so sure about that but there is no denying the Premiership is jam-packed with top-quality players. The problem is very few of them are English.”

Roll on EURO 2012!

More paranoid ranting available at www.celticparanoia.blogspot.com

 

TONY BANANAS & HACKWATCHER