You could almost feel sorry for the RFU and FA being on the receiving end of criticism for their approaches to hiring the next managers for their respective senior national sides. One, the RFU is on the receiving end of complaints that it is unnecessarily rushing the process, while the FA is receiving exactly the opposite - criticism for taking too slow an approach to their hiring process. A case of being screwed if they do and screwed if they don't? But in reality the answer is not so positive for the governing bodies. The fact of the matter is that they are both guilty of letting the recruitment process damage the chances of the two national teams in two of the most important tournaments that either team play in. Granted, these tournaments don't have the same power to inspire as the World Cup, but winning both tournaments would still represent a massive achievement and cause for celebration for both sides (and the football team in particular should be desperate to win any tournament given the length of time since their last success).
The RFU have contrived to make an already difficult prospect even harder for their team to compete in the Six Nations. A team which has a temporary management team in place, trying to rebuild from the failures of the world cup can add to their challenges the prospect of a governing organisation with a new CEO starting mid-tournament and the baffling decision that they would decide on a permanent new coach by the end of the tournament. Subsequently, the team has been subjected to further distractions as rumour and counter-rumour spreads around who is most likely to be the next full time manager. Who has put their name forward and who hasn't? Most perplexing is that they have approached Jake White, who had previously ruled himself out for the role. This isn't to suggest that he wouldn't be a good candidate for the role, but it certainly gives the impression that the existing shortlist doesn't meet the requirements of the RFU. Now that he has once again ruled himself out the running, the RFU is left with no choice but to hire one of the two remaining candidates. And why was it so vital to make this appointment before the end of the Six Nations? There is plenty of time to make the appointment following the Six Nations and leave time for the new manager to make plans for the summer tour to South Africa. This would also allow a complete appraisal of the Six Nations campaign as part of the appraisal of Stuart Lancaster's suitability for the role and an analysis of what weaknesses the new manager would need to address and make sure that their skills were appropriately suited to this task. The end result is that the new CEO has a rather muddled approach to when the new appointment would be confirmed and has already been required to clarify exactly what is happening in the process. The end result of all this is uncertainty which has been acknowledged by the players and can't help in the slightest with their preparations.
The FA meanwhile, is so in thrall to the Premiership, that they are waiting with the appointment of the next England manager until the eve of the European Championships, leaving the new manager to inherit plans concocted by two previous managers (both Capello and Pearce have worked on the preparation plans) and an impressively short time in which to build a team. When everyone knows that Harry Redknapp is the favourite to be the new England manager, the FA is presumably holding off with the appointment to avoid disrupting the remainder of Spurs' season - when surely their priority should be to look after the welfare of the national team? The fact that pretty much everyone already knows what will happen with the new manager makes it all more perplexing, as Tottenham's season is surely already disrupted and added to by the uncertainty of what will happen at the end of the season. And what will happen if Harry decides that he is not ready to give up the day-to-day management of league football? Then the FA will have to settle for an interim manager for the tournament or try to force through a hire in an embarrassingly short period of time.
In short, with these international tournaments fiendishly difficult to win at the best of times, why are England's governing bodies contriving to make them even harder?
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