22nd May, 2012
England’s new manager, Roy Hodgson, has laid down the law over how he expects his squad to behave during Euro 2012 this summer. Hodgson has told his players that they will be allowed to enjoy the city centre attractions of Krakow – their base for the tournament.
But he has warned them that if any player indulges in the sort of behaviour that brought England’s World Cup rugby team into disrepute, they will not be part of his future plans.
Hodgson’s squad will be given an advisory document which the Football Association have drawn up in order to avoid the type of debacle that dogged England’s trip to New Zealand last autumn.
Members of the team were photographed drinking late into the night and became embroiled in embarrassing off-the-field incidents.
The FA had already decided under former manager Fabio Capello to ditch the idea of using a remote training camp, an experience that bored many of the players in South Africa during the 2010 World Cup.
Instead, England will base themselves in the picturesque, but lively, Polish city of Krakow and have booked the Hotel Stary in the city centre for the duration of the tournament.
Hodgson fully supports the move but, with the hotel surrounded by bars, nightclubs and restaurants, says he will be reminding the players of their responsibilities as national team representatives.
‘My message will be very simple: “Not only do I expect you to behave yourself, I’m going to demand that you behave yourself”,’ said Hodgson last week.
‘And I’m going to demand also that any time they’re in a public place, they are aware of the fact that if they do anything they shouldn’t, they will not only be letting themselves down, they’ll be letting us all down, because unfortunately the criticism will pile upon us all.
‘So it’s a big responsibility. If there’s anybody here who can’t take that responsibility, he’s not going to play a big part in my thinking in the future.
‘I think they’re fully aware of their responsibilities. I won’t be hesitant in pointing them out and Adrian [Bevington, Club England managing director] has put together a document that we’ll take up with them, especially in light of the England rugby team. We don’t want any repeats of those types of things.
‘It’s something we’re going be talking about all the time, I guess, but I don’t want to be teaching my grandmother how to suck eggs either. These are experienced players who have an incredible public profile.
‘They know that every time they step out of the front door the eyes of the world are upon them. There are cameras everywhere nowadays. With the mobile phones, you can’t escape it.’
On the issue of player behaviour, Hodgson, who coached Halmstad and Malmo in Sweden and the Finnish and Swiss national teams, said England ought to learn from their European opponents and trust players to behave in city centre environments.
‘It wasn’t my decision to go to Krakow but if I was asked how would I like my camp, either to be isolated or the other type where there is contact with other people, the players can go out and maybe have a cup of coffee and where they will see something else other than their room-mates, myself, and the coaching staff, then I would say give me that any day,’ said Hodgson.
‘The Swedes have been very good at that for years. Their mantra has been: “We’re dealing with people who have the same goals as us, they want to do well. We’ll make life as comfortable for them as we can and we trust them to behave like proper people when other people are around”.
‘I hope it will go well and if it doesn’t then we will have learned another lesson.
‘Imprisoning people isn’t the best way of getting the best out of them. Treating people like adults when they are adults is the best way of getting a working relationship with them. We’re not at school. We’re footballers. We’ve got the same goal, I hope, to play well and to achieve results for our team.
The FA are about to start a process of consultation with England players on a code of conduct which, in future, will be accepted by all internationals as the rules by which they should abide.
It would cover expected behaviour on group trips and standardise disciplinary action to avoid the confusion as to whether a player should represent England when charged with a criminal offence.