According to recent comments made by England dinosaur Roy Hodgson, it isn't his lack of invention or adventure that is killing the English national game, nor is it his unwillingness to kick the ageing, serial underachievers out on their international asses. It is in fact, those pesky foreign imports at Premier League clubs that are making his job more difficult than it should be.
What would be a valid point if say, Glenn Hoddle would have bemoaned such luck, or even Schteve McClaren, but for Hodgson to air such a complaint, sounds like nothing more than the clueless ramblings of a short minded hypocrite.
As he is supposedly such a staunch opponent of the foreign influx into the Premier League, it's only fair to see how he, personally has attempted to combat such a worrying trend during his time in the Premier League.
Let's look at the numbers shall we?
Roy Hodgson has managed four different clubs in the Premier League. Blackburn Rovers, Fulham, Liverpool and West Bromwich Albion.
As Blackburn Rovers were his first Premier League club, it only seems logical to begin there.
During his audacious attempt at taking Blackburn from Premier League Champions to relegation contenders, he signed seventeen players. Out of those seventeen, only four were English, most notably goal-shy target man Kevin Davies and forgotten footballer Ashley Ward.
Yes, you read that correctly. Four English players out of seventeen, just four. That's around 23% of his signings that were aiding him in his fight against foreign.
After a spell away from the English game, Roy returned to England to take charge of Fulham during the 2007-08 season. His first transfer window saw him strengthen the struggling southerners with six new players. None of which were English! Not bucking such trend, Roy made a further twenty-five signings during his time at Craven Cottage, with a 'massive' count of nine players being English. Players including pint-sized left back Nicky Shorey, and injury-plagued Andrew Johnson brought in for big money.
The figures at his time in charge of Fulham read; thirty-one signed, with only nine of which were eligible to play for England. Another fail from Roy.
Moving up north and to his time at Liverpool, I'm going to purposely ignore most of that car crash, focusing solely on the kick-and-rush disciple's transfer dealings. As foreign crap like Milan Jovanovic and Christian Poulsen walked through the doors at Anfield, so did the likes Jonjo Shelvey, Joe Cole and left-back impersonator Paul Konchesky.
Surprise, surprise, once again a look at Roy's dealing shows that only 38% of them could now accept a cap from Hodgson. A paltry figure from a man who is now blaming the Premier League for a decreasing pool of English talent.
Fear not though, as his reign at West Brom showed a small upturn for the tactical buffoon. The 2011-12 season saw a whopping (for Hodgson at least) 44% of his signings being of English nationality. Players like Billy Jones and Jamie Edge helping Roy achieve a career high of four incoming players eligible to play for the England side during a Premier League transfer window.
Overall, Roy's stats read sixty-five players signed in the Premier League. Of those sixty-five, only twenty-five of them being eligible for England. Another huge fail for Roy in his apparent quest against the foreign imports.
I suppose the only thing left to state following the England man's most recent excuse is 'men lie, women lie, but numbers don't Roy!'
