Roy Hodgson: “We weren’t ruthless enough”

Following England?s humiliating defeat at the hands of minnows Iceland in the European Championship, skipper Wayne Rooney has dismissed suggestions that he is considering retirement from the national team.

Hodgson resigned in the aftermath of the match and faced the media in Chantilly on Tuesday – a duty he repeatedly stated he did not see the goal of – after the England squad climbed aboard their tournament bus for the last time.

The former Leicester City forward added that like films England now need a good director who can steer them.

“I want to see an England team playing like an England team – playing at speed, playing to their strengths, being physical, being resilient”, he continued.

“We always believe. That’s our attitude”.

“I think this group of players as they mature will show they are worthy of wearing the England shirt”. “It looked like something got to them”.

Iceland’s soccer Vikings fought back from a goal down to beat England 2-1 at Euro 2016 in one of the biggest shocks in the sport’s history that forced the immediate resignation of England coach Roy Hodgson.

“If it was true then they disguised it well from me and the coaching staff”, he said.

“We feel very, very sad and we have great sympathy for the fans”.

“Of course [it’s a tough job], following this, what we’ve been part of”. Whenever you don’t meet expectation it’s a sad day.

“We are out of the Euros so now is the time for someone else to oversee the progress of a hungry and extremely talented group of players”, said the man who replaced Italian Fabio Capello.

Like the majority of us, poor Jack’s first tournament experience of England was an utter let down, something which we fear he and us all will have to get used to it for the foreseeable future.

The two places have a similar population – around 330,000 – and joint-coach Hallgrimsson admits he does see comparisons between Iceland and the English champions, and would love to see a similar story play out in France.

“The process for finding a new manager is underway”. We are going to scope out, which we start at the end of this week with [FA vice-chairman] David Gill and [technical director] Dan [Ashworth]. It’s really important that we get it right.

Other names linked with the job include Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe, possibly in tandem with former England worldwide Steven Gerrard, Hull City’s Steve Bruce, former England manager Glenn Hoddle and Italian Claudio Ranieri, who won many admirers by steering Leicester City to their first Premier League title last month.

But Rooney told Press Association: “In response to recent media reports, I’d like to say that is completely untrue. I did so because I have never shirked a press conference, because I have never run away from anybody”, he said. I’m unhappy about it because it’s no longer my job.

“I’ve answered those questions”.