LEGENDARY broadcaster Clive Tyldesley has admitted former England manager Roy Hodgson “resigned before I finished the sentence” following the country’s humiliating defeat to Iceland at Euro 2016.
Hodgson, 77, and Tyldesley, 70, had built up a friendship over many years working in football.
This made it even more difficult for Tyldesley as he watched on in Nice eight years ago, labelling the performance the “most abject failure I can recall” after the final whistle was blown.
Hodgson had suffered quarter-final and group-stage eliminations at Euro 2012 and the 2014 World Cup, but the 2-1 loss to minnows Iceland would prove to be the final straw.
Tyldesley has now opened up about his “friend” Hodgson and the tough task of commentating on his demise as England boss.
Speaking to FourFourTwo, he said: “Susan and I had gone for meals with Roy [Hodgson] and Sheila, I regarded him as a good friend.
“When Iceland beat England in 2016, I essentially had to say at the final whistle that Roy Hodgson’s position as manager was untenable.
“I was calling for him to go in front of 25 million people.
“But he’d pretty much resigned before I finished the sentence.”
Listening back to Tyldesley’s commentary, he said: “It’s another wretched night for England at a major tournament.
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“It’s difficult to think of anything quite as humbling as this defeat, certainly in living memory.”
He went on to add: “This is the most abject failure that I can recall.”
Hodgson immediately announced his departure in the post-match press conference.
He said: “I’m extremely disappointed. We haven’t progressed as far as I thought we were capable of and that’s obviously not acceptable.
“I’m proud of the work my coaching staff and I have achieved during our time at the helm with England.
“The transition of the squad whose average age is 30 to now being the youngest in the tournament is both remarkable and exciting for the future of English football.
“I would have loved to have stayed on for another two years, however I am pragmatic and know that we are in the results business.
“My contract was up after the Euros. So now is the time for someone else to oversee the progress of this young, hungry and extremely talented group of players.”
Hodgson has gone on to coach in the Premier League for a further eight years, with two spells at Crystal Palace sandwiched either side of a brief stint at Watford.
He left Palace back in February and has now coached 1,269 professional matches – a career spanning 48 years.
