Ferguson: Hodgson right for England

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson believes Roy Hodgson has the experience needed to lead England to success.

Hodgson was named the new England manager on Tuesday, arousing mixed reaction after Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp was favoured for the role.

West Brom boss Hodgson has a plethora of international experience, managing clubs in eight different countries and leading the national teams of Switzerland, Finland and the United Arab Emirates during a career that has spanned nearly four decades.

Ferguson says Hodgson is at the right age to assume such a high-pressure role and has offered his backing to the 64-year-old.

“Roy has fantastic experience. He is a good man and has the right profile for the job in every respect,” Ferguson said.

“You can’t beat experience. I have always said that for that England job you need to be in your 60s.

“You need to go into it with all the experience behind you in the sense of do you really need club football when, at that age, you could be managing your national team.

“I always said Jock Stein was the perfect age for managing Scotland. He had all that experience of managing Celtic and Roy has that experience behind him. I hope he does well.

“The surprise for me was that for the first time I can remember, the FA didn’t bend to the press.”