Hodgson calls for schedule changes

Roy Hodgson wants Premier League games to take place on a Saturday in weeks immediately preceding England’s World Cup qualifiers.

The 65-year-old England manager was frustrated by the lack of preparation he had with his squad before their games against Moldova and Ukraine earlier this month.

Hodgson now wants the Premier League and television companies to compromise over the scheduling of games so his players are ready for action as soon as they report for international duty.

Hodgson told the FA’s official website: “This is the Premier League and TV. It would be nice if, when we’re playing on Friday, the top teams played on Saturday and not Sunday. Then on Monday we could do a bit of work, and on Tuesday do some serious work.”

“But every time, the top clubs have played on Sunday and some at five o’clock on Sunday. If they’re from Manchester and they’ve played in Southampton, they get back late at night then have to come down again.

“It would be lovely to think that one day we could all get together and say ‘England is important’.”

The former West Brom boss feels the backing of the country plays a huge part in success and wants to echo the success of Team GB at the 2012 Olympics.

He added: “You hear people trying to say it’s only the Premier League that counts, and the Champions League, and people don’t care about international football – something like 24 or 25million watched our (Euro 2012) game against Italy.

“If you want to see the English desire to see a national team do well, you only have to go to the Olympics. It’s Great Britain but you had 20,000 turning up to watch a handball game – let alone beach volleyball, but that’s a different matter.”

The 1-1 draw against Ukraine last time out drew criticism for Hodgson for the first time during his four-month tenure.

“I know I’ll be vilified at some point but I hope when that vilification comes, somewhere down the line I’ll get the redemption that a Bobby Robson had,” Hodgson said.

“You know when you take the job, you’re dead. All you can hope is that you can enjoy that time on your death bed and that when you’re resurrected a few years later, people say ‘You know, he wasn’t that bad’.”