Here’s hoping we get back to talking about football

Hodgson racism row is a ludicrous distraction.

It should have been a happy one for Roy Hodgson and England. They should have been rejoicing in World Cup qualification, and getting the shorts and T-shirts out for Brazil.

Instead, thanks to a leak from within the dressing-room, everybody is talking about whether or not the manager is a racist.

It’s ludicrous. Of course he isn’t.

And the switch in focus has distracted everyone from what we SHOULD be talking about the fact that England have a decent shot at doing well in Brazil.

I’m not talking about them winning it. I don’t think they’re quite there yet. But England are quarter-finalists at the very least, and with the right draw and the right performance, who’s to say they won’t make the semis?

That’s an optimist’s point of view admittedly, but there’s nothing wrong with thinking positively. Lord knows, England need a bit of positivity after the week they’ve had.

The number of column inches filled by stories about Roy Hodgson’s monkey “gaffe” involving Andros Townsend has been incredible. The level of scrutiny even prompted Sir Alex Ferguson to come out and describe the England manager’s job as “horrible”.

I can see why he’d say that, but I don’t believe it’s true.

Despite everything that Roy Hodgson has had to put up with this week, I still think he’ll feel that the England job is a great one. It’s no walk in the park, especially when it comes to dealing with the Press, but it’s still one of the top jobs in world football.

The last few incumbents have had to put up with heightened scrutiny sometimes to the point where it’s over the top but they’ve all been very well rewarded for it.

And in Roy’s case, while the monkey story is likely to have affected him badly, it’s unlikely it will be remembered as anything other than a storm in a teacup. By the time the World Cup rolls around, it will have been forgotten, and worries about the where the leak came from will have been dealt with.

What will be interesting is how different the squad that heads to Brazil will be to the one that qualified. With good young players like Ravel Morrison and Saido Berahino coming through, Roy will have a decision to make especially if they keep their sparkling club form going.

If including a few new faces is an option, I suspect he’ll take it, particularly if it means whatever unrest there may be in the current dressing-room can be cut out.

THAT is the sort of thing we should be talking about squads, selections, hopes, ambitions. It’s a shame we haven’t been able to do it yet.

So for everyone’s sake, here’s hoping we get back to talking about football between now and next summer.