TV or not TV? Hodgson’s poser for pundit Neville

Roy Hodgson has urged Gary Neville not to abandon his coaching career to work full-time as a TV pundit.

The England boss is well aware that his senior coach will come under intense pressure from his employers at Sky to extend the analyst role he’s taken to a different level.

That will be especially so as the broadcasters seek to retain their place as the biggest hitters in the new £5.1-billion rights package that starts in 2016.

That’s around the time after his commitments with England at Euro 2016 are over that Neville has said he will make a decision on which career path to follow.

Hodgson believes that it would be a waste of a talented coach and possibly a potential England manager down the line should the former Manchester United full-back take the media option.

“We talk a lot about what Gary wants to do because we are together a lot,” says Hodgson.

“I think Gary is going to become a very fine coach, and a very fine manager. From a selfish point of view, I personally would see him being more valuable as a coach than as a pundit. I know what an impact a good coach can have on the game.

“Punditry is not that difficult if you know a bit about football. You don’t win and lose in punditry. You are just watching a game and giving your opinions.

“If you’re asking me would I like to see Gary go into coaching or management instead, then, yes, I would.

“It is up to the FA to decide what his value to England is in the future. But he is a very good coach now, players like working with him and he will become even better with experience.

“He’d be a loss to England at the moment. I can’t speculate on his value to England in the future because that would be down to the FA.

“Could he be a future England manager? Yes, he could be. Who knows?”

Hodgson’s own future could be decided around the same time, of course. He is contracted to the FA until after the European Championships next summer, when he’ll be a month short of his 69th birthday.

But he is steadfastly refusing to speculate on what might happen after that.

“We’ll see,” says Hodgson. “At the moment, I feel good and I don’t feel anything like my age.

“I hope that will continue for a few more years. I prefer to let the future take care of itself. I have my clearly-focused goals and we’ll see what develops from there.

“It’s not something that occupies me at the moment.

“When the day comes, I will know what the right thing to do is and I’ll do it.

“Right now, I have an important job to do.

“I retired at 60. Before I went to Fulham, I was on my way to Inter Milan to join Massimo Moratti as his presidential advisor and go into semi-retirement.

“Yet here I am, eight years later, doing the biggest job in the country. That taught me not to make any hasty decisions.”