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Despite a public outcry from some quarters that former West Ham manager Harry Redknapp should be given the reigns as England manager it is Roy Hodgson who has been appointed the new England manager.

The fact that the FA have decided to play it safe should surprise no one but there is every chance that Hodgson could do a better job than Redknapp and fulfil England’s Euro 2012 odds.

Redknapp has no international experience to call upon whereas Roy Hodgson has managed three countries in total and has spent around seven years of his long career in international management. The highlight of that part of his career spent in international football was certainly his spell in charge of Switzerland where he managed to get the team to third place in the FIFA Rankings!

Switzerland lost just one qualifying game on their way to World Cup ‘94 despite being drawn against Italy and Portugal in the group (Switzerland picked up four points from their two games against Italy who went on to reach the World Cup final). Switzerland reached the knockout phase of the World Cup but were eliminated by Spain. Hodgson then guided Switzerland to Euro ‘96 but joined Inter Milan before the tournament began.

Hodgson’s other two attempts at international management were less successful. He had an unremarkable two year spell at United Arab Emirates and went close to taking Finland to their first major tournament but they missed out on Euro 2008 by three points in the end.

Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney may have tweeted their support to Harry Redknapp following the resignation of Fabio Capello but they must now get behind the man who is going to try and guide England to a first major tournament success since the World Cup 46 years ago. The England Euro 2012 odds make Roy Hodgson’s men the fourth favourites to lift the trophy in the Olympic Stadium in Kiev on July 1st.

The team with the best credentials according to the bookies are Spain, winners of Euro 2008 and the last World Cup, whilst the third placed team at the World Cup and the runners up, Germany and Holland, are the second and third favourites respectively.

One of he biggest decisions for Hodgson will be selecting his Euro 2012 squad and it is highly likely that there will be a strong West Ham link in the finals. Although they won’t all be on the plane to Ukraine there are nine players with a decent shout of making the squad who have played for West Ham or, in the case of Robert Green, are still at the club.

The bookies make Rob Green long odds on to go as back up to Joe Hart whilst last season’s skipper Scott Parker will be the third name on the squad sheet if the bookies have called this right, he is 1/50 to be in the squad behind Joe Hart and Ashley Cole.




Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, Glen Johnson and Jermain Defoe are all odds on with most bookies to also be named in the squad whilst it is a shade of odds against that Michael Carrick is included, his recent run in the Man Utd first team will have boosted his chances.

There could be a bit of value in Bobby Zamora making the squad now that Hodgson has been given the job, Zamora was a key component in Hodgson’s Fulham side that reached the Europa League Final yet he is as big as 7/1 to be in the squad at the time of writing, at the very least that should trade shorter.

Finally, Joe Cole is also in the betting but deemed a huge outsider, he went to the last World Cup and was managed by Hodgson at Liverpool but his stock has fallen over the past few years and he is as high as 20/1 to go to Euro 2012. The only certainty to be there at this stage though is new manager Roy Hodgson.

The squad betting only touches the surface of the bets available on England, and the rest of the Euro 2012 teams, this summer. Click here for all the Euro 2012 tips and analysis to make this summer a profitable one and hopefully a successful one for England too.

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