Gone in 45 minutes
Depressed England football fans will have been more focused on the 90 minutes of abject incompetence against Iceland rather than the 45 minutes manager Roy Hodgson took to resign after the humiliation.
The most sparsely populated country in Europe with a population of 332,529 competing in its first ever major international tournament deservedly beat England, the home of the richest football league in the world which also has a population of more than 53 million to pick from.
It is possible to argue that the defeat is not the biggest humiliation in English football history – that would be losing 1-0 to part-timers from the US in the 1950 World Cup – but it’s not an argument many will have much energy for.
However the performance of the Football Association communications team in the wake of the defeat is something to be proud of if you enjoy clutching at extremely tiny straws.
Roy Hodgson was always bound to be sacked after failing so dismally but he at least managed to come out with his resignation statement within 45 minutes of the final whistle. And intriguingly he was reading from a written statement – it was also on Twitter with a picture of Roy Hodgson looking pensive – which would imply that the communications team had managed to draft it, get it signed off and printed within at the most 40 minutes of the defeat.
You can argue about the content. Some might disagree with him saying “Now is the time for someone else to oversee the progress of a hungry and extremely talented group of players.” And while fans will endorse his hope that “you will still be able to see an England team in a final of a major tournament soon” not many will agree with “they have done fantastically and done everything asked of them.”
You can’t argue with the professionalism of the communications team. It is probably safe to assume that England managers do not go into every game with a resignation statement drafted so it is a testament to the communications team’s commitment to supporting the manager after total humiliation and keeping fans informed.
Resignation statements are coming thick and fast now following the Prime Minister’s in the wake of the EU Referendum and up to 36 (ish) Labour frontbench resignations most of which involved writing letters which are then put on Twitter.
There is no template to resignation statements – people quitting their jobs can choose how they want to go. Roy Hodgson – like the Prime Minister – went for dignified and taking the blame while offering a vision of the future. The Labour resignations have ranged from polite and sorrowful to angry and bitter.
They are however an opportunity to deliver a clear message and to shape how the media react to the situation. The communications team’s professionalism meant that Roy Hodgson’s resignation was efficiently dispatched.
If only the England football team had been as efficient in the 90 minutes then it might not have been necessary. At least until the quarter-finals.