England's Roy Hodgson on THAT monkey joke: I don't care who mole was - that's all finished
England's Roy Hodgson on THAT monkey joke: I don't care who mole was - that's all finished
Manager makes it clear there'll be no witch-hunt to discover which player leaked story that sparked racism accusations
"It's difficult to regret innocent remarks": Hodgson is eager to move on
Michael Regan - The FA
Roy Hodgson insists he does not care which player accused him of racism last month - but admitted the "space monkey" controversy had "tarnished" his World Cup delight. Three Lions
chief Hodgson admitted he has become more "cautious" in the aftermath
of the storm caused by his use of the punchline to the old NASA joke as
he urged Chris Smalling to get the ball to Andros Townsend against
Poland.
But as he vehemently insisted his "innocent remark" had
been "misconstrued" Hodgson made it clear he was not interested in any
sort of witch-hunt.
Hodgson said: "There is a dressing room code,
everyone knows that, but I'm not prepared to discuss it, I'm not
prepared to investigate it.
"It's over. It's finished. I'm not interested any more."
Hodgson
added: "It's difficult to really regret innocent remarks but I've
apologised if such an innocent remark could have caused any offence.
"I didn't want the achievement the players had done, in getting us to the World Cup, tarnished any more.
"It took away some of the euphoria for me. I don't know if it did for the players but I don't think they were too happy.
"If
anyone should have been on the front page it should have been Steven
Gerrard rejoicing after scoring the goal that put us there, not me. Bad news: Townsend story spoiled tarnished Cup qualification says Hodgson
Michael Regan - The FA
"I would like to think it makes me aware of the need to be
cautious. Whether or not you can always eliminate everything from your
vocabulary is another matter I suppose.
"But it makes you more aware of the focus, the extra focus and extra attention.
"It's
very difficult to totally change your way of working, your way of being
and your personality overnight. As someone who has always approached
the job like I have, to try to become that taciturn, one-word answer
person, I don't know how you do that.
"You would have to change your personality and character completely, so that is the gamut I suppose I will be running."
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