Phil Jagielka praises Roy Hodgson's managerial style and SLAMS dictator Fabio Capello

PHIL JAGIELKA has painted a stark contrast between the approachable managerial style of Roy Hodgson and the dictatorial regime of his predecessor Fabio Capello – and it is pretty clear which one the England players prefer.

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Italian legend Capello was always at a disadvantage when it came to communication with players and media because his English was limited, but his aloof manner and strict rules didn’t help, with Everton defender Jagielka revealing the players at times felt as if they were “walking on eggshells”.

“When you meet up, Roy’s desperate to speak to everyone,” he said. “You see him in the corridor, you think you’ll be there for a couple of minutes and half-an-hour’s passed and he’s chatted away.

“But you wouldn’t have it any other way. You can sometimes feel that awkwardness between player and manager, players and coaches, but thankfully I don’t feel that way and I don’t know of anyone who feels that way with Roy and his staff.

“I’m not going to sit here and slag Capello off, but it was a different way of doing things. He’s had fantastic success with that style during his managerial career, but it was difficult sometimes.

“You’d walk past him and not know where you stood. It would make the [international] weeks a bit more difficult, and you’d be on eggshells sometimes walking round.”

While rules are necessary for any group, Jagielka believes too many can prove counter-productive and suppress the various characters and personalities in a squad. And he insists the professionalism of the players in the England squad means that no one takes liberties in Hodgson’s more relaxed regime.

Asked if Capello was too strict, Jagielka added: “With meetings, with times, training sessions. Sometimes there can be too many rules. If he wanted no one to have ketchup there was no ketchup, it was as simple as that. Roy allows us ketchup if we want!

“But we’re all professionals these days. I don’t think there’s too many binge drinkers in the Premier League and there’s certainly none in this squad.

Phil JagielkaGETTY

Phil Jagielka speaks to the media ahead of the Lithuania clash

“Everyone’s got their own diets. It’s quite a boring squad really! I was looking around the dressing room today, and most of the lads are 26 and under. They’re the new breed of professional footballer, most of them are pretty sensible. Most lads know it’s a fantastic career to have and they’d be daft to treat themselves as some people did five or 10 years ago.

“We’ve got characters in the squad now and it helps that they’re allowed to be themselves when we go away. You can see there’s a good spirit in the squad, and the boys are desperate to go out and perform.”

It is Hodgson’s man-management skills as much as his vast coaching experience that make him so popular with the England players and why they would like his contract to be extended.

“There are many things,” said Jagielka. “If you look at his coaching ability and the experience that he’s had, that speaks it for itself and there’s no need for me to go on about that.

“When you get 24 people called up, they turn up hungry to play and you’ve got to try and keep them all happy – it’s a skill.

“Sometimes we’ve had managers in the past who have ruled it like a headmaster, maybe been a little bit too strict, but with Roy, he’s obviously a very likeable person, a good man-manager, he will come and speak to you. It makes a life a lot easier, you know where you stand rather than having to second guess things.

“Everyone knows about his other attributes and managerial record but as a person he is easy to speak to. If you’ve got a problem, he’s very approachable and so are the staff he has around him.

“He’s got a variety of people around him who have either played for England not so long ago or done a lot of coaching, so it makes the whole experience a lot easier when you’re coming away.”

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