Paper Monitor
11:58 UK time, Monday, 30 April 2012
A service highlighting the riches of the daily press.
There was momentary confusion in the Paper Monitor household about the identity of Fabio Capello's successor. For it was dodgy puns galore, which can be as clear as mud.
"Hod choice for England," screamed the Daily Mirror.
"What are the Hods on that?" asked an incredulous Sun front page.
The return of Glenn Hoddle - who'd have thunk it? Sacked in 1999 for poor results and bizarre beliefs, what a surprising appointment for the usually risk-averse FA. Surely Times hack Matt Dickinson would be sharpening his pencil for another piece about Hoddle's views on reincarnation and the best position for faith healer Eileen Drewery in a 3-5-2 formation.
But lo, other papers were taking a different line. It was "Roy in frame for England" said the Daily Star. "Roy's the Boy," trumpeted the Daily Express.
It was left to the Times to combine puns with accuracy: "Hodgson's Choice" it read. Ah, so it's that Hod, not the other Hod.
"Hodgson for England job," announced the Daily Telegraph cover above , eerily reminiscent of Steve McClaren at his gurning best.
"West Bromwich Albion boss Roy Hodgson has been approached by the Football Association to become the new England manager. Harry Redknapp had been widely viewed as the favourite to succeed Fabio Capello," its picture caption - mercifully free of puns - summed up.
The Sun though was not giving up either on "people's favourite" Redknapp or on its beloved puns. "Hod job man...but why didn't Harry get it?" inside wondered.
You say tomayto, I say tomato. You say Roy, I say Hod. It doesn't have quite the same ring does it?
But the fact there are no Roy of the Rovers headlines could be telling for Hodgson. This is the Impossible Job, requiring capital letters, after all. If he's not a saviour riding to the rescue on his white charger now what will it be like when we go a goal down to Andorra or Belarus?
Imagine the tabloid headlines if the Spurs boss had got it - "Cry God for Harry, England and St George". Pity poor Roy the Hod Job Man.
The 
