Roy Hodgson targets Neville as coach

Roy Hodgson, the new England manager, spent yesterday (Wednesday) in the Football Association offices at Wembley planning his Rio Ferdinand-John Terry peace talks and discussing a possible assistant coach drawn from the thirtysomething generation of ex-England internationals. Phil Neville is a contender.

With Euro 2012 looming, Hodgson has much to ponder, with the Ferdinand-John Terry situation high on the agenda.

Terry is in court on July 9 to face a charge of racially abusing Ferdinand's brother, Anton. Terry, the Chelsea captain, denies the allegation.

Ferdinand, the Manchester United centre-half, is open to being in the squad for the Euros with Terry but Hodgson needs to defuse the tension. He has yet to decide whether to see Ferdinand and Terry in person or contact them over the phone.

As well as solving the Ferdinand-Terry conundrum, Hodgson needs to bring in a coach. Somebody such as Neville, currently doing his badges while playing at Everton, and possibly Alan Shearer, are the type of emerging coaches Hodgson is looking for. He wants somebody young who can double up as a conduit with the dressing room.

Neville, who played 59 times for his country, has won respect for his role as Everton captain and he has already been involved with the England Under-21 squad. He came out to bat on Hodgson's behalf yesterday following headlines in The Sun which mocked the new England manager's manner of speaking.

"Have u seen front page of the sun this morning disgraceful journalism-what chance have we got!" Neville tweeted.

Hodgson, though, received some good news with a positive medical bulletin about Darren Bent, the Aston Villa striker who ruptured ankle ligaments in February.

"I don't believe there is a chance of him playing again for Villa this season," said the Villa manager, Alex McLeish. "The doc thinks he's got a chance for the Euros, though, he's talking about four or five weeks [until he's ready to play]. He's running and he's working individually with the physios.

"I'm not sure if he's at the level of striking a ball yet, but he can't be far away from that now. The physios will still be working on him to get him back to his peak fitness again." Villa are being cautious about when Bent can return but the player is more optimistic. There is a belief that he is further ahead in his rehabilitation.

Bent has been assessed by the England medical staff. His availability for Hodgson would be a boon with Wayne Rooney suspended for the first two games of the Euros. If Hodgson decides to take five strikers, possibly using a centre-half such as Chris Smalling to cover right-back and free up a place, then Bent could join Rooney, Danny Welbeck, Jermain Defoe and one from Peter Crouch, Andy Carroll or Bobby Zamora.

Hodgson made it clear Rooney was very much part of his plans.

"I'm looking forward very much to Wayne Rooney coming to the Euros with us and to his contribution, even if he can't play in the first two games," Hodgson said.

Further good news for Hodgson came from Steven Gerrard, who has expanded on his backing for the new man. Gerrard played under Hodgson during the manager's unhappy spell at Anfield where question marks were raised among about his training methods.

Gerrard was keen to emphasise yesterday his admiration for the new England manager. "It is a good appointment,'' he said. "All the candidates who were being brought up in the running were good candidates. Roy is a good manager and I've worked with him before. I think he took the Liverpool job at the wrong time.

"My opinion of him hasn't changed before he got job, while he had the job or after he got the Liverpool job. He was good tactically, very thorough and a great guy. He was very loyal and honest to the players and that's all you can ask for.

"We'll have to wait and see how he does. Like any other England manager, Roy will be judged on results. I am certainly looking forward to working with him. I think it's a good appointment."

Hodgson will pass up the chance to watch a number of England players in the FA Cup final on Saturday because he is committed to preparing West Brom for his penultimate game in charge of Albion, at Bolton on Sunday.

"The players are pretty well known to me, even if I haven't worked with many of them," said Hodgson, who has postponed the naming of his squad until after the last game of the season.