Timeline: Roy Hodgson's highs and lows as England manager

Here, we look at some of the high and low points of Hodgson’s four-year reign.

Hits

1) Hodgson made a bold decision soon after succeeding Fabio Capello by leaving Rio Ferdinand out of his squad for Euro 2012. Showing he would not be swayed by populist pressure, Hodgson proceeded to stick to his guns when Gary Cahill pulled out of the squad injured, replacing him instead with Martin Kelly.

2) Steven Gerrard’s England career looked to be over in the dying weeks of Capello’s regime. But Hodgson seized the opportunity to make the Liverpool man his permanent captain and Gerrard responded with an inspired series of performances, leading England to the Euro 2012 quarter-finals.

3) Hodgson’s calm and confident demeanour brought a sense of solidity to the England set-up and no doubt contributed to the nation’s rise to third place in the FIFA rankings following their Euro 2012 run - their highest position since the rankings were introduced in 1992.

4) Hodgson called Marcus Rashford into his England squad just four months after the teenager made his debut for Manchester United. It proved an inspired decision as he scored after three minutes of his debut against Australia at the Stadium of Light in May.

5) It might have been classed as a favourable draw, but Hodgson led England to a perfect 10 wins out of 10 to qualify for the Euro 2016 finals - becoming only the fifth nation in history to go through a European qualifying campaign in perfect fashion.

Misses

1) Hodgson’s decision to leave the experienced Ashley Cole out of the 2014 World Cup squad came back to haunt him. Cole responded by announcing his international retirement - and his replacement Leighton Baines struggled to perform at his best in Brazil.

2) The absence of Cole was just one of many calamities to hit England in the Brazil World Cup. Hodgson survived some calls to quit after successive defeats to Italy and Uruguay and an irrelevant draw with Costa Rica saw them finish bottom of Group D.

3) Michael Carrick’s international career suffered at the hands of Hodgson, as he drifted in and out of the squad and was only on the standby list for Brazil. The failure in South America was borne out by the lack of the type of holding midfield player Carrick personified.

4) Given his injury travails, Jack Wilshere’s selection for the Euro 2016 squad was seen as a surprise, as was the manager’s insistence on retaining him in his starting line-up when all available evidence suggested he woefully short of form and fitness.

5) If introducing Rashford to the international scene was one of Hodgson’s successes, his failure to introduce him until the last five minutes against Iceland was baffling. Rashford duly began to summon a man-of-the-match performance - but was too late to rescue his side.

Timeline

May 2012: Succeeds Fabio Capello as England manager and sparks controversy by failing to select Rio Ferdinand for his Euro 2012 squad. Later that month, a goal from Ashley Young gives England a 1-0 friendly win in Norway in Hodgson’s first match in charge.

June 2012: Hodgson is hailed for his tactical switch in England’s second game of Euro 2012 against Sweden. Trailing 2-1, he replaces James Milner with Theo Walcott, who hits the equaliser than sets up the winner for Danny Welbeck. England eventually go out to Italy on penalties in the quarter-finals.

February 2013: Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard get the goals as England beat Brazil 2-1 in a friendly at Wembley for their first win over the South American side in 23 years.

October 2013: Hodgson’s stock continues to rise as a 2-0 win over Poland ensures England will qualify unbeaten for the 2014 World Cup.

June 2014: Hodgson refuses to resign after a disastrous World Cup campaign, in which successive 2-1 defeats to Italy and Uruguay, followed by a redundant goalless draw against Costa Rica, see England exit at the group stage.

August 2014: Wayne Rooney is made the new England captain by Hodgson after Steven Gerrard announces his international retirement.

October 2015: A 3-0 win over Lithuania in Vilnius wraps up a perfect Euro 2016 qualifying campaign in which England win all 10 of their matches.

June 2016: Following a last-gasp group victory over Wales and disappointing performances against Russia and Slovakia, England are knocked out of Euro 2016 by minnows Iceland at the last-16 stage. After watching the island nation beat his side 2-1 in Nice to reach a quarter-final against France, Hodgson announces he is stepping down as manager.