ENGLAND legend Sir Geoff Hurst has told superstar Jude Bellingham’s dad to calm down.
The 1966 World Cup-winning hat-trick hero had a word of warning for Mark Bellingham in the wake of him trying to confront a Dortmund chief over the half-time subbing of Jude’s brother Jobe.
Speaking at an event in Bristol, Sir Geoff hailed Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane as the two England stars he most admires.
But then he went on the offensive, with Bellingham’s dad in his sights.
Sir Geoff said: “A thing that’s irritated me is a picture in one of the papers about the most powerful man in English football — and it’s Jude Bellingham’s father.
“He was complaining when his son was taken off in a game — and that is an absolute joke.
“If you don’t eradicate that kind of thing, that is an absolute disgrace.”
Dortmund banned players’ families from the dressing room after a flare-up involving Mark Bellingham last month.
He was furious boss Niko Kovac subbed off Jobe on his debut at half-time of a 3-3 draw with St Pauli.
Jobe made a £33million summer move from Sunderland to the German side, where Jude spent three seasons before signing for Real Madrid.
Meanwhile, Hurst is desperate to be proved wrong by Thomas Tuchel.
The Three Lions legend would prefer to have an Englishman in charge of his national team rather than current head coach Tuchel.
But the 1966 World Cup winner would like nothing more than for the German to ram his words down his throat by leading England to global glory in New Jersey next July.
Hurst, who hit an iconic hat-trick in the 4-2 extra-time win over West Germany in the ’66 final at Wembley, said: “Overall, you have to strongly argue the managers who have had the best results for our national side have been English, starting with Sir Alf Ramsey.
“And I must admit I generally prefer to have, as many other countries do, a national manager who shares the same nationality as the players.
“But, unfortunately, we haven’t had that many to pick from who are operating at the highest level in the Prem, because there are so many foreign managers now.
“And not many English managers in the Premier League have been that successful over the years.
“It’s very simple when it comes to management — if Tuchel does well next summer and we do well in the World Cup, he will have done a fantastic job.
“But if we get knocked out in the first round, he’ll have been an absolute waste of time.”
Sir Geoff, 83, who was speaking at an event at Bristol’s BAWA Club, certainly has a point.
As a rule, England have only thrived under English bosses since Sir Alf masterminded 1966 World Cup glory.
Sir Bobby Robson, Terry Venables and, most recently, Gareth Southgate went close to success — while Italian Fabio Capello and Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson flattered to deceive.
But Sir Geoff is keeping his fingers crossed that Tuchel ends 60 years of hurt when the World Cup finals get under way in the USA, Canada and Mexico next summer.
He said: “Thomas Tuchel appears to have all the credentials to be a successful England manager but it just comes down to results.
“We’d all be absolutely thrilled to bits whichever nationality our manager is if we win the World Cup again — it’s long overdue. But I think it’s going to be tough. I don’t think he started that well and a couple of our friendlies were very poor.
“And it does take a while for the manager to get to know the good players, the bad players and to see which are good team players.
“It took Alf Ramsey three years prior to the World Cup for him to collect a group of players with the right characters.
‘COMES WITH THE TERRITORY’
“The England game against Serbia was much better — a fantastic 5-0 win away from home.
“Managers get criticised at national level just like they do at club level. That comes with the territory.
“But I’m not a negative person. I’m always very hopeful that we’re going to do well — and I’m now as optimistic as ever.
“I’d still probably favour an English boss — but good luck to him.”
For Sir Geoff, Tuchel’s job has not been made easier by overseas stars’ Prem domination.
He explained: “Most top clubs today in the Premier League, if they win it, probably have got six or seven, eight, nine, ten international players from different countries.
“It’s a far cry from Alf Ramsey’s days at club level.
“What he did at Ipswich Town was gigantic, winning the title and beating the big clubs.
“I’d only class one player in that side as international standard — and that was centre- forward Ray Crawford.”
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