LONDON, — June 28 — England Under-21 coach Gareth Southgate is the early favourite of a not very long list of mooted candidates to replace Roy Hodgson as coach of England following their embarrassing exit at Euro 2016.
Having flirted with foreign coaches such as Sven-Goran Eriksson and then autocratic Italian Fabio Capello before bringing in the vastly-experienced Hodgson, the Football Association (FA) are likely to go for an Englishman if the bookies are to be believed.
However, the list is not very long and of the Englishmen mentioned not one has won a trophy which hardly augurs well in rebuilding the morale of a side that lost 2-1 in such abject fashion to minnows Iceland today — a defeat likened to the shock loss to the largely amateur USA at the 1950 World Cup.
Southgate — perhaps best known for missing a penalty in the Euro 1996 semi-final penalty shoot-out against Germany at Wembley — restored some of his reputation with victory at the prestigious Toulon tournament last month having had a disappointing European U-21 campaign last year.
The 45-year-old — who has been in charge of the U-21 side since 2013 — has managed just one club Middlesbrough whom he kept in the Premier League for two seasons before they were relegated in the 2008/09 campaign.
Southgate is now 6/4 favourite with the bookies having been 6/1 today night once Hodgson’s assistant, former Manchester United star Gary Neville, also resigned in the wake of the Iceland defeat.
Others in the frame include the combative Alan Pardew, who guided Crystal Palace to the FA Cup final last term, losing 2-1 to Manchester United in extra-time. However, with no silverware in his cabinet over his career as a manager and his straight-talking he may not fit the FA’s ideal image of the England manager, although Hodgson could have been in public anyway too mild-mannered.
The young hope is Eddie Howe, who has impressed at Bournemouth, the 38-year-old taking them into the Premier League for the first time in their history and retaining their status last season. However, by the same token his inexperience at the top level may mark him out as one to watch for the future.
Former England captain Alan Shearer has indicated he would like a go but his sole experience at managerial level is an unhappy spell at his beloved Newcastle United.
Scotsman David Moyes and Northern Irishman Brendan Rodgers have also been mentioned, but the former has not flourished since early promise at Everton — Manchester United and Real Sociedad being notable failures — whilst Rodgers has just taken over the reins at Scottish champions Celtic.
Perhaps the man that a few years ago England and the FA would have yearned for, Arsenal’s longserving Frenchman Arsene Wenger, still figures on the bookies lists but the feeling is largely his time has passed and would he at 66 really want to take on the extraordinary pressure that the job brings. — AFP
