The England job should be a two-horse race – give Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard the chance to replace Gareth Southgate
I’VE a message for all those who reckon the search for England’s next manager is a two-horse race — you’re bang on!
And while we’re at it, here’s another… I bet very few of you have narrowed it down to the same couple of candidates as me.
If the odds are spot-on, finding Gareth Southgate’s replacement is a toss-up between Eddie Howe and Graham Potter.
Well in my book it’s a straight head-to-head, too. But I’m even more convinced that the men I see as obvious front-runners will be lucky to even get an interview.
I doubt there are many who’d agree with me either, when I say the FA should look no further than Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard for the next Three Lions boss.
Either of them could do the job standing on their head, yet probably neither will get so much as a phone call.
Mind you, plenty of people will insist there’s no reason why they should because they’ve already written off both as failures.
Forgetting that Frank reached an FA Cup final and finished fourth in his first spell at Chelsea.
Or the fact that Everton were in such a mess, he never had a prayer when he went there.
There’s every chance they’ll gloss over Stevie’s time at Rangers, despite their first title win in a decade — unbeaten as well — and say he was a flop at Aston Villa.
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But you show me a manager who’s not had a tough time of it somewhere down the line. Potter certainly did at Chelsea — he only lasted 31 games and lost 11 of them.
So did Unai Emery, the man who replaced Stevie as boss at Villa, when he was Arsenal manager. It happens to everyone out there.
Southgate's England legacy should be celebrated, not torn down
By Tom Barclay
Gareth Southgate claimed that only winning Sunday’s final would earn England the respect of the footballing world.
Spain proved a last-gasp comeback too far in Berlin, but defeat did not change the fact that Southgate’s eight-year transformation put respect back into the world of England football.
Critics will pick apart his cautious tactics, his selection choices and his record in the most high-pressurised games – with some legitimacy.
Yet what is quickly forgotten is the laughing stock our national side had become before he took over in 2016.
A shambolic Euros exit to Iceland that summer had been followed up by Sam Allardyce quitting just one game into his tenure thanks to his pint of wine with undercover reporters.
Then came Southgate, with his decency, his humility, his understated eloquence and his vision for a better, different future.
He had analysed why England had so often failed in the past, from lack of preparation at penalty shoot-outs to players being bored out of their minds during major tournaments.
Southgate took those findings and implemented a culture where players wanted to play for their country again – and it led to back-to-back finals for the first time in our history.
Instead of going to war with the media, he opened his doors to them and discovered, shock, horror, that it was met, generally, with support.
It did not stop him from being criticised when required – we are no cheerleaders, here – but the vitriol of yesteryear – or today on social media – was largely gone.
No manager is perfect and neither was Southgate. We cannot pretend his teams played like those of Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp.
But in the fullness of time, his feats will likely be revered because the results speak for themselves.
Hopefully his successor can go one step further and bring football home.
To do that, they must show respect to what Southgate has created and build on it, rather than rip it down.
To read more from Tom Barclay click HERE.
So what’s the difference between Potter and Frank?
Why is one an obvious candidate for England, yet the other not even worthy of a mention?
Nothing against Eddie or Graham, by the way. Eddie’s doing well enough at Newcastle without absolutely tearing it up.
And Potter did a good job at Brighton before Chelsea but he had good recruitment and was working with good players.
Look at some of the names he had and where they ended up.
Alexis Mac Allister won the World Cup and went to Liverpool. Leandro Trossard is at Arsenal, Marc Cucurella and Moises Caicedo joined Chelsea, Yves Bissouma is with Tottenham.
There’s no doubt Potter or Howe would be a safe pair of hands. A steady Eddie. Just like Gareth was eight years ago — which is why they will probably get a chance.
But if the FA want someone steeped in football knowledge — at international level too — and who knows the game inside out at that level, both Frank and Stevie leave them standing.
The players would love it as well. They’d be desperate to play for them.
They would have nothing but respect whether it was Lampard or Gerrard as boss.
So, are they both on the scrapheap for good because they’ve had a failure somewhere down the line? There won’t be any managers left before long if that’s all it takes.
And here’s another thing as well. While you need a thick skin to be a club manager, it’s not a patch on the one demanded at international level.
That goes for players — certainly the senior ones — as well. And Stevie and Frank could tell you all about that better than most.
Some of the stuff Frank had to put up with back in the day was horrendous, horrible stuff.
It was the same for Gerro, especially when he was captain.
But the pair of them stood up and came through it. And that’s the sort of character you want and need as England manager.
It’s not about being a fantastic coach. When do you really get the chance to prove that with England? You don’t.
You’re not out there every day doing shape, shadow play and the like. For one thing you tend to pick the team at the last minute because you don’t want it leaking out!
It’s about managing, not coaching and there is a difference. It’s about picking the best players in the right positions.
It’s about attacking and being positive — and in my book, nothing would be more positive than giving Stevie or Frank a call.
But I’d be very surprised if anyone at the FA even picks up the phone and dials their numbers.
Southgate successor must be right
IN the week when a high-profile resignation letter has been headline news, picture this scenario for a second.
After four years as governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey decides he has had enough and walks away.
As one of the highest-profile positions in Britain, finding the perfect replacement is imperative.
It is an appointment that will have far-reaching effects on the entire nation, so there is no margin for error. Quite simply it MUST be the right person.
So, as the door to the boardroom swings open, in come the two men who will have the final say on picking the ideal candidate… Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham.
The pair of them in full kit, still muddied and sweating from the training ground, plonking themselves down ready to grill the waiting queue of applicants.
See what I mean about an imaginary scenario?
Because of course it could never happen in real life.
Specialist appointments can only be made by those qualified to pass judgement.
Southgate's England record
Here is a look at Gareth Southgate's record as England manager.
Overall record
- Games: 102
- Wins: 61
- Draws: 24
- Losses: 17
- Goals scored: 213
- Goals conceded: 72
It would be ludicrous, clearly.
Kane and Bellingham may be gifted footballers with stardust in their boots but bring little to this particular party.
It would demand someone from a financial background.
Someone qualified for the job. Anything else would be folly, totally laughable.
Couldn’t happen. Any more than if, for example, you were looking to fill the highest profile sporting role in football, if that suddenly became vacant.
You wouldn’t turn to men whose expertise was, say, in the commercial or marketing sectors.
You’d want someone steeped in football knowledge.
Only when push comes to shove, it doesn’t actually work like that after all. That became evident the moment Gareth Southgate’s “I quit” letter landed on the FA’s doormat.
The second when we discovered the men who are charged with making the most important domestic football appointment in eight years.
Chief executive Mark Bullingham and technical director John McDermott are the kingmakers within the FA who will make the call.
So come on then.
How many out there would be able to pick them out of a line-up?
How many out there could tell you the first thing about them?
Would you, for example, need Google to tell you McDermott joined the FA in 2020, after 15 years as Tottenham’s head of academy coaching and player development?
Would you know without the internet’s help that Bullingham is the former director of marketing at the America’s Cup, who arrived initially as the new commercial chief?
Would you recognise either if they walked past you in the street?
Most probably you wouldn’t have a clue even if they were wearing name tags.
Both of them on big fees, talking about the system and the process and the DNA of understanding English football.
Living in their FA bubble, unknown and faceless to the football fans of the nation, and now charged with making a massive decision.
Look, picking the national manager has never been an easy task.
There has never been a unanimous choice.
Admittedly there would have been if Brian Clough had ever got the call, but that was as likely to happen as I was to make it.
But at least when the likes of Jimmy Armfield or Trevor Brooking were involved, you’d accept it a little more. Men you first knew as players, as internationals themselves, in Jimmy’s case 15 times as England skipper.
Not as people who you could argue are as likely to be swayed by stats and facts from a laptop, rather than hands-on experience and know-how.
You might not agree with their decisions, but you certainly never questioned their right and capability to make them.
Not like with McDermott and certainly Bullingham, arguably the most awkward-looking man in a tracksuit ever.
It doesn’t mean the decision they make will definitely be wrong when they discuss the merits of candidates Graham Potter, Eddie Howe and Lee Carsley.
You wouldn’t admire them any less if they had the b******s to take a gamble and go foreign, not with an obvious Poch-style appointment, but a Marcelo Bielsa or Nestor Lorenzo.
But neither would you risk too much on them making the right call in the first place.
Southgate can hold head high
IF Gareth Southgate deserved anything from the England job, it was the right to go on his terms, when he decided.
While the merits or otherwise of his skills as a manager are open to debate, his standing as an all-round good egg are not.
Eight years ago he was appointed as a safe pair of hands, with the primary aim of rekindling belief and interest in the Three Lions when both were at an all-time low.
In that respect, it is very much job done. In that respect it was job done within a few months.
But now he’s fallen on his sword, don’t let’s rewrite history and talk of him as some sort of footballing groundbreaker.
He was a decent, not dynamic, manager. In the Euros, he was 90 seconds from a more shameful exit than Roy Hodgson’s against Iceland.
Under his command, England couldn’t win an average tournament despite having the most gifted squad, when the draw totally opened up in their favour.
Just like the last one, at home. Or against an ageing Croatia in the 2018 World Cup.
So yes, praise the man, by all means. But as a coaching connoisseur?
Even he would be thoroughly embarrassed at that.
England's job advert for new boss
The FA's seven requirements to succeed Gareth Southgate:
- Will hold a Uefa Pro License.
- Will have significant experience of English football, with a strong track record delivering results in the Premier League and/or leading international competitions.
- Will be an exceptional leader who understands and will enjoy the international football environment.
- Will be experienced in successfully identifying, managing and developing English qualified players.
- Will be highly resilient and comfortable in a very high-profile role with intense public scrutiny.
- Will have a track record of creating a high performing, positive team culture and environment.
- Will have strong personal values and integrity and understand and embrace the role that the England Men’s Senior Team Head Coach has inspiring the nation.