If Sam Allardyce’s appointment as England manager caused some consternation, from everyone from the fans in the stands to the suits in the boardroom, none could have predicted the ignominy of his departure just 67 days after landing his dream job.
The funk following newspaper revelations last month, in which Allardyce was caught unwittingly advising undercover reporters posing as businessmen asking how they could navigate around the illegal process of third-party ownership of players, still lingers around the corridors of Wembley.
It is hard to blame the English Football Association (FA) then for turning to someone who personifies all they wish to promote as head of the national team: a manager beyond reproach, someone who played at the highest level for both club and country and someone who is unlikely to cause them further embarrassment off the pitch.
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In Gareth Southgate, they have the antithesis of arrogant gun-slinger Allardyce – a safe pair of hands, someone who knows the inner workings of the FA and has been groomed in its coaching system off and on for five years, first as the head of elite development, from 2011 to 2012, and then from 2013 as manager of the Under 21 side.
His record with England’s young guns reads well: Played 34, won 27, drawn four, lost three with a 79.4 per cent win ratio. But the team’s performance at last year’s U21 European Championship saw them not even good enough to progress from the group stage.
While few expect Southgate’s appointment to last beyond its four-game caretaker remit the former Middlesbrough manager may well have designs on the job long term.
A few winnable 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Malta (on Saturday), Slovenia and Scotland, as well as a friendly against Spain before next summer are on the schedule.
Southgate, capped 57 times as a player, could get a jump on other potential candidates – Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is linked with the job when his contract ends in 2017 – by winning all of them and leaving the powers that be in something of a quandary.
Do they move for Wenger now through fear of missing out? They could try but the Frenchman is renown for his loyalty to contracts. So any move would have to wait until after the end of the Premier League season. But therein lies another pitfall. What if Arsenal win the title and Wenger, buoyed by the idea of building another dynasty, elects to stay?
For many the ideal scenario is a combination of the both: Southgate enhances his credentials with a successful stint before handing the reins over to Wenger, working and learning under one of the most respected managers of the modern era as his assistant.
You know what they say, though. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
sluckings@thenational.ae
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