GARETH MERITS HIS BIG CHANCE
Star thriving after ‘perfect’ Fulham move
IT used to be said that the two most important jobs in the country were Prime Minister and managing England.
So I don’t buy in to the suggestion that becoming boss of Manchester United would be too big for Gareth Southgate.
Gareth has carried the hopes and expectations of the nation on his shoulders for eight years and is the most successful Three Lions manager since Sir Alf Ramsey.
He has also come up against world-class opposition, such as Germany, France, Italy, Belgium and Brazil, on a regular basis in the biggest tournaments.
So it wouldn’t surprise me if he ticks all the boxes as far as new United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is concerned.
I’m afraid that there is a nasty habit in this country of talking people down and doubting their credentials if they haven’t come through the system at Clairefontaine or Coverciano.
But Gareth has done the hard yards to get where he is and he deserves a crack at club management if that’s where he feels his future lies.
Managing United is a big task. It is made even more daunting by the fact that David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer all failed to replicate the glory days of Sir Alex Ferguson.
Now, it appears that Erik ten Hag’s time might be coming to an end and that Ratcliffe reckons Southgate could help him deliver on his promise to bridge the gap to Manchester City and Liverpool.
We won’t know if Southgate is up to the task until it happens.
Do I think the England boss will be United manager next season? No.
But I’m not comfortable with the suggestion that if he ended up at United, he would be out of his depth.
No one expected Moyes to last less than a season. Winning the FA Cup didn’t save Van Gaal, while even Mourinho found it impossible to mould the club to fit his personality.
If Ten Hag does depart in the summer, then why should United look beyond a manager who boasts a proven track record in the most pressurised of circumstances?
The England shirt has always been heavy. But Southgate has made players thrive on the pressure of playing for their country.
Believe me, that is no easy task, given the circus that surrounds our national team.
HARRY WILSON thinks it was his decision to leave Liverpool that has allowed him to finally fill Gareth Bale’s gold-stitched boots.
Wilson will be the man Wales look to for match- winning inspiration on Tuesday night when they face Robert Lewandowski’s Poland for a place at the Euro 2024 finals this summer.
Haz is the new Gaz, according to Wales manager Rob Page, but the Fulham star reckons it would never have happened had he not chosen to kill his boyhood dream by leaving Anfield.
“That move to Fulham was twoand-a-half years ago now, but it was a big one for me,” said Wilson, 27, who moved to Craven Cottage for £12million.
“I had been on a lot of loans from Liverpool and, although my dream as a young lad was to make it into the Liverpool first team and play regularly, I knew that it wasn’t really going to be the case.
“When I was 18, 19, 20, I was trying to get into the team, but they arguably had the best front three in the world.
“So, the loans I went on really helped me grow as a player and learn the game.”
Wilson’s pragmatic decision that he was not going to shift Mo Sala, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino as Jurgen Klopp’s holy trinity proved to be a wise one.
He immediately helped Fulham win promotion to the Premier League in 2022 and he added: “We’ve had one good season and this one’s going well, although there are a few games left.
“I feel like it’s really been the perfect move for me and my game has gone up another level.”
With Bale retired, it was Wilson who scored both Wales’ goals in their crucial 2-1 victory over Croatia in qualifying.
Although he did not find the net in the 4-1 play-off semi-final victory over Finland on Thursday night, it was Wilson’s shot that paved the way for David Brooks to score the opener.
That kind of scruff-of-the-neck yanking used to be the preserve of Bale and Wilson said: “I don’t think anyone was going to replace Gaz, but we knew, when he left, we had to step up because he was leaving such a hole in that team.
“He was our captain, our leader, our best player.
“It’s not just me. A lot of players are playing really well at the moment.”