Southgate starts new England era
FOUR-YEAR DEAL: BOSS READY TO GIVE YOUTH ITS HEAD
Skipper Rooney likely to find himself out in the cold.
After a year scarred by scandal and sporting catastrophe, Gareth Southgate will begin his attempt to steer England into calmer waters in tonight’s friendly against Germany in Dortmund.
England began 2016 with a stirring 3-2 win over Germany, but they were humiliated by Iceland at Euro 2016 before new manager Sam Allardyce was brought down by a newspaper sting after just one game in charge.
Southgate, 46, has been left to pick up the pieces and he asserted his authority by omitting captain Wayne Rooney from his first squad, saying it is time for England to build for the future.
“We’ve got a clear longer-term vision of how we want to work as a group of staff, so the last few months have been about putting that into place,” he said.
England left Germany a year ago with confidence sky-high after goals from Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy and Eric Dier saw Roy Hodgson’s men come from 2-0 down to beat the world champions 3-2 in Berlin.
Hodgson’s young team were expected to make a splash at Euro 2016 in France, but after limp group-stage draws against Russia and Slovakia, they were stunned 2-1 by Iceland in the last-16.
Hodgson’s resignation saw Allardyce handed the job he had long coveted, only for him to fall foul of undercover reporters who secretly filmed him making indiscreet comments in a hotel bar.
Enter Southgate. Promoted from his role as England under-21s coach, he was given four games to prove himself worthy of the top job.
Results and performances were mixed as England beat Malta and Scotland in World Cup qualifying, but could only draw 0-0 in Slovenia and let a 2-0 lead slip to draw 2-2 in an end-of-year friendly with Spain.
But it proved a successful audition and Southgate – abetted by a glaring lack of other strong candidates – was awarded a four-year contract in November.
His first significant act was to sideline Rooney, four months after the 31-year-old had to apologise for being pictured looking the worse for wear alongside wedding guests at the England team hotel.
Rooney became England’s leading scorer during the Euro 2016 qualifiers, but he has lost his place at Manchester United and may never get an opportunity to add to his 53 international goals.
In Rooney’s absence, Southgate has indicated he intends to allocate the captain’s armband on a match-by-match basis. –