4-year deal is too long for England boss ... but Gareth’s a special one
IF I was in charge at the FA and had to appoint a new manager, I always thought the last thing I’d do is hand out a four-year contract.
In the modern game — particularly international football — four years is too long. Most nations now operate from tournament to tournament, awarding shortterm deals to make sure there is an escape route if something goes wrong or results are poor. Despite that, if it had been up to me to renew Gareth Southgate’s deal, I’d have done exactly what FA chief executive Martin Glenn did on Thursday. If ever a man deserved to buck the trend for short-termism, it is Southgate. He deserved four years. Here is a contract that gives his grand plans the best possible chance of coming to fruition. I genuinely believe this is the start of something thrilling for England and the announcement of Southgate’s squad on Thursday confirmed as much. The inclusion of Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho put my place in football into perspective — he was five months old when I made my debut for QPR in August 2000 — but he is just one of several young talents. Nobody knows better than Southgate who is coming through. Given England have won the Under 20 and Under 17 World Cups, not to mention the Under 19 European Championship, it is obvious there is a special generation emerging and Southgate is the perfect man to guide them on their way. This is not how it was when I played for England. The squads I was involved with were full of established players and it very rarely changed. It is why so many of the lads ended up either becoming centurions or getting very close to 100 caps.
We could handle having foreign managers such as Sven Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello, who were just interested in the here and now.
It was all about today, never tomorrow. The future was not part of their agenda and that is why the make-up of the squads never changed for a long time.
Now, though, a manager in the style of Eriksson or Capello would be the last thing England need. I am not being disrespectful to them but I know from experience that they would not invest the kind of patience in up- andcoming talents that Southgate clearly will.
He is brave and there are going to be bumps along the way — that is what happens with those
who are precocious and learning. But apart from feeling old when I saw the 25 names for the games against Spain and Croatia, I also felt positive and excited. It is fresh.
Sancho is clearly thriving at Dortmund and I have heard so many good reports about Mason Mount that I cannot wait to watch him play.
James Maddison is another who deserves his chance. I have spoken about him a few times on these pages and apart from being skilful, he is also fearless.
Some people were obviously surprised when Southgate was put in charge of the England team two years ago but, honestly, he has not made a decision yet that I have disagreed with. It should be enjoyable following England and what happened in Russia is the perfect starting point.
Part of me wondered whether a Premier League club would come for him on the back of the World Cup — and I am surprised he has never been considered for some jobs — but even when this contract finishes in four years’ time he will still be young in management terms as he is only just 48.
He can go back to club football after the Qatar World Cup but, right now, Southgate is in the biggest role there is for an English manager.
He is immensely proud to be at the pinnacle of his profession and you can see he is excited.
I am not going to predict that England will win the World Cup under Southgate but what I do know is the FA have been smart to look at the long term and plan for the next four years.
Southgate is the man to give this new generation stability. Let us hope it leads to success.