FA KEEP SOUTHGATE UNTIL 2017
THE Football Association are expecting Gareth Southgate to stay on in his role of Under 21 head coach and oversee England’s next attempt to win the European Championships. Southgate signed a contract extension in January, which runs until the end of the 2017 tournament in Poland, and despite group stage elimination in the Czech Republic this week, the FA have no doubt he is the right man to guide the Under 21s for the next two years. The former Middlesbrough manager (right) is also fully committed to the next programme of fixtures, which begin in September with a trip to Norway. There is a recognition within the FA, though, that Southgate’s time with the Under 21s will have reached a natural conclusion after the next tournament. He will have completed four years in the role by then and the FA do not want a repeat of what happened when Stuart Pearce was in charge. Though Pearce had initial success, taking England to a semi-final in 2007 then the final in 2009, things had gone stale towards the end and results dropped alarmingly, with no victories recorded at either the 2011 or 2013 tournaments. Despite England’s latest disappointment, capped by a 3-1 defeat to Italy on Wednesday night, Southgate’s reputation within the FA remains intact. However, criticism continues to pour the FA’s way, given the way England played in games against Portugal, Sweden and the Italians. They scored only twice to ensure an exit at the end of the group stage of this tournament for the third time in a row. Andy Cole, the former England, Manchester United and Newcastle striker, launched a stinging attack on the FA set-up. Using his column on sports social networking website Kicca, Cole said: ‘I’ll be brutally honest with you, if you look at
the FA, and if you look at this FA’s coaching structure from top to bottom, look at everyone’s qualifications. ‘You’ve got Aidy Boothroyd with the Under 20s. Right, Aidy Boothroyd’s managerial philosophy when he was training clubs was what? ‘How the hell can he then come into the Under 20s, because his best mate is heading up everything at England now? How can he come to the Under 20s and say, right — we are going to get it down, we are going to pass the ball like Germany, Brazil or whatever?’