WHERE THERE’S A WILL THERE’S AWAY
way forward for the team. In the end, the most important thing is we win the game on Thursday night.”
Should England mess up in the next few months the critics will round on Southgate for axing Sterling.
If they do well, it will all be forgetten, which underlines what a thankless task he has.
His former Middlesbrough teammate Danny Mills said it should have been kept in-house, citing an example from their playing days when Joseph Job had a bust-up with George Boateng. Southgate was captain and they never talked about it.
So what is the difference? “Well, I was the captain and Steve McClaren was the manager,” said Southgate. “That was the difference. He wasn’t like, ‘Do you want to keep it in-house or not?’ So, It’s a completely different situation.” There is an answer for every situation and Southgate’s biggest challenge now is to turn the focus back onto Montenegro and Kosovo, getting the results needed to qualify for what is seen as a “home tournament” when the pressure really will be back on.
Southgate added: “More often what’s going on inside is a lot calmer than the perception of all the stories that inevitably come out. Inside, it’s been about training, about preparing for the game and it’s often the way.
“From my observations, it’s been business as usual. As soon as everybody got together on Monday night as a team, the focus was on the football. Everybody who was in that meeting knows that’s the end of that and it was just a case of, ‘Right, let’s get on’.”
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P W D L F APts England 6 5 0 1 26 6 15 Czech Rep 6 4 0 2 11 9 12 Kosovo 6 3 2 1 12 10 11 Montenegro7 0 3 4 3 15 3 Bulgaria 7 0 3 4 5 17 3
CHELSEA winger Willian is a target for Juventus and Barcelona.
The Italian and Spanish champions have been circling the 31-year-old, whose deal expires next summer, and could try to land him on a pre-contract in January.
Willian (right) looked set for a bit-part role at Stamford Bridge this season before Frank Lampard’s arrival.
The Chelsea boss admitted after Saturday’s 2-0 win over Crystal Palace that Willian is still one of his key players, saying: “Everyone sees how much I’m relying on him. I love him at this club.”