I’M NOT SCARED

Southgate says he can handle pressure — but FA will make him wait for the England job

GARETH SOUTHGATE says he has no fear of taking on the England job which he is expected to be offered in the next two weeks.

However, the FA insist they will not appoint him immediately after Tuesday’s game against Spain.

There is a clamour for Southgate to get the job permanently after the 3-0 win against Scotland and senior figures at the FA want to appoint him. However, the FA’s selection committee of chairman Greg Clarke, chief executive Martin Glenn, technical director Dan Ashworth and League Managers Association chairman Howard Wilkinson are saying they will not rush the decision. While the announcement is expected by the end of the month, the FA say they want time after the Spain game to reassess candidates they spoke to in the summer before the ill-fated appointment of Sam Allardyce. Ralf Rangnick, the sporting director of RB Leipzig, who was interviewed in the summer, was at Wembley on Friday.

But Southgate has been told that is not because he is part of the recruitment process but because Red Bull, the company who own his team, are looking to buy an English club. Southgate will expect a threeand-a-half-year deal, even though Allardyce only had a contract until 2018. The FA will insist on a break clause in 2018, dependent on the team’s qualification and performance at the World Cup finals.

And though Southgate has not publicly said he wants the job, he has said that he doesn’t fear the pressures which come with it.

‘It would be easy to look at the negatives but to work with top players and to work in big matches is what I want to do,’ he said. ‘But it’s not really my decision.

‘But I have loved doing it. And I’ve seen some signs of progress with how we’ve played and from my point of view it’s been a brilliant experience.’