[Football] If not Southgate, then who?

[Kinky Gerbil]

How about leaving it exactly as it is, and giving us a good chance of success in next year's World Cup finals?

Some people are never happy, Southgate should be praised, not vilified.

The same in which we fell short in the same way twice?

 

[zefarelly]

Southgate needs to improve his coaching/tactical team, he's the right man for the job though at the moment.

 

[AmexRuislip]

Southgate all the way.
He's created a mentality of togetherness for the team, fans and country.
Got rid of the 'ruling' that just because you're a top player, it doesn't mean your guaranteed a starting place, and has faith in youngsters

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

The same in which we fell short in the same way twice?

So reaching the World Cup final would be seen as failure in your eyes would it?

 

[Wardy's twin]

It seems that way, we have experienced 55 years of dross, then a manager comes along, transforms the whole way of playing, gets the team to the brink of European glory . . . and still people complain.

Sorry but l think it's ridiculous.

I have not been a big fan of his but totally agree with you. He has done very well, a practical style which was pretty successful. Think he got the final wrong with his substitutions or timing of them but that's easy to say with hind sight. If Rashford's penalty is 2 inches to the right then it goes in off the post and there is more pressure on Italy and less on the next England taker. That's not a criticism of Rashford , its a technical observation of the proceedings..


Who to succeed him then - well only one choice really Mancini and that's highly unlikely so stick with Southgate.

Certainly not Potter who has made the same mistakes in games as Southgate.

 

[MJsGhost]

First up, I'm a Southgate IN.

If he was Albion manager, I'd be Southgate OUT. Like I was with Hughton in the end. I couldn't take another season of that brand of football.

But for me, International football is different. It's all about first qualifying for tournaments, then managing them when you get there. On balance, I think Southgate has done that really well. Whilst I might dream to see an England side completely transformed, like the Italians clearly have been under Mancini, I'm quite prepared to just do whatever it takes to keep progressing.

Many people clearly aren't happy with our style of play though. I get that.

So, if you want change now, who, realistically would you want in charge instead?

Oh, and English suggestions only please. I'm a great believer that an intentional manager should have to qualify to represent their country in the same way players do.

You're asking for people's opinion, but only if it fits your view that they should be English? I can't imagine there would be too many suggestions of foreign managers anyway - why stifle debate?

FWIW, I can't think of a (realistic) candidate who I feel would do any better than Southgate. I don't particularly enjoy watching his England from a purely aesthetic point of view, but I am a big fan of Southgate's man-management and how the team comes across under his watch. With the players at his disposal, I am fairly confident that the style will develop into a more positive approach as they gain experience and confidence. He seems to be focussing on the mental aspect, which (up to the 2nd half last night) was bearing fruit. They looked overcome by the occasion in the 2nd half, but given the experience of this tournament and another 18 months, they should be in a better place to take that final step across the line at the world cup.

I'd say give Southgate credit for the unquestionable improvement in tournament results and let him finish the job.*





*I reserve the right to get occasionally wound up by some of his selections though and/or refer to him as a Palace wank3r

 

[SeagullinExile]

I've never been Southgate in tbh. If we'd of played France or Portugal in the 2nd round we'd of gone out. He's not brave enough imo. Played into Italy's hands 2nd half.

Of course this is just my opinion and I respect the opposite opinions of others on this thread.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Who to succeed him then - Certainly not Potter who has made the same mistakes in games as Southgate.

Thank you, l'm glad someone else can see that. Graham Potter is nowhere near the finished article as a manager that so many on here seem to think. In years to come who knows? but certainly not yet a while.

 

[Originunknown]

Big credit to the FA and the entire coaching staff. Southgate deserves a crack at the WC, he's still contracted after all and despite the naivety last night it doesn't warrant him resigning as we've had a good tournament.

No obvious successor at this point but you feel someone with more top line experience who isn't learning on the job may be better to take us forward.

 

[Dick Swiveller]

I would love to see Potter with the England team as a club team. I don't think he would get enough training time to make his style work in Internationals.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

England football fans are so weird. I saw comments before they played whoever was after Germany that they would still be happy even if England went out because they beat Germany And now you've got people moaning about Southgate and wanting him out after he picks up the rubbish left after Iceland, transformed the squad and culture and got the second youngest team in the tournament to the final

Given the way almost the entire population has been incessantly banging on for weeks about how "it's coming home" and their "55 years of hurt" – which has included countless managers looking to find a solution to those issues – you would think the fans wouldn't be so picky about how they win a damn competition and who is in charge!

As someone with a minute passing interest in England, I would say it's clear Southgate has clearly done a good job and overachieved in this tournament. It would be madness – and, possibly, very 'England' – to throw that all away and start again with a new person at the helm just 18 months out from the next major international tournament...

 

[1066familyman]

This sort of thing does make me giggle. STHs and those of us with the Albion running through every pore really don't have a choice. Chances are that many have gurned their way through Barry Lloyd, Jimmy Case, two lots of Mickey Adams and the absolute carcrashtastic GENIUS of getting Sami to try and get third rate loanees to play like Holland with wingbacks for five months.

But, yeah, I couldn't take another minute of this pragmatic winning games stuff.

Well Tony Bloom has Albion running through every pore, and he couldn't take another season of it either

 

[Guinness Boy]

Well Tony Bloom has Albion running through every pore, and he couldn't take another season of it either

Not the losing variety, of course not. But no one was really complaining about our clean sheet target in the Championship promotion season. Southgate is almost exactly THAT iteration of CH, including coming second overall after a large portion of the crowd had been celebrating for days. The bloke didn't lose over 90 or 120 mins in the whole tournament.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

We were a few penalty kicks from winning the whole damn thing.

Is your minimum expectation for England manager to win the tournament?

We didn't lose a game in open play. We won five and drew 2 games. Penalties are always a lottery.

Looking at a thread [MENTION=600]Bry Nylon[/MENTION] bounced earlier today about expectations, the furthest anyone said was the semi finals.

Now we have all the naysayers dissecting every decision with a fine tooth comb, and wanting rid of him.

He, at least, deserves to manage at the World Cup, next year.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

We didn't lose a game in open play. We won five and drew 2 games. Penalties are always a lottery.

Looking at a thread [MENTION=600]Bry Nylon[/MENTION] bounced earlier today about expectations, the furthest anyone said was the semi finals.

Now we have all the naysayers dissecting every decision with a fine tooth comb, and wanting rid of him.

He, at least, deserves to manage at the World Cup, next year.

If he hadn't had that dalliance with a certain club in London SE25, he would be considered a hero.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

So reaching the World Cup final would be seen as failure in your eyes would it?

It depends if we lost it in the same way again.

You are allowed to point out flaws in our approach and want to see them addressed.

 

[Mellotron]

The only person I can think of similar suited to the England job is Graham Potter. But I would worry that he wouldn't get the time in the job/with the players to implement his style of play, and if we started slowly he'd be out fairly quickly.

 

[peterward]

Honestly the only credible alternative I can think of right now who’s English is Mr. Potter… which I think would be a huge loss for the Albion.

However I am fully in favour of Southgate staying to lead us to the World Cup. He’s our most successful manager in our lifetimes, semi finalist of the WC and finalist of the Euros. And I don’t really understand how any England fan can’t appreciate that. “Southgates not attacking enough”. Which England manager has been, ever? When was the last time we’ve done so well?

Potter would be, and without all the "smug", "muff" banter. I also think Eddie Howe would be the perfect modern, tactically adept manager for this talented crop.

Gerard maybe in the future, but not experienced enough yet. We just need more bravery.

Another Southgate'ism, is he is not brave enough to leave out or take off the core favourites.

Potter for all his seeming pre-match lucky dip formations and team selections, is very good at changing systems/personnel mid match, something Southgate isn't.... bit for me thats the key piece of the Southgate Jigsaw thats missing, affecting the match in play to whats happening. It was clear last night and v Croatia.

I also wonder if the position an ex player played in their playing career has an impact??

Southgate like Hughton was a decent defender, he wouldve had years thinking and reading the game from that top defender point of view, wheras a Mancini being a top attacker would know about and have ingrained that side of the game more. Defence minded first versus attack minded first, you can see that in this English and Italian teams and thats from the manager.

Our real strength and crazy options is in attacking positions, yet we play a more defensive system managed by an ex defender?

 

[dejavuatbtn]

What Stirling and Mount?

Give the guy some credit for a good tournament by at least getting his name right.

 

[Pavilionaire]

I firmly believe that now is not the right time to be switching the manager and his coaching staff just 16 months away from a World Cup Finals.

I also believe that there is no candidate for the job who is available and better than what we have already.

In terms of what Gareth Southgate has done, I believe he has redefined both the manager's role and reintegrated England back into the FA's hierarchy of teams, so that there is now a clear progression from Under 17 to the senior side, all controlled from England's base at St. George's Park. In the past the team was completely detached and the role of the Under 21s and Under 23s under-valued and under-rated.

For me, this is Southgate's greatest success; because so many of this squad have played summer tournament football at youth level they looked comfortable with the whole process.

I don't believe that the FA can simply hire and fire like club teams - the days of Sam Allardyce-style appointments should be long gone. They will need to identify Southgate's successor from probably 2 years out, and that person must be able to commit to a 4-year cycle. There is a danger that 'the FA's man' can linger too long, as has been the case with Joachim Low and - arguably - Deschamps at France. That is still a danger now with Southgate - the review needs to be after each World Cup to give any new manager the best chance of winning the following World Cup.

In terms of who I see succeeding Southgate then Graham Potter is currently the standout candidate.