England’s new interim manager takes final call on this United star’s national team future
Sep 30, 2016 at 5:02 PM
In the fallout from the recent Sam Allardyce scandal, U21 manager Gareth Southgate was promoted to interim England boss for the next four fixtures.
The former manager, who was removed from his post due to revelations from a sting operation by the Telegraph, was in charge for just one game, an unwanted record in the national hot seat.
However, one of Allardyce’s decisions will be implemented once again by Southgate, with Wayne Rooney set to remain as England’s captain for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Slovenia.
The Daily Mail report that the caretaker boss has assured the Manchester United striker of his role, describing him as an outstanding leader with the armband.
It represents the first major decision made my a man thrust into the spotlight at short notice and Southgate now has an opportunity to really make a name for himself in international football management.
Of course, tougher decisions are just over the horizon, primarily with regards to the squad for the upcoming fixtures.
Marcus Rashford is set to earn a recall to the senior side following his hattrick for the U21 against Norway and his impressive form domestically.
The English prodigy was left out of Allardyce’s first squad due to a lack of playing time but has gone on to feature heavily in recent weeks, even more so than club colleague Rooney.
Ross Barkley and Jack Wilshere are two more high-profile names who did not make the cut last time so it will be interesting to see Southgate’s choice – particularly as the latter has earned more minutes at Bournemouth.
Nevertheless, Saturday represents a fairly easy initiation for the interim boss as European minnows Malta make the trip to Wembley.
A big scoreline is certainly on the cards and a positive attacking display will go some way to eradicating the bad taste left by the corruption scandal which has disgraced the national set up.