After a double header of somewhat uninspiring England action, it’s now time for the post mortem of Gareth Southgate’s first two games in charge. The history books will say that the England got 4 points from a possible 6 but surely we should have been expecting a maximum 6 from 6.
Had it not been for the heroics of Joe Hart then we very well could have been looking at a return of just 3, now we all love betting on football but I think it’s fair to say that we would have been tearing up our betting slips last night after what turned out to be a bore draw
Last night’s game was no doubt overshadowed by the ‘Wayne Rooney‘ saga but even without him, England should have had enough in their locker to overcome a side they beat back in June 2015 on their way to the ill fated stint at Euro 2016
So the question now is where does the blame lie for not coming away with a win last night, is it the manager or the players. I guess you would have to see say that it lies somewhere in the middle. Southgate can only do so much from the touchline and once the first whistle blows then it’s pretty much down to the players but the former Middlesbrough manager never really looked like being able to make an inspirational change to make all the important difference.
If you look at the odds as to who will be the next England manager then Gareth Southgate is still the favourite at 6/5 to on with Roberto Mancini somewhat of a surprise inclusion as second favourite at 3/1 and then Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and my personal pick to become the next permanent England boss at 5/1
So nothing has really changed from that point of view, although Southgate’s comments last night about how he inherited a mess indicates that the next manager needs to be in for the long haul and perhaps it would make more sense for Southgate to stay on as otherwise we will have to go through the whole process again in June should The F.A. decide not to award the former Crystal Palace Defender the gig on a permanent basis.
Ultimately England still sit top of the group but that has to be the minimum expectation in all fairness and we as a nation have Slovakia for doing us a massive favour last night after they beat Scotland 3-0. It seems like this could be a group where the key matches will be England vs Scotland and if Gordon Strachan’s side can pull off a victory when these two sides meet in November then it will blow the group wide open
We may be getting a little ahead of ourselves but England are 7th favourites at a generous 16/1 to win the World Cup in Russia in 2018 but that would indicate that they would have to get to at least a quarter final to live up to their billing and that is something that is seemingly difficult as of late when it comes to international tournaments.
That price will probably drop should England once again make a World Cup appearance because as punters we just can’t help ourselves on betting on our national side, it’s the expectation that makes us believe but ultimately it’s the hope that kills us. Bad news for us, but great news for the bookies
Will it be good news for Gareth Southgate though come June. Next up he has to clear the hurdle of Scotland with a win it’s as simple as that. A draw and the F.A. will have every right to look elsewhere, defeat and they will be looking through the phone directory for a certain A. Wenger of Islington. There’s still a lot of mileage left to run on this topic, would you bet on Southgate being the man to take the job full time?