The woes of Gareth Southgate
New Year, New Sack Race
The old (rather lame) gag did the rounds back in 1996: What’s the fastest way to leave Wembley? Through the South Gate.
Ever since he stepped up to the plate, taking on the mantle of the last England player who you’d want to take a sudden-death penalty, Gareth Southgate’s career has become a series of stumbles and falls. It’s a far cry from the days of his towering performances at the heart of the Villa defence, but his transition to management has been swift and his learning curve quickly grafted by a Premier League season which is fast becoming something of a transition for many clubs.
Fair play to the guy, he’s done well for steadying a club which has never been too certain of its status as a Premier League side in the past 10 years or so. It’s a club with a fiercely passionate fanbase, and who can forget Jeff Stelling’s tour de force argument in favour of the Boro, but their identity remains questionable.
The only problem for Mr Southgate is simple; he’s next. All of the clubs in the bottom half of the league have already made their changes where needed, or are prepared to hold on to their manager for long-term prospects. It’s also the sheer competitiveness of this year’s league which means there’s no club with any serious work to do. Here’s the current table as it stands at the beginning of 2009:
11th Bolton 23 points
Manager: Gary Megson
In a fairly safe position by their standards, but still a bit of work to do for next year.
12th Portsmouth 23 points
Manager: Tony Adams
Poor Tone’s picked up Pompey at a very bad time. Early calls for a quick change seem too trigger-happy for a man who’s only held the job for five minutes.
13th Man City 22 points
Manager: Mark Hughes
Hughes has the backing of the board, but more importantly it’ll be mega-million spending very shortly. Expect silly money for silly players.
14th Newcastle 22 points
Manager: Joe Kinnear
Ashley’s now committed and Joe’s become a fan favourite. Safe for now.
15th Sunderland 22 points
Manager: Ricky Sbragia
Just appointed Sbragia; his job’s safe for the rest of the season at the very least.
16th Tottenham 20 points
Manager: Harry Redknapp
Harry’s also safe, provided he doesn’t do the unthinkable and take Spurs down.
17th Middlesbrough 20 points
Manager: Gareth Southgate
Above the relegation zone on goal difference.
18th Stoke City 20 points
Manager: Tony Pulis
Even if they go down, Stoke fans will be proud of the effort they gave it this season. Pulis is safe.
19th Blackburn 18 points
Manager: Sam Allardyce
Big Sam’s also just put pen to paper. Safe job.
20th West Brom 18 points
Manager: Tony Mowbray
Relegation favourites but by no means out of it. Mowbray’s the right man for the gig.
It’s quite something that, in theory, any team from that list is one defeat from falling in to the drop zone. But of that list, Gareth Southgate is the man who’s by far and away the clear favourite to be the first casualty of the new year. Clubs which are changing their head honchos are gifted with refreshed and revitalised teams that had completely lost their way under old stewardship.
Despite losing by only a single goal on a tricky Yuletide fixture at Old Trafford, Gareth Southgate has it all to do in January to justify his position. He certainly couldn’t afford to give the cupset fans what they wanted against Barrow. And he’ll certainly need to get results from games against Sunderland and West Brom before a terrifying midweek away trip to Chelsea. If results fail to improve, poor Gareth might not even be in charge when Blackburn come to the Riverside on the final day of the month.
