Gareth Southgate is under growing pressure after being booed by England fans in the San Siro on Friday following his side’s relegation from their Nations League group...CONTINUE READING
Soccer Football – UEFA Nations League – Group C – Italy v England – San Siro, Milan, Italy – September 23, 2022 England manager Gareth Southgate REUTERS/Alberto Lingria
Graham Potter is the man the FA are most likely to turn to should they decide to cut short Gareth Southgate’s tenure as England boss.
New Chelsea boss Potter is as short as 2-1 favourite with Sky Bet to get the national call up, with Newcastle manager Eddie Howe second-favourite at 3-1.
Despite having over two years remaining on his England contract, pressure on Southgate is growing after a disastrous Nations League campaign.
A 1-0 defeat against Italy in the San Siro on Friday – after which Southgate was booed by his own supporters – meant the Three Lions were relegated to the second tier of the competition.
England have gone five games without a competitive win for the first time since 1992 and have not scored a goal from open play for 450 minutes.
Just over a year on from reaching the final of Euro 2020, England appear to have problems all over the pitch but especially so in offensive areas.
Creativity levels have dried up markedly in the last twelve months with no discernable patterns of play and an apparent over reliance on a moment of brilliance from Harry Kane.
Despite this, England go into the Qatar World Cup as one of the tournament favourites, although only the most patriotic of punter would want to be rushing in to back England at 7-1 given their current form.
They have, however, been handed a fairly kind group and it would be a major surprise if the Three Lions failed to make the knockout stages of the tournament.
The obvious negative to Potter’s prospects of taking over in the near future is the huge level of compensation the FA would need to pay Chelsea, who have only recently given the former Brighton boss a five-year contract worth a reported £50m at Stamford Bridge.
Former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino (5-1) is surprisingly prominent in Sky Bet’s list, as is Welshman Steve Cooper. Former England players Steven Gerrard (18-1), Wayne Rooney (20-1) and Frank Lampard (20-1) are surely all too early in their managerial careers to be seriously considered at this stage.
Next England Manager odds (from Sky Bet)
2-1 Graham Potter
3-1 Eddie Howe
5-1 Mauricio Pochettino
6-1 Steve Cooper
16-1 Brendan Rodgers
16-1 Lee Carsley
16-1 Thomas Tuchel
18-1 Steven Gerrard
20-1 Wayne Rooney
20-1 Frank Lampard
25-1 bar
