What Next For England?

With Sam Allardyce losing his job as England manager after just 67 days, this could potentially be a new low for the national team. Losing to Iceland in the European Championships was pretty embarrassing to say the least, and not managing to qualify for the 2008 edition of the tournament was when we thought we couldn't get any lower. England haven't got to a semi-final of a major tournament for 20 years and Big Sam was going to be the man to put a bit of structure in place and be a stepping stone for this up and coming generation of players. His exit now leaves the FA in another crisis and leaves England fans hoping Gareth Southgate can pull something off in a job, he seemingly didn't want two months ago. So what can we really expect.

The Upcoming Games

For sure, the games we have in a weeks time or so are not against stiff opposition but that doesn't mean that it's an easy ride for Southgate. His work with the Under 21's has merited him a shot at the big job and if he does well, will he get the job? Malta at home is nearly a guaranteed win with the talent that England have, and Slovenia are beatable with a second string side. The games in November reflect a more pressured occasion. Scotland away will be tough, and not just because of the atmosphere and rivalry but because it is a qualifier and Scotland will be more up for it than ever before. Then when we face Spain it looks like it could decide Southgate's future. I'm not too sure if he's the right man at the moment, but it would be great if he proved me wrong.

The Candidates

At the moment, the options don't look particularly pleasing. Gareth Southgate is leading the way as favourite, but those behind him are not top level manager's apart from Arsene Wenger. Steve Bruce is one of the favourites for the job that he seemed to want in the summer, but I just don't think he would do a great job. Can you imagine Bruce getting us to a final? I can't see him taking us to a quarter final to be honest, he hasn't had the best record as a manager and typically manages lower teams and if we appoint him, does that mean we're a lower team? We're not great to be fair.

Arsene Wenger is another who is in a long line of candidates. His consistency has been proven over the last 20 years at Arsenal but hasn't managed to go all the way in recent years, but do we really expect that anymore. In the last two decades the aim was to win a competition and now it is just to get to a semi-final it seems. Wenger may not have taken his club to the highest heights in Europe and has been criticised in the last few years for his approach to transfers and keeping the same squad too often but that can't be the case as a national coach, unless he keeps Wilshere in the side until his legs have actually fallen off. He could be a good manager for England, but how long would he last, could only be a couple years until he retires.

If Alan Pardew was to get the job, I don't know if anyone would be happy. He will most likely start well, keep clean sheets for all of qualifying and have a 100% record and go to Russia in 2018 and lose the opening game to Jamaica 3-0. He always seems to start well but loses it very quickly, it happened at Newcastle when they finished fifth and the next year, fans wanted him out. At Palace, he started last season well when they were something like 6th after 16 games. Before you knew it they had only won two in about 20 games. I just can't see that going well.

Eddie Howe is someone that everyone likes, but that might be the problem. He may have everyone's backing, but if he messes this up, it could just completely ruin his career. At Bournemouth he has made the club his by taking them from League Two to the Premier League, but if he leaves that he might not get the results he wished for. His style of play is positive and that's why we all love him, he somehow managed to keep the cherries up last season and he is destined to be a top class coach, but if we ruin his reputation now, he might not ever get to his full potential as a coach.

Finally there is the chance of Glenn Hoddle taking the seat for the second time. He was the man behind us getting to our last semi-final and only lost his job through controversy. He could come back and have another crack because he doesn't seem too bothered if it goes wrong because he hasn't been in a job for a while. That could be a huge negative for England though, he could have been out-dated from his lack of modern day management and it may just be a huge risk. It would be great to see him do it all again and take us somewhere but there really is huge risks in his appointment.

England's Promising Players

There are some fantastic young players coming through now and after the Under 21's success in the Toulon tournament there could be some real excitement around the England camp in the next decade. With players such as Marcus Rashford, Dele Alli, Jordan Pickford, Eric Dier, Harry Kane, John Stones, Raheem Sterling and Luke Shaw, to name a few, things do look bright. Whether it will be Southgate bringing through some of the Under 21's to the senior side or not I am sure one manager will take a risk and have an overhaul of the current crop, we need change and when it will come and we start competing is yet to be seen, hopefully it is only a short time away.