Who is Gareth Southgate? Former England defender tasked with clearing up Sam Allardyce’s mess
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GARETH SOUTHGATE is the man tasked with picking up the pieces with England following the aftermath of the Sam Allardyce scandal.
Big Sam quit as England manager after just 67 days in charge on Tuesday evening.
The former Sunderland chief, 61 – who has only taken charge of ONE game – departed after being caught on camera trying to land a £400,000 deal in advising an undercover reporter how to dodge third-party ownership rules.
The Sun exclusively revealed this morning that Big Sam feared for his job as England manager after being caught on camera trying to land the deal and the FA confirmed the news in a statement late on Tuesday evening.
The governing body have now turned to England Under-21s boss Southgate to take charge of the national side for the next four matches after Allardyce apologised and resigned.
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His first task will be to ensure that the journey to the 2018 World Cup remains on course with next month’s qualifiers against Malta and Slovenia.
November throws up two more daunting tests for the former Middlesbrough boss, with Scotland heading to Wembley in another qualifier before a friendly with Spain days later.
Despite his relatively young age for a coach, 46, Southgate moves up to the senior squad with plenty of experience and knows the majority of the squad well.
The former England international , who won 57 caps for the Three Lions, took up his first role in the dug-out when he moved up from club captain to manager at Boro in 2006.
He did relatively well in his first role as a boss, guiding the Teessiders to two mid-table finishes before they suffered relegation in his third year.
Southgate was sacked by the club in October 2009 after a 2-0 win over Derby County taking them to fourth place in the Championship.
He then stepped into the world of punditry before joining the FA for the first time as head of elite development, working alongside Sir Trevor Brooking. It was widely believed that he would take up the role of technical director with the FA, but he ruled himself out of the running and left in July 2012.
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Ray Parlour says Allardyce saga has turned England into a laughing stock
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Gareth Southgate
1988: Southgate signs a professional contract with Crystal Palace.
1994: Captains Palace to the First Division title and into the Premier League.
1995: Following the club's relegation, Southgate leaves and joins Aston Villa for £2.5m and makes his England debut just months later. to win a place in the Euro '96 squad.
1996: Wins the League Cup with Villa but his summer ends miserably as he missed the decisive penalty for England in the Euro '96 semi-final shoout-out with England.
2001: Leaves Villa to join Middlesbrough to become Steve McClaren's first signing for the club and reunites with his old team-mate Ugo Ehiogu.
2004: Captains Boro to their first-ever trophy when they win the League Cup, ironically against Sam Allardyce's Bolton side.
2006: Southgate makes his final appearance as a player in Boro's UEFA Cup Final defeat against Sevilla. Replaces McClaren as the club's manager that summer.
2007: Guides Boro to a 12th place finish in the Premier League in his first season in charge.
2009: Southgate and Middlesbrough are relegated and he is sacked by the club in October, despite Boro being in fourth place in the Championship.
2011: Southgate is appointed FA head of elite development and worked alongside Trevor Brooking for 18 months.
2013: Southgate is appointed England U21 boss.
2016: Manages the U21s to victory in the Toulon Tournament in May. Replaces Sam Allardyce in the England hot-seat in September.
The following year saw Southgate return to the governing body as he was appointed head coach for the U21s.
After qualifying for the 2015 Euros, Southgate came under fire as his young squad, featuring the likes of Harry Kane, finished bottom of their group.
But the new temporary England chief bounced back, and this summer he led England to success at the Toulon Tournament in France.
And he has left his group in a healthy position before making his latest step-up as the U21s sit two points clear at the top of their qualifying group, needing only two more points to seal their spot at the Euros in Poland next summer.
A number of players involved in the senior set-up have worked with Southgate previously, and those relationships could make him the almost-ideal man for the FA to turn to and steady the ship following the Big Sam scandal.
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