Southgate faces race against time to secure a new striker coach

England boss Gareth Southgate faces a race against time to find a new striker coach before the Euros after long-serving assistant Allan Russell was sacked last week… but suitable candidates are in short supply

  • Gareth Southgate has a race against time to find a new England striker coach
  • The England boss wants a replacement for long-serving assistant Allan Russell 
  • Russell was sacked after allowing his brother to drive his car while uninsured 
  • The FA are searching for candidates but suitable options are in short supply 
  • Find out the latest Euro 2020 news including fixtures, live action and results here.

Gareth Southgate is facing a race against time to recruit an attack coach to work with England’s strikers at the European Championship after the FA sacked his long-serving assistant Allan Russell.

The England manager has made it clear he wants to secure a replacement for Russell, who was relieved of his consultancy role after admitting to allowing his brother to drive his car while uninsured last year.

Russell was involved in a traffic accident while he was a passenger in his own car. It was being driven by his brother, who subsequently admitted to drink driving.


Gareth Southgate (left) faces a race against time to find a new striker coach to replace Allan Russell, who was sacked last week

The FA have begun looking for replacements but suitable candidates are in short supply

The FA have begun the process of seeking a replacement, but suitable candidates for such a role are in short supply.

Southgate will name his 26-man squad for the tournament on Tuesday and they will meet up for the first time at Middlesbrough’s Rockliffe Park training ground the following Saturday, giving the FA a little over a week to finalise the England boss’s back-room team.

Russell’s absence from Southgate’s staff is a blow. He has been a key member of his staff during international weeks since 2017.

The 40-year-old has kept his job as assistant manager at Aberdeen, but the FA opted to remove him last week despite the closeness of the tournament after he admitted to a serious error of judgment. 

Russell has been a key member of Southgate’s staff during international weeks since 2017

‘We have agreed with Allan that it is in the best interests of all for him to leave his consultancy position,’ an FA spokesperson said last week.

In addition to the expanded 26-man squad for the European Championship, Southgate will also name a supplementary list of youngsters to participate in the first week of training.

During that time he will be without his Manchester City and Chelsea players due to their Champions League final duties.

Kyle Walker, John Stones, Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden, Mason Mount, Ben Chilwell and Reece James are all expected to be named in the squad.

But they will be given time off after the final and miss England’s warm-up matches against Austria and Romania, leaving Southgate in need of extra bodies.




Share this article

Source: Read Full Article