Lallana Calls for Southgate’s Permanent Appointment as England Boss

Adam Lallana has expressed his desire to see interim boss Gareth Southgate appointed on a permanent basis.

The England under 21 coach has been appointed as the stopgap solution after the sudden exit of Sam Allardyce. The former Bolton Wanderers manager lasted just one game in charge of the national team before having to step down due to several allegations against him. Southgate has been working with the national team for several years now. He has been in charge of the under 21s since 2013 and many of the current senior team players were introduced into the England setup by him.

After having managed a couple of decent results in the last two World Cup 2018 qualification games, England will be having their biggest test in November when they take on Scotland in the home nations game. One of the biggest disappointments in Southgate’s time with the national team would be the draw with Slovakia in the previous match.

It is widely expected that the former Middlesbrough coach will not be handed the job on a permanent basis, but it is exactly what Liverpool midfielder Lallana would prefer. The statement from Lallana is a major surprise considering that he was never introduced to the England setup by Southgate.

Lallana’s England debut came under the regime of Roy Hodgson.“It would be nice for Gareth, and for us, quite soon to know whether he’s going to get the job on a permanent basis so you can build towards having a certain identity that your manager wants you to have.That’s what a manager is there for. I’m sure over the next few days the manager will be telling us what he wants for the Scotland and Spain games. Eventually it would be nice for him in the longer term to put a structure in place,” said Lallana.