Gareth Southgate is someone who can talk the hind legs off a donkey and made England manager on the back of that talent, being seen by the FA as a safe pair of hands his eloquence off speech and undoubted intelligence getting him the job. The idea these days of an England manager needing the sort of CV that maybe dictate an ability to win an international tournament is just accepted as an irrelevance. The fact he couldn’t even get a job in the Championship speaks volumes.
But the FA must be slightly annoyed this week. For the smooth, straight talking safe pair of hands, appears to be going off message and flunking his lines.
Southgate has decreed Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha did not have the passion to want to play for England. Zaha has been making headlines for outstanding performances playing for the Ivory Coast, seemingly having the temerity to play for the nation of his birth is frowned upon. Now I support Palace and Zaha has been criminally overlooked for England for years. I must add here his decision to play for the Ivory Coast was made before Southgate had any involvement with the job so quite why he had to boost his ego with such a trite statement is baffling.
It is just ignorant and arrogant to assume a player with two options has chosen the wrong one because he wasn’t that bothered. Every Palace fan knows Zaha dreamt of playing for England but had too many set back’s in his quest and became disillusioned. He has warranted a squad place for three years and let us not kid ourselves if he played for a big club he would be in the squad on a regular basis. Zaha, a much loved player at the Palace, has shown the passion and loyalty to stay at the Palace, despite it possibly stunting his international intentions….that is passion the England set up failed to tap into. Southgate should be bemoaning the guilty party England not Wilf.
Zaha had an unhappy time at Manchester United, world class manager Sir Alex rated him, loser Moyes didn’t. As a young man in his twenties being dicked around by such a big club it is obvious he felt the same was happening with the England set up with his lack of opportunities. So along come the Ivory Coast, make him feel like a King and he opts for the simple choice of the simplicity of playing for his homeland. His performances certainly would suggest no lack of passion
Let us not forget the success of Jack Charlton loving up players to play for Ireland over England
So maybe Southgate should be warning the FA not to let talent like Zaha slip through the net and to love up some of our bright unrecognised stars and perceived talents rather than slate a young man tired of being dicked around by a low grade under achieving England international set up.
Wilf being allowed to slip through the net is, contrary to the ideas of the low grade Southgate, not down to a lack of passion, but to gross mismanagement by the FA and the England international set.
People like myself couldn’t believe Southgate was appointed manager and this is a classic example of a lack of etiquette and understanding of the simplicities of top football that Southgate has shown through talking such twaddle he is ill equipped for.
Lewes CFC fanzine 