Gareth Southgate, the safe pair of hands chosen to be interim England coach, will enter the Last Chance Saloon if the Three Lions fail against Scotland at Wembley tomorrow tonight.
Make no mistake about it his honeymoon with the media will end with defeat in the World Cup qualifier in the oldest international fixture.
His squad lacks ambition with him selecting virtually the same group who flopped so spectacularly at Euro 2016 in France.
We lack quality – but the only consolation is our so called stars are still far superior to the eleven Gordon Strachan can field.
Southgate has around a third of the players who perform regularly from the Premier League to choose from so even more investment is needed to boost the star-making production lines at our top clubs.
I was hoping he’d have started to immediately introduce under 21 players from the group he used to manage but no we have the usual crop who can’t even beat Iceland.
Wayne Rooney is back – and as captain. The United talisman who is at career crossroads himself is 9/2 with Betfred to score first with Marcus Rashford 7/2 and arguably the nation’s most improved player Raheem Sterling at 6/1.
Rooney has a brilliant opportunity against Scotland to answer his critics with a decent showing that will remind everyone of his capabilities. I hope I can keep my eyes open long enough for England can be very, very boring indeed especially for those of us lucky enough to watch the unpredictable and highly entertaining Premier League every week.
Here’s an idea to liven things up ahead of kick-off with Scotland having to play in their second kit of pink. After the anthems we could have a rendition of the Scaffold’s Lilly the Pink – now that was a catchy tune of yesteryear capable of bringing a smile to everyone’s face and be a reminder that football is after all part of the entertainment business.
