M18CTID
Well-Known Member
Anyone remember the FA Cup game at home to United in January 2012? Of course you all do - it's the one where Kompany was sent off early doors and we were 3-0 down at half-time but almost staged a miraculous recovery in the 2nd half, eventually losing 3-2. I watched that second half back a day or so later and Southgate was one of the ITV pundits along with Roy Keane. Southgate was purring over Mancini's tactics in the 2nd half, whereas all Keane could say was "But they still lost the game". Southgate went on to say that we can learn from managers like Mancini and it always stuck with me that instead of doing a Keane and merely stating that it counted for fuck-all because we lost the game anyway, he could see it (the performance) had a lot more going for it than merely losing the match.
Fast forward 6 and a half years and I don't think it's any coincidence that, save for getting Sunderland promoted one year about a decade or so ago, Keane has been a managerial flop whereas Southgate is earning plaudits all over the place. That's because I suspect that, great player that he was, Keane rarely bothered with tactics when he was a manager but Southgate, along with Steve Holland who also deserves a lot of credit, clearly does.
Fast forward 6 and a half years and I don't think it's any coincidence that, save for getting Sunderland promoted one year about a decade or so ago, Keane has been a managerial flop whereas Southgate is earning plaudits all over the place. That's because I suspect that, great player that he was, Keane rarely bothered with tactics when he was a manager but Southgate, along with Steve Holland who also deserves a lot of credit, clearly does.
