How England's Euro 96 players failed to take their success into management.
Six of England's Euro 96 squad have gone on to become managers, but not one has been an unmitigating success
Sachin Nakrani
guardian.co.uk, Monday 9 February 2009 13.14 GMT
Tony Adams
The man Terry Venables chose to captain England at Euro 96 began his managerial career at Wycombe Wanderers in November 2003. He was unable to prevent the club from being relegated to League Two that season but made a bright start the following campaign - Wycombe were top by the end of August. That did not last for long, however, and following a string of poor defeats, Adams left in November 2004 citing personal reasons. After a spell as a coach at Feyenoord and Utrecht in the Netherlands and as Harry Redknapp's assistant at Fratton Park, he took over as Portsmouth manager in October last year. A run of two wins in 16 matches, though, led to him being sacked. The 42-year-old's poor communication skills were cited as the main reason for the team's decline.
Paul Ince
Having helped Macclesfield Town avoid relegation from League Two in 2007, Ince became manager of MK Dons at the end of that season and led the club to the top of the same division in September that year. That led to the former Manchester United midfielder being linked with another job promotion, specifically at Wigan Athletic. He stayed at Milton Keynes, though, and led the club to Football League Trophy success in March 2008 and promotion to League One a month later. Following MK Dons' confirmation as champions in May of that year, Ince was once again linked with a bigger job and this time he took up the opportunity, becoming Mark Hughes' successor at Blackburn Rovers in June last year. Ince, having become the first black British manager in the Premier League, started well with a 3-2 win at Everton on the opening day but then won just three matches in 17 games. With rumours rife of player dissatisfaction at the way Ince was running the team, the 41-year-old was sacked in December as Blackburn sat just one place off the bottom.
Paul Gascoigne
Gascoigne took a measured approach to management by agreeing in July 2005 to become a coach at Algarve United having previously been a player-coach at League Two Boston United. He returned to England soon after to become manager of non-league Kettering Town but it was here that his career began to unravel. The former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder was sacked after just 39 days and six games in charge at Rockingham Road after the club's chairman, Imraan Ladak, accused him of drinking too much. In response, Gascoigne claimed Ladak never left him alone to do the job and on being dismissed, vowed to buy the club. He never did and is now instead recovering from a drink problem and on-going mental health issues.
Stuart Pearce
Pearce went immediately from playing for Manchester City to coaching the side in 2002 under Kevin Keegan. Three years later, the former full-back then replaced Keegan as caretaker manager and after taking the club to the brink of Uefa Cup qualification, was given the job on a full-time basis in May 2005. City finished 15th the following season, losing nine of their last 10 games, and flirted even closer with relegation the next season, leading to Pearce's dismissal at the end of the 2006-07 season. The 46-year-old was already working as part-time manager of the England Under-21 team and, upon his dismissal at Eastlands, took up the post on a permanent basis. Having led England to the semi-finals of the 2007 Under-21 championships, Pearce has now also led the team to the 2009 European Championships in Sweden following an unbeaten qualifying process.
David Platt
Having enjoyed a successful playing career there, Platt returned to Italy in 1998 to become head coach at Sampdoria but lasted less than a season in Genoa after fellow Serie A managers complained about the former midfielder not having the required coaching qualifications. He then joined Nottingham Forest in the summer of 1999 following their relegation from the Premier League and led the club to within six points of the Championship play-offs two years later. Forest's form plummeted from therein, though, and he left the City Ground in 2001 to become manager of the England Under-21s. Again the 42-year-old achieved mixed success, qualifying for the 2002 Under-21 championships but failing to repeat the feat two years later. He left shortly after and now works as a television pundit.
Gareth Southgate
The man who missed that penalty against Germany is into his third season at Middlesbrough and is getting progressively worse. Boro finished 12th in Southgate's first season in charge, 13th last season and are currently 19th having not won in 13 games. The north-east club do, however, remain in the FA Cup.
Looking at that list I reckon it's because they ultimately know very little about football. Although David Platt should have made it.
