• Southgate has applied for FA technical director role
• 'More kids should be able to access skills programme'
Gareth Southgate has called for a change in the culture of coaching youngsters as he confirmed his application to be the Football Association's technical director. If given the role the former England defender will focus on ensuring primary schoolchildren have a greater accessibility to technical skills development.
Regarding the job Southgate said: "I've applied [but] there'll be some good applicants. The role is slightly different in this country because of the professional club academies. In this country we don't control that; in lots of others countries they do. I'm not afraid to say I don't agree with that. But that's the landscape, that's where it is.
"The role itself, whoever gets it, is a very important one. The culture of how we coach kids – there's very little provision in schools – so even before kids get to an academy, they've missed some golden years of learning. That's where the Tesco Skills programme [for five- to 11-year-olds] is important, and if we could expand that so that more kids can access it, that'd be a great starting point, before kids even get into club academies. I see lots of good grassroots players and coaches – at an under‑sevens tournament recently, there was lots of passing and dribbling and movement, no one can tell me they're not as good as young Brazilians or Spaniards."
Southgate also hopes that when retired star players decide to move into coaching, they will consider working with youngsters rather than senior players as is done on the continent. At Ajax, the four-times European Cup winners, Dennis Bergkamp took charge of the academy. So, would Southgate like to see, say, Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney do the same when they have finished playing? "We do have a lot of good ex‑players involved with clubs now. But definitely there could be more. In our country we also view working with the academy in a lesser way to working with the senior players.
"We've got to try and change that mindset because you can actually have more influence on players at that age than you can at an older age. The more guys who can work with kids who have played at a high level – it's inspiring for the kids."
Southgate also defended Gary Nevillle's appointment by Roy Hodgson as one of his England coaches. Roy Keane claimed that Neville's role as a Sky Sports pundit will be different to working with players but Southgate said: "I could totally understand the coaching fraternity saying: 'He's not worked at a club, how does that work?' It's a bit like when I got the job at Middlesbrough [as manager in 2006] before I had the Pro Licence.
"In fairness to Gary, he's got his A licence so it's not as if he's dedicated no time to coaching. But I think Roy [Hodgson] has a slightly different role in mind. More his experience of a tournament as a player, and that link with the manager. For Gary, it will give him a very good insight. And hopefully we'll get him here working towards his pro licence."
Southgate famously missed the penalty that allowed Germany to knock England out of the Euro 96 semi-finals. Chelsea's penalty shootout win over Bayern Munich that won the Champions League on Saturday, he believed, might help ease the mental barrier for England, who have often fallen at this hurdle at recent tournaments.
"For Frank [Lampard] and Ashley [Cole] who took penalties at weekend [yes it will help]," he said of two potential members of Hodgson's starting XI. "We know a lot more about it now. Fifteen years ago, not many matches were decided by shootouts. Now it's pretty much every competition. So the analysis of it is much greater.
"Now Stuart Pearce with the Under-21s and with seniors records a shootout at the end of every session. So from all those percentages, there's a lot less left to chance."ends
Jamie Jackson was taking part in an FA Learning organised tour of St. George's Park. For more information on The FA's football coaching courses go to www.TheFA.com/FALearning Read More
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