Southgate Not In The 'Comfort Zone'!

Last updated : 18 December 2008 By Boro Mad
And with Sam Allardyce taking over at Ewood Park today, and being installed at 12/1 to be the next manager sacked, it shows what a tough life it is in the Premiership.

Gareth Southgate: "The first year was an unbelievable learning experience. But I have got people I enjoy working with, and that makes it worthwhile.

"If I didn't work with good people, then it would be a waste of time because the job is bonkers, really. But I said that from the off.

"You can see that people get 10 weeks, 20 weeks, whatever it is, life expectancy is 18 months, so we don't sit smugly and think we are fine.

"We constantly try to improve. Everybody says about having an understanding chairman, but he is an aggressive bloke, and if things aren't done properly, he will want to know about it.

"We don't sit back and think we are in some sort of comfort zone.

"As I said last year, if results had continued to be poor, I would have had to hold my hands up and say it had not worked out.

"But it is about managing every aspect of the club and every remit you are given, and that's the style of play, the results on the field, but also the finances of the club.

"Management is about getting the best from the resources you have and at the moment, we are probably around about where we feel we ought to be.

"The one thing we have seen over the last couple of years is that there is no right or wrong way to learn your trade.

"Roy [Keane] and myself were thrown into it at a high level. Roy has been through his badges and got through them; Paul [Ince] has done his time in the lower divisions.

"But the reality is that this season, they weren't able to get the results - but that doesn't mean they are not going to be good managers in the future.

"We all know stability is essential for the progress of football clubs, and there are only four managers in the league who have been at their clubs longer than I have now.

"Three of them are at the very top and David Moyes is just behind that pack, and it's no coincidence that those clubs have achieved a lot.

"We know what's expected here. I am grateful for the backing, but hopefully it's a sign we are doing a decent job - if we weren't, we wouldn't be here.

"Our chairman is very loyal and wants to do the right thing, but he wouldn't hesitate to make a change if he felt it wasn't working."