Gareth Southgate has reassured Wayne Rooney he will retain the England captaincy under his interim stewardship of the national team as he prepares to name his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Slovenia next month.
Southgate, who was promoted from the Under-21s to oversee the senior side after Sam Allardyce’s contract was terminated this week after one match and 67 days in charge, has agreed to step into the breach for the rest of the calendar year.
Rooney indicated this month that he intends to retire from international football after the 2018 World Cup finals but, having been reappointed as captain by Allardyce, was seeking assurances from the interim manager after a tumultuous few days as to what role he would play in the next four games.
Those concerns were relayed to Southgate, who duly telephoned Rooney on Thursday to inform the 30-year-old that he remains integral to the set-up despite the United player’s indifferent recent form. Rooney, whom Allardyce had suggested had played “wherever he wanted” in Slovakia, was dropped to the bench for the 4-1 victory against Leicester City on Saturday and Thursday night’s game against Zorya, with his manager, José Mourinho, suggesting he has been hampered of late by a niggling back injury.
Yet the stand-in national manager was keen to maintain a level of continuity within the senior party and had taken on board feedback from his coaching staff – Sammy Lee and Martyn Margetson have been retained from Allardyce’s backroom team – and other established players within the squad before making his decision. They had all praised Rooney’s impact as a leader and his influence on and off the pitch, confirming what Southgate had gleaned while watching training sessions and matches under Roy Hodgson and Allardyce.
Southgate has made no secret of his belief he lacks the experience to take on this role full-time but, if he does well in his four games in charge, he will figure on the Football Association’s shortlist for a permanent successor. Arsène Wenger and Eddie Howe feature heavily in the hierarchy’s thinking, though Arsenal could yet persuade the Frenchman to sign a new contract to extend his stay at the Emirates Stadium beyond next summer and Howe has publicly stressed he owes his loyalty to Bournemouth.
In the meantime Southgate has an opportunity to make his name with the seniors. Although the disruption this week may dissuade him from instigating immediate radical changes to the full squad, he will not shy away from making major decisions over his four-game spell in charge. Marcus Rashford, whom Allardyce had intended to promote from the Under-21s, may well start against Malta at Wembley in place of the injured Harry Kane. The 18-year-old scored a hat-trick against Norway for Southgate’s juniors this month.
The interim manager has resisted the temptation to include Nathan Redmond, so impressive of late for Southampton, in the senior squad and the forward will remain with Aidy Boothroyd’s Under-21s, who play Kazakhstan and Bosnia & Herzegovina over the international window. The Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham, who has scored 10 goals in 13 appearances on loan at Bristol City this season, is in line to earn his first Under-21 cap and there were first call-ups, too, for Brendan Galloway, Mason Holgate, Isaac Hayden and the goalkeepers Jonathan Mitchell and Freddie Woodman.
