Jack-Wilshere-Player

FORMER Cherries midfielder Jack Wilshere believes his old boss Eddie Howe should succeed Gareth Southgate if the England manager decides to leave his post. Southgate is reportedly considering his future after England’s World Cup dream came to an end following a 2-1 defeat to reigning champions France at the Quarter-final stage. With Southgate’s future in doubt, Howe has instantly been mentioned in discussions regarding potential replacement. Wilshere, who played under Howe at Cherries on loan from Arsenal, was capped 34 times by the Three Lions. In a column for the Sun, the 30-year-old gave a glowing reference for the current Newcastle United boss. He said: “If Gareth Southgate does leave the England job, I’d love the FA to try and get Eddie Howe. “I know how good Eddie is from my time at Bournemouth but people wondered whether he could make that step up to a bigger club. “Well, now he has shown at Newcastle how skilled he is at developing players and he’s turning them into title challengers. “The problem for the FA would be persuading him to swap his club for his country — and I’m not sure they’ll be able to do that. “He might feel it’s too early for him and that he wants more time to build success in the North East. “If he delivered silverware for Newcastle he’d be a god. “But the England job is the pinnacle for any English coach and it might be hard to turn down if there is a proper offer on the table.” Wilshere then went on to discuss Howe’s strengths, stressing how his attention to detail made players want to work hard for him. He restarted: “Eddie is so thorough in everything he does — from the way he organises the season, to his well-thought-out training sessions, to the one-to-one attention he gives players. “He’s a top man-manager. I’d only had Arsene Wenger as a club boss before I went to Bournemouth and he was a great man-manager, too — but in a different way to Eddie. “Arsene would give you a lot of trust and confidence and left you to get on with it.  Eddie was more detailed, probably because the level of player he had was not as good as Arsenal’s. “Eddie had to coach more. Arsene didn’t really have to tell Samir Nasri or Tomas Rosicky how to play between the lines. “Eddie would tell you how to do it and give you feedback — not always positive — but the way he did it made you really want to play for him. “I couldn’t recommend him highly enough.”