England’s interim manager Gareth Southgate has revealed that he has taken over a ‘mess’ in the form of the England national team.

Southgate was appointed as the caretaker after Sam Allardyce had to resign from his role after just one match. The former Bolton and Newcastle United manager was captured on video trying to take advantage of his position to earn money legally. Allardyce managed a victory from his only game in charge. The experienced campaigner had promised numerous changes to the national team in terms of tactics and personal, but the English are now looking for yet another manager.

Since the World Cup qualifying is currently underway, England FA needed to act quickly and they have brought in Southgate as their manager at least until the end of 2016. The former Middlesbrough boss will be in charge of four games with the latest concluding as a disappointing draw with Slovenia. England would consider themselves lucky to have come out of this game with at least a point, as they were second best in all regards. The manager, though, did secure a 2-0 win over Malta. The three points from this game could prove to be important at the end of the qualification campaign.

The draw with Slovenia leaves England in the second spot, but only two points ahead of Lithuania. "I can't thank the players and support team enough for the backing I have had. The four points from the position we were in last Tuesday... we wanted six, we would have liked to have scored more goals in the two games. But we have taken over a mess really and had to steady the ship. With the overall objective of qualifying, we have kept the team on track. The overall objective is to qualify so, long term, that could be an important point,” said Southgate.