The fact there is still a betting market for the England manager’s job is the most ridiculous thing I can imagine.

It just seems ludicrous the Football Association haven’t already given the job to Gareth Southgate.

Yes, they may have quite a while until the next international matches come around, but that totally ignores the fact there’s simply no-one else in the running.

I went through the list of potential next England managers and Southgate is 1/16 – just give him the job for goodness sake!

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Second favourite is Roberto Mancini who, as far as I’m concerned, under-performed massively at Manchester City and shouldn’t even be on the list.

Frighteningly, third favourite to coach England is Alan Pardew, whose Crystal Palace side have not kept a clean sheet in 16 matches. Again, why he is even in the betting is beyond me.

Arsene Wenger features prominently, but why is he going to leave Arsenal?

The only credible suggestion who is high up the list, in my opinion, is Eddie Howe, a young English coach who has done remarkably well.

But, like he says himself, he is still learning and feels he is years away at the moment.

After that you are punting on Jurgen Klinsmann - need I say more?

England's Phil Jagielka reacts as Spain players celebrate scoring their second goal.
England's Phil Jagielka reacts as Spain players celebrate scoring their second goal.

We read, as England fans, that the FA panel will decide after taking consultation from Graeme Le Saux and Howard Wilkinson, which does make you feel the governing body are in something of a time warp.

Just get on with it, stop messing around and hand Southgate the job.

With regard to the England side, I know Premier League fans get frustrated when they miss matches through the international breaks.

But I still enjoy watching the national side and noting whether the players we see week in and week out are capable of stepping up to the ultimate level.

Our record in major finals tournaments tells us they aren’t.

But, at the moment, we are unbeaten in 33 qualifying matches – so we must be doing something right.

The mental weaknesses of the top Premier League players – particularly the English ones – are sadly seen too often.

How on earth, after 95 minutes against Spain and with England leading 2-1 with everyone behind the ball, someone like Eric Dier can let a runner go past him and into the box is nothing short of scandalous.

Top players simply shouldn’t be making mistakes like that.

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It is this mental weakness which has to be cut out by England at the very top level.

I’m talking about things like Joe Hart’s mistakes against Iceland and Wales in the European Championships, and Kyle Walker’s marking against Iceland in the same tournament.

These sorts of individual errors are the things which change games and, until our players grow up mentally and managers, in turn, pick them out, it won’t change.

Look what Eddie Jones is achieving with the England rugby union side.

The self-analysis and self-scrutiny of the players, and the honest assessment of whether they are performing at top level, is laid before everyone involved.

Even those players who are on the fringes of the Twickenham set-up, they always say in interview that they haven’t been performing and that the coach has told them what they have to work on to get back in the reckoning.

I hate saying the words ‘back in my day’, but when I was playing, a senior professional – someone like Roger Brown when I was a kid at Fulham, or ‘Big Sam’ Allardyce at Huddersfield Town – would have pinned me up against the dressing room wall afterwards if I’d made the sort of mistake which Dier did against Spain.

The England players have to start growing up, and growing up quickly. It’s as simple as that.