Rose: Shearer was right to call England ‘a laughing stock’

Joe Williams

Tottenham defender Danny Rose believes former England striker Alan Shearer was right to label the Three Lions “a laughing stock”.

Former captain Shearer lashed out in the aftermath of Sam Allardyce’s humiliating departure as manager, suggesting the national side had reached a new low and were now a source of amusement for their rivals in the world game.

Rio Ferdinand echoed those sentiments after controversial comments to undercover reporters drew an end to Allardyce’s one-game reign, saying “the England role has become comical”.

And far from taking umbrage, Tottenham defender Rose could only concur.

“I saw Alan Shearer say English football has become a laughing stock and it’s hard to say but I agree a bit with a manager losing his job after one game,” he said after reporting for duty under interim boss Gareth Southgate.

“It’s not good in any sense and whatever stance the FA take after the four games (under Southgate), I hope the next England manager will be one for the long term and help us to improve a bit in tournaments.

“When Roy Hodgson lost his job, we were all there together. It was a sad experience for me because we all knew at the time and we saw Roy’s face at the time.

“There’s only so much stick a manager can take and there has to be a point where the players look at themselves and say ‘it’s not good enough’. With Sam, it came from nowhere. I was just thinking ‘who will it be now?’.

“I don’t want to say it’s a mess, but it’s not nice for English football.

“Everyone, the players, the manager and all the staff, we’ve got to take it on ourselves to try to lift the opinion of English football over the next few games – starting with a positive performance on Saturday against Malta and then another positive performance against Slovenia.”

Rose was one of those who played in Allardyce’s only match at the helm, a last-gasp 1-0 win in Slovakia last month, and reached out to the 61-year-old following his dramatic exit.

Allardyce’s brief tenure may have brought little more than three points and a sizeable amount of embarrassment to the Football Association, but he had at least started to make a positive impression on the squad.

“I’ve managed to speak to him since he left. I don’t know the full ins and outs of what has happened but I still wish him the very best for the future – and I told him that when I spoke to him,” said Rose.

“I texted him, sent a message, thanked him for including me in his first England squad and allowing me to earn another cap for England and told him that I was sorry he’d lost his job and wished him the best for the future.

“He was brilliant when he was there. It was only a week to 10 days (with the players) but he was such a good laugh, really approachable and he allowed us to play as well.

“He texted me back and said it was a good battle between me and Raheem on Sunday after the Man City game.”

Rose only joined the senior set-up in March and, should bookmakers’ favourite Southgate not land the permanent post, could be on his fourth manager by the time of his first anniversary as an England man.

Spurs have experienced a similar churn in the dugout in recent years, with Harry Redknapp, Andre Villas-Boas, Tim Sherwood and current boss Mauricio Pochettino all in charge between 2012 and 2014.

Pochettino recently signed a five-year deal but indicated last week that he could be tempted to lead the Three Lions in future.

“It would be amazing to have him as England manager one day,” said Rose.

“What he’s done for Tottenham is clear for everyone to see, with the squad he’s built, and that would only be good for English football if that was ever to be the case.”