Euro 2024

ENGLAND fans voted the team’s best ever manager… and it’s not World Cup-winning legend Sir Alf Ramsey.Ramsey is the only Three Lions boss to win a trophy in the national team’s near 154-year history, having lifted the World Cup in 1966.Where does Gareth Southgate rate as England’s best ever manager?Credit: GettySir Alf Ramsey finished second even though he is the only England boss to win a trophyCredit: PA:Empics SportSir Bobby Robson made the top five of England’s elite managersCredit: GettyHowever, that doesn’t seem to be enough for the Tottenham legend to stand out as the all-time best in the eyes of supporters.According to a research conducted by Amazon Fire TV, fans believe current England boss Gareth Southgate is the greatest to ever grace the dugout.The research was independently conducted across 2,000 UK residents on behalf of Amazon between April 8 and June 10.Southgate is the fanbase’s all-time favourite as he earned 37 per cent of the vote.Read More on FootballRamsey came second with 28 per cent, which is still a far cry from the man who will lead the national team in Euro 2024.Southgate revived England upon his arrival in 2016 and even made the fans fall back in love with the team after years of hurt.The former defender led his country to fourth place in the 2018 World Cup, the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup and the final of Euro 2020.And thanks to the ex-Middlesbrough boss’ work, the Three Lions now pose among the favourites to win the European championship this summer in Germany.Most read in FootballEURO 2024 FREE BETS AND OFFERSSir Bobby Robson, Terry Venables and Sven-Goran Eriksson complete the top five with 26, 18 and 15 per cent of the vote.Robson led England to the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup and the semi-finals in 1990.England fans voted for the best ever manager in the team’s historyEngland’s new Wags set to take Euro 2024 by stormVenables made it to the semi-finals of Euro 1996 and Eriksson helped the Golden Generation advance to the quarter-finals of Euro 2004 as well as the 2002 and 2006 World Cup.Kevin Keegan, Roy Hodgson, Glenn Hoddle, Fabio Capello and Graham Taylor complete the top 10.EURO 2024 LIVE: LATEST UPDATES FROM THE TOURNAMENTSven-Goran Eriksson made the quarter-finals of two World Cups and Euro 2004Credit: News Group Newspapers LtdFormer England manager Glenn Hoddle made the top 10Credit: Times Newspapers LtdGareth Southgate will take the handbrake off at Euro 2024… because he has no choiceBy Charlie Wyett
GARETH SOUTHGATE will have no choice but to take the handbrake off his England team at Euro 2024.
The defensive crisis gripping the Three Lions means the only option in Germany, within ­reason, will be outright attack.
Southgate has often been lambasted for his safety-first approach — even if he points out you must go back to Walter Winterbottom’s sides in the 1950s to find an England manager with a better scoring record.
But with the crocked Harry Maguire left out, Luke Shaw not fit enough to start the tournament and John Stones having made just 12 ­Premier League starts this season, this is not a defence you would stake your life on.
The last time England went to a major tournament in Germany — the 2006 World Cup — the four centre-backs selected were Sol Campbell (68 caps), Rio Ferdinand (47), Jamie Carragher (25) and John Terry (24).
This time, when England fly out on Monday, the quartet will be Lewis Dunk (six), Joe Gomez (14), Marc Guehi (ten) and Ezri Konsa (three).
It makes Southgate’s decision not to recall the 49-cap Eric Dier for his ­provisional squad even stranger — especially considering his strong end to the season with Bayern Munich.
The elder statesman in his defence — and the one who absolutely has to stay fit — is 71-cap Stones. More

ROY KEANE tore into Scotland after their 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Germany.Steve Clarke’s men kicked off their Euro 2024 campaign in the worst way imaginable as they were thrashed by the hosts in Munich.Scotland were hammered by Germany in the opening game of Euro 2024Credit: GettyRoy Keane ripped into the Scots for their performance on Friday nightCredit: ITVScotland were 3-0 down and reduced to 10 men before half-time after Ryan Porteous saw red for a shocking challenge on Ilkay Gundogan.And Keane did not mince his words following the Scots’ horror evening.Speaking on ITV, he said: “When you’re playing football at this level you’ve got to hit people. Hit them properly, hit them aggressively, do it in the right way.”It’s no good talking after the game about ‘We had a game plan’ – rubbish.READ MORE ON SCOTLAND”Andrew Robertson, it’s all just rubbish coming out. You knew before the game what was at stake.”After the game it’s no good going ‘We’ll regroup, we’ll be angry tomorrow’, no, you should be angry for a long time.”They spoke before the game about creating history. They’re creating history alright by playing as bad as that, letting their manager and supporters down.”Reacting to the clip, one football fan replied: “Roy Keane just obliterated Scotland.”Most read in Euro 2024CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERSAnother added: “Roy Keane once again with another bang on opinion 👏🏼.”A third responded: “Game one and Roy Keane is absolutely hammering Scotland… Beautiful.”Franz Beckenbauer’s widow Heidi pays emotional tribute to Germany legend husband at Euro 2024 opening match vs ScotlandEURO 2024 LIVE: LATEST UPDATES FROM THE TOURNAMENTWhile a fourth said: “Roy Keane has hit the nail on the head, Robertson saying they had a game plan is a joke.”After the game, Robertson said: “First half, we just got it all wrong really, didn’t show up, weren’t aggressive enough, and we let good players get on the ball.”Second half, we’re down to 10 men and I thought lads dug in really well.”We’re so well backed over here, today was hugely disappointing.”We have to bounce back quickly because there was lots wrong here and it’s a quick turnaround now.”Maybe it’s a reminder of how tough this tournament is.READ MORE SUN STORIES”Their big players showed up and were excellent all over the park and had an answer for pretty much everything we had.”I don’t think we’ve played to our maximum. We have to dust ourselves down and go again.”Keane took aim at Scotland captain Andy Robertson for his post-match commentsCredit: GettyScotland Euro 2024 guideQUALIFYING for back-to-back Euros is an achievement in itself and the Tartan Army are sure to make the most of it.

The Scots recorded a famous 2-0 win over Spain in qualifying, but come into the Euros off the back of seven games without a win.
MANAGER: Steve Clarke
Only Jock Stein, Andy Roxburgh and Craig Brown have managed Scotland in more games than Jose Mourinho’s former assistant.
STAR MAN: John McGinn
The Aston Villa star has reached new levels under Unai Emery’s tutelage and is crucial to a midfield that provides most of Scotland’s goals.
How Scotland attack
Scotland’s three-man midfield will be crucial with the likes of McGinn and Scott McTominay providing lung-busting runs and coming up with most of the goals.
Target man Lyndon Dykes is set to be a big miss with Che Adams likely to step in as the lone striker in a 5-4-1 formation.
How Scotland defend
Scotland will put ten men behind the ball in a deep 5-4-1 block out of possession.
They will work extremely hard to deny the opposition central spaces between the lines, forcing them to resort to wide play and crosses which the Scots feel more comfortable defending.
Read the full Scotland Euro 2024 guide here, including predicted line-ups, odds and Wags More

JOHN STONES thought he had broken his foot during the embarrassing defeat to Iceland at Wembley.When he got to Germany, the defender missed training due to illness and spent a day on the toilet instead.John Stones is set to be available for England’s opening game against SerbiaCredit: GettyStones is one of the most experienced players in the England squadCredit: RexBut despite not having the smoothest of preparations for the Euros opener against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen, he was in good spirits on Friday.It is probably because Stones knows he was lucky to avoid a serious injury following Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson’s clumsy tackle in the first minute of the final warm-up game.Clearly struggling at Wembley, Stones was partly to blame for the Iceland winner and he was substituted at half-time as a precaution.With Harry Maguire ruled out of the tournament with a calf injury, losing Stones would have been an absolute disaster.READ MORE ON EURO 2024Rewinding to the opening minute against Iceland, Stones said: “I was worried at first. I knew it wasn’t my knee or my ankle, because of the mechanism in how I landed.“It was almost like my big toe in the line straight down my foot and I thought ‘I have fractured it’. I thought the worst at the start.“The docs made the call at half-time and maybe they made the right one in the end. I had an X-ray straight away at Wembley and then the morning after.“I thought ‘if I’ve fractured it, I will get docs, tablets, injections, whatever’. I didn’t want to miss out.”Most read in Euro 2024BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERSStones left Wembley with his right ankle strapped and after flying to Germany on Monday, he started to feel unwell during training in Jena.He said: “I haven’t been that bad in . . . I could not tell you how long. I am not getting into detail though! It was a really rough 36 hours.England star reveals he has been building HOGWARTS out of Lego as he hopes for Harry Potter magic at Euro 2024“I didn’t feel great the day before in the open session but thought it would pass.“I ended up ringing the doc in the early hours of the morning after being up for a few hours as I couldn’t take it any more.“It was difficult because I was having hot and cold sweats. I felt quite alone, to be honest. You are not at home. No one around you.“And then being stuck in my room all day, no food. Not much water because it was coming out again! I don’t usually get sick. If it was ever going to happen, at least it was during this week and I got back to training on Thursday.”Jack Wilshere’s England XI vs SerbiaSunSport columnist Jack Wilshere wants Engand to start with just one holding midfielder – Declan Rice.
That means playing Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham in attacking midfield roles, with Cole Palmer and Bukayo Saka on the wings, either side of Harry Kane up top.
Wilshere said: “In the group stage against teams we should beat, we can  afford to be more expansive, let’s attack.
“It wasn’t that long ago we were saying we didn’t have the Spanish-type of players who can dominate the ball, now we have.
“So let’s try to utilise that, dominate the ball and go for goals.”
And the ex-England midfielder wants Trent Alexander-Arnold to get the nod at right-back, with Kyle Walker centre-back.
He added: “If you play Trent at right-back and he drifts in midfield, he can switch the play at speed. Walker’s pace will get you out of trouble.”
Read more from Jack Wilshere during Euro 2024.

Panic over, now Stones must forge a strong partnership with Marc Guehi, 23. But they have only played twice together.Aside from the Iceland game, the only other time was a humiliating 4-0 Nations League defeat by Hungary in Wolverhampton two years ago. The less said about that game, the better.Stones, 30, said: “I don’t know what the stat is on how many games me and Harry [Maguire] have played together but it’s probably quite a lot.“He’ll be missed as well, not only by me, but the team, people who he’s close to within the team as well. That’s the difficult part of the game.“He’ll be upset he’s not here but it’s a great chance for other people to learn new skills, and ways of what the manager wants to implement on the training pitch.“I’m a big fan of Marc’s. Just how he goes about his work. He is taking everything in. His quality, for his size, is good. He is strong and dominates.“He has been an incredible player at Palace and had a big injury this season as well but I watched him come back in his first game and it was like nothing had ever happened.”Guehi has 11 caps compared to Stones’ 72 appearances.Yet while there is no doubt over Stones’ pedigree, he has not had a great season for Manchester City. He only started 12 Premier League games for Pep Guardiola and was an unused sub on 17 occasions.Stones said: “It’s not how I wanted to end the season. You want to feel involved, you want to play as much as you can.“I’ve been there and been in sticky situations enough now to know that it’s not about me it’s about the team and I was there every day trying to give the manager a headache.“I won’t start throwing my teddy out of the pram and say ‘I should be playing’. Of course, I believe I should be playing but it’s out of my control who picks the team. I control the controllables. I’m here to help.READ MORE SUN STORIES“A major factor of why we’ve won so many things is not one player wins for everyone.“I played a massive role in the last season [2022-23] and what we’ve done and you’ve got to always be positive about what’s in front of you.” More