Neil Warnock is both the man England needs and the man it deserves

Gareth Southgate is coming up to his fourth and final game in charge of England as caretaker manager this week and although the bookies have him down as the clear favourite for the poisoned chalice he is neither the man England needs or the man England deserves. That man is Neil Warnock.

Despite the fact that the vast majority will already be on board with such a proposition there will no doubt be deluded individuals who need setting on the correct path.

To begin with he loves the limelight. It's highly probable that in taking over at Cardiff he returned from 'retirement' for the 26th time just so then he could retake the back pages of obscure local and lower level football papers. The intense media pressure which the England job brings could understandably been unbearable at times but Neil would relish the chance to be wheeled in front of the cameras at every opportunity. No matter how vociferous the paparazzi or journalists may become he would always relish the attention and refer to his tormentors by their first name making it look like he goes and has Sunday tea round at theirs each week in the way that he does with anybody associated with the Football League. The more the spotlight rests on Warnock the more freedom the players have to express themselves against Slovakia.

Equally, England have been unable to beat the top teams, especially in competition but the more pressing concern has been a distinct inability to defeat poorer teams and progress through the easier stages of tournament football. Having spent so long in the lower reaches of English football Neil would have the inside track on teams like Iceland. He could break them down or even play them at their own game bamboozling opponents by not leaving their own half and lulling them into a false sense of security. His tactical prowess may fail when his side plays the likes of France, Germany and Argentina. But, at the very least England would never finish bottom of their group with Neil flying in to elevate us to a lofty second bottom which in a 24 team league would mean avoiding relegation.

Neil may be shunned by mainstream media outlets but to quote Alfred; "Endure master Wayne. Take it. They'll hate you for it, but that's the point of Neil Warnock, he can be the outcast. He can make the choice that no one else can make, the right choice." The right choice is to play Paddy Kenny after another England goalkeeper concedes a soft goal from 25 yards despite widespread claims to give

Joe Hart another chance. The right choice is to have a Mike Bassett style rant when the team is 2-0 at half time using phrases such as "Don't be soft as s***," and "Let's have somebody who will put their f****n head in," after having seen Raheem Stirling play the ball back to Jordan Henderson for the tenth time when faced with the prospect of an Estonian fullback who plies his trade in the fourth tier of Italian football. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQtWVcFpvHg )

The England manager role has often reduced managers of all personality types into public enemy number one. Rather than appoint young Howe or Southgate who have their entire careers ahead of them why not appoint someone who has already consistently retired and will not damage what little future career he may have. Merely having 'England Manager' on his CV ensures employment at whichever relegation threatened League 1 side requires him. But rather than focus on his well-being let us focus on the country. We should not turn the nation against somebody who is likeable in an endless cycle that begins with hope and ends with abject misery. Instead we should give them someone who from the off isn't particularly likeable. It may be the fake-appearance of his amiable attitude or the fact that he's from Yorkshire but if Neil were in charge then we could all enjoy England play badly solely to see the reaction and grovelling excuses. We will be able to unite in anger as Neil utters the words "Well, they're a really good team aren't they Gabriel, but their center forward was all elbows and should have had a yellow card," after getting pumped 5-0 by Spain. If England win then so be it but if England lose then the nation can enjoy uniting against the man at the top from the beginning rather than slowly turning against him.

England needs a man that can bring the country together and it deserves a man who has predominantly lower league experience. In a time when the views of experts are being rejected and supposed straight talking and rhetoric who promise a return to how it used to be are being cherished let us not appoint another foreign tactician who has won European trophies galore but instead place our faith in a man of old fashioned management the nation and people require.

"The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you, the dawn is coming." - Harvey Dent