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Every year brings a whole host of former players stepping forward as potential candidates for football management. In England very few realise the expectations placed on them with the likes of Paul Ince, David Platt,Bryan Robson, Tony Adams, David O'Leary, Steve Bruce and Stuart Pearce all failing to make the kind of impact they did as players. It is unlikely that Gareth Southgate will find the transition any easier than those who have failed before him and at best may have to settle for a few years of struggling before falling out of favour like so many of his contemporaries.

Despite being in his formative years of management, Roy Keane is the one name that stands out as someone who has so far shown the same qualities in management that he carried on the pitch. He is a natural leader of men and his influence has transformed Sunderland into a decent Premiership team. Over the last decade there have been a number of names mentioned as a replacement for Alex Ferguson in the Manchester United hot-seat, but none have delivered enough to be considered safe to continue his legacy. Roy Keane is one name that could very well fill that role in the future and fix his name as a legend as player and manager.

On the continent things are very different with former players taking the managers jobs in large clubs and fulfilling their potential and repaying the trust placed in them. Ronald Koeman at Benfica has already proved how tactically aware he is after proving such a difficult proposition for many English teams in the European Champions League. Marco Van Basten has risen through the ranks so quickly that he is being linked with the task of taking on the Chelsea job after the departure of Jose Mourinho. Frank Rijkaard has shown at Barcelona how effective he is and has brought the best out of the world's greatest player Ronaldinho, keeping him happy in the process. In Italy Roberto Mancini has made a smooth transition into management and is regularly linked with the top footballing jobs whenever a vacancy arises.

There are a number of possible reasons why former players on the continent are succeeding where the English based ones fail, but ultimately much comes down to tactics and technical ability. The English based players were less technically gifted than the European players and as a result they seem to be less tactically aware in management. England is crying out for a former player to step forward and prove his worth as a manager. I hope that someone makes that transition successfully and if I were to put my money on any man doing that it would be Roy Keane. Which club he achieves it with is another debate.

Learn more about this author, Matthew P. Nicholson.
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