Gareth Southgate

Gareth Southgate became another former player-turned-manager, after his appointment from playing staff to the managerial post at Middlesbrough in 2006.

Having been at the club since 2001 as a solid central defender, Southgate's leadership skills and influence among the current squad convinced the Middlesbrough board to hire him after Steve McClaren left the club to take the England job.

The fact that the Middlesbrough board put their faith in one so young speaks volumes and Southgate repaid their faith with a couple of mid-table finishes in his first two seasons.

Beginning his career as a central midfielder with Crystal Palace in 1989, Southgate quickly showed excellent leadership qualities and was installed as the club captain.

Leading Palace to the 1994 Division One title, he eventually moved to Aston Villa for £2.5 million after the south-London club were relegated from the Premiership in 1995.

At Villa, Southgate was converted into a centre back and became a reliable and solid defender for the Birmingham-based club. In his first season he lifted the League Cup and pushed Villa into qualification for the UEFA Cup.

Terry Venables soon named him in his Euro 1996 squad and Southgate made his international debut against Portugal.

Playing a major role in England's ascent to the semi-finals, unfortunately he is best remembered for missing the vital penalty in the shoot-out against Germany. Although he went on to claim 57 caps for the national side, he was never quite able to recover fully from the memory of that miss.

Southgate handed in a transfer request just before the Euro 2000 competition citing a desire to move to a more ambitious club and after a year on the transfer list he left Aston Villa in 2001 for Middlesbrough, despite reported attention from Manchester United,

Becoming an instant hit favourite at the Riverside, Southgate won the club's Player of the Year award in his first season after a series of assured displays.

He was handed the captaincy for the 2002/03 season when Paul Ince left the club and became the first Boro captain to lift a major trophy when he helped them win the Carling Cup at the Millennium Stadium in February 2004, although his season ended shortly after that win, when he suffered a knee ligament injury.

Lending his experience to a crop of young players at the Riverside, Southgate emerged as the surprise choice to take over from Steve McClaren.

Initially he did not hold a UEFA Pro Licence and it appeared for a while that the Premier League would not sanction his appointment, although Southgate was eventually granted the honour of being the first player-manager in the Premiership for seven years.

Having already shown a ruthless streak by pensioning off former team-mates Doriva and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Southgate began his management career by getting Boro to 12th place.

He was linked with the England job, after Steve McClaren's sacking in 2007, but then had to weather a storm as Boro started the 2007/08 season badly. Eventually finishing well clear of the relegation zone, Southgate has brought more consistency to his side and is viewed as one of the top young managers in the Premier League.