Southgate 8-1 to claim a perfect England record

GARETH SOUTHGATE has been placed in caretaker charge of the England team until the end of the year and the 46-year-old has been cut to 6-4 to land the job on a permanent basis following Sam Allardyce’s shock departure on Tuesday.

Southgate will steer the Three Lions through their next four games, starting with next month’s World Cup qualifiers at home to Malta and away to Slovenia.

He will also be in charge for a qualifying match at home to Scotland on November 11 and a friendly at home to Spain four days later.

Bet365 go 8-1 that Southgate wins all four games and Coral offer 4-5 that he stays unbeaten but it is unclear whether he would want the job full-time.

Southgate turned down the post in the summer and a possible alternative could be Steve Bruce – the 3-1 second favourite to be Allardyce’s long-term successor.

Arsene Wenger, whose Arsenal contract runs until the end of the season, has been cut from 40-1 to 8-1 with Betway, while Alan Pardew and Eddie Howe are available at 11-1 and 12-1.

Allardyce left his post after comments to undercover reporters from the Daily Telegraph regarding FA rules over the third-party ownership of players were published.