Former Middlesbrough manager and England centre back Gareth Southgate has been handed the tempting but challenging role of putting faith back into the England youth set-up as Under-21 coach.

The FA confirmed Southgate will take over from Stuart Pearce immediately following a disappointing European Championship campaign for the Under-21 squad.

“I’m extremely excited about the prospect of working with the best and brightest young players in the country,” the 42-year-old said.

Aside his crucial penalty miss in Euro 96 in the semi-final defeat to Germany at Wembley, Southgate managed Boro between 2006 to 2009 during a tough period that saw him break the club’s transfer fee by paying £13.6m for Brazilian forward Afonso Alves and eventually taking the plunge into the second tier of English football following their eleven-year stay in the top flight.

Southgate does have experience of working in the youth zone under the FA as the head of elite development in 2011 and has had the time to study the game from a back-seat position since employment in punditry began in July 2012 for ITV.

He will report to Dan Ashworth, the FA’s director of elite development and has been given the responsibility to oversee proceedings from under-16 level through to the under-20s.

Southgate’s preliminary game will take place on September 5 with a home fixture at the Madejski Stadium in a 2015 European Championship qualifier against Moldova before travelling to Finland four days later.

What do you think? Will Southgate improve England’s youth development? And do you see his appointment as a positive movement for the national side in the future?

Kazak champions Shakhtyor Karagandy will take a surprise lead to Celtic Park next week with a storming 2-0 victory this evening.

Goals from Andrei Fionchenko in the 12th minute and Sergei Khizickenko thirteen minutes from time saw an electric reaction from fans in the Astana Arena, which can hold in excess of 30,000 supporters.

Celtic failed to capitalize on strong periods of play with futile attempts from debutant Virgil Van Dijk who had a header well saved by Aleksandr Mokin, whilst winger Kris Commons rattled the underside of the cross bar shortly after Shakhtyor’s first goal.

The second half saw Celtic continue to fail to convert their chances, in particular from full-back Charlie Mulgrew before conceding a critical second goal.

Although the whole of Celtic Park will be behind the Scottish champions, The Hoops face an uphill task to qualify for the lucrative group stages this term. Manager Neil Lennon will hope that performances against Cliftonville and Elfsborg in previous rounds will spur his players on to reach the promised land. The second leg takes place next Wednesday.

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Is Gareth Bale staying or is he on the brink of a departure?

The rumor mill this summer has hit a distinct level of boredom, with the press reporting on stories such as Wayne Rooney’s displeasure in Manchester, Luis Suarez nattering on about a switch away from the Kop and Cesc Fabregas’ non-mover to sure up Man United’s midfield with a move from the Nou Camp. And now, The Guardian newspaper is reporting this evening that Tottenham want £88million plus Alvaro Morata in exchange for Bale. Morata is a highly-rated 20-year-old striker at Real Madrid who promises to be one for the future.

Most notably, ever since the last kick of the 2012-13 season, the future of Tottenham’s Gareth Bale has been under scrutiny, with ongoing posts deliberating his future with a suspected move to Real Madrid on the cards.

Cutting the story short, Andre Villas-Boas wants Bale at White Hart Lane, Bale has apparently spoken of his desire to play in the Spanish capital and chairman Daniel Levy simply will not budge.

This is a story that suggests business is a childish form of game-play with ongoing spouts from North London and reports from Madrid suggesting that movement is swinging from one capital to the next.  Real have officially submitted a world-record bid whilst Levy is holding out and ready to draw his revolver at any future requests.

The question is simply this… is Gareth Bale a better player than Cristiano Ronaldo?  There are concerns over Bale’s aptitude to fit within the Bernabeu fold.  With an 85,000 capacity seater-stadium and a rise in expectancy from Los Blancos fans, it has been publicly announced that Bale may fall into crisis in similar fashion to former Spurs team-mate Luka Modric.  At Tottenham, Bale is the big fish but Madrid pose a bigger pond that has seen the likes of Modric feeling bloated from failing to establish himself as a regular first team choice.

The scale of Bale’s profile over the past twelve months is enormous in comparison to the Croat’s but with the likes of Ronaldo, Ozil, Isco and company, competition for places will be intense.  Spanish soccer boils a different kettle of fish that has seen the likes of Fabregas experience difficulty in reaching their pinnacle in the land of the glorious pass and move game.  The proposition Florentino Perez offers is what dreams are made of due to the calibre of talent Madrid have displayed throughout their history alongside a cabinet of silverware that only leave clubs such as Spurs in a trance.

Whilst some support Levy’s tactics, others have politely branded the business tycoon as a raving madman.  Clubs such as Barcelona, Juventus and Manchester United have snapped the hands off Real in order to receive world-record fees for their most prized assets.  Nevertheless, despite Levy’s ruthless stance on the move, many believe that Madrid’s monopoly approach will help them get their man, as they seem to have a gift of being able to do so through the power of money.

The nine-time European champions have seemingly tried their best to reason with the Lilywhites by offering gifted winger Angel Di Maria and impressive full-back Fabio Coentrao as part of the deal.  Despite the appeal here, should Spurs pull-off a deal for Valencia striker Roberto Soldado and recruit a promising replacement for the departed Steven Caulker, keeping Bale on the cards could prove pivotal to Spurs’ top four hopes for 2013-14.

Aside the debate of whether Bale is worth between £85-125m, the media will persistently align the Welshman’s path by reporting the goods, whilst the odds on him boarding a plane to Spain continue to work their way in favor of Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

Of course, only time will tell despite the transfer manual favoring the planet’s richest clubs.  Bale’s maturity will also be tested, especially if a deal fails to materialize.