Craig Levein was delighted that resurgent St Johnstone were able to mark 16-year-old Fran Franczak’s first start with a 1-0 victory over Hibernian.
The teenage midfielder became Saints’ youngest-ever player when he made his only previous appearance as a late sub away to the Hibees in September.
Levein pitched Franczak in at wing-back for the visit of Nick Montgomery’s in-form side and the manager watched the youngster deliver an accomplished display as Graham Carey’s second-half strike proved enough to lift Saints from 11th to eighth in the cinch Premiership.
“Fran’s performance didn’t surprise me,” said the Saints boss. “He’s been excellent in training, he’s been with the first-team squad since we came in.
“He’s competitive, he’s not a defensive player. He’s more of an attacker. He played that wing-back position like an attacker.
“He was super-cool in his head space, whatever he did. He didn’t get flummoxed or flustered at all.
“Everything that he did was really good. It was his starting debut and I asked the boys to try and make it a memorable one for him, and they certainly did.”
Levein – who took charge last month when Saints were bottom of the table – was pleased with the way his side secured their third win of his seven-game tenure, with Carey’s breakthrough following a misplaced pass from Dylan Levitt.
“We had quite a lot of control in the game, which was important in making opportunities,” he said.
“We scored one but Marsh (Hibs goalkeeper David Marshall) made four top, top saves. We scored one and defensively we were really good.”
Hibs failed to muster a shot on target as they slipped from fourth to sixth in the table and manager Montgomery rued the way his team’s threat was snuffed out by Saints.
“It was a disappointing performance in all,” he said. “I felt at half-time it would be a mistake that would probably result in a goal and we didn’t capitalise on the mistakes they made, especially in the first half.
“We had a couple of opportunities. That pitch was tough at times, people slipping over and missing the ball, but we didn’t deserve to win the game.
“Did we deserve to lose it? On reflection of the whole game, probably not. But we did, we lost the game, and at 1-0, you know they are going to fight for everything.
“What we didn’t have was enough going forward to create a real threat, and that sort of played into their hands.”
Milan and Italy legend Gattuso appointed Hadjuk Split coach in surprise move
Former Milan and Italy great Gennaro Gattuso has completed a surprise move to Hadjuk Split, taking over as head coach in Croatia.
Gattuso, a World Cup winner with Italy in 2006, has signed a two-year deal with the Croatian giants.
The 46-year-old will be officially welcomed at Poljud next week after Split announced his appointment on Wednesday.
Gattuso's coaching career began as player-coach of his final club, Sion of the Swiss Super League, and he also had short spells in charge of Palermo and OFI Crete.
The former midfielder then led Pisa to Serie B promotion before taking charge of old club Milan and subsequently joining Napoli, where he won the Coppa Italia in 2020.
Short tenures followed with Fiorentina, Valencia and Marseille before his sacking from the Ligue 1 side in February.
Southgate succession plan in place after Euro 2024 despite no approaches for England boss
England have started to plan for life after Gareth Southgate but Football Association executive Mark Bullingham insists no approach has been made for the manager, nor has his future been decided.
The Three Lions boss raised questions over his future after German media outlet BILD published an interview this week from Southgate, who suggested Euro 2024 this month is his last chance with England.
Manchester United were reportedly interested in the 53-year-old as well before reaffirming their commitment to under-fire manager Erik ten Hag.
As the European Championship awaits in Germany, Bullingham sought to ease any fears over the future of Southgate, though reiterated the FA has already thought through a succession plan.
"Gareth has been really, really clear that he wants to talk about that after the tournament," Bullingham said.
"And I don't want to provide any distraction for him and the team, and I want to respect the fact that he wants to talk about the future after the tournament.
"I've seen some things about, 'Have we got a plan, haven't we?' Any organisation has a succession plan in place for their top employees, and we are no different to that.
"A succession plan normally includes everything from what you do for the short-term cover, through to a process you follow, through to [drawing up] a candidate pool. We have that for all our top employees."
Bullingham also assured that Southgate's future will not be dictated by success at Euro 2024, with the manager's contract set to expire in December.
"[The team] could go further but be playing poorly or have a really unlucky result where you get a couple of red cards and hit the woodwork three times," the FA chief added.
"I think setting an arbitrary figure isn't the right way to go. I think we step back and look at everything after the tournament."
In a staunch defence of Southgate, Bullingham lauded the job the former England international has done, guiding the Three Lions to the Euro 2020 final and World Cup semi-finals in 2018.
"I would say I think the world of Gareth, I think he has done a phenomenal job," Bullingham said.
"I think he has transformed the fortunes of our team, and that's not just off the pitch, and you can see the culture, but also the performances on the pitch.
"Since 1966, he has won about half of our knockout games, which is a measure we really use, so we value him massively."
Should Southgate leave, Bullingham remains open to bringing in another homegrown talent to manage England.
"We have two senior coaches," he continued. "One of them is English, one of them [England women's boss Sarina Wiegman] is not.
"Any federation in the world would always want to have a pool of top homegrown talent playing and managing at any time."
Milan target Zirkzee called up for Netherlands squad at Euro 2024
Joshua Zirkzee is reportedly drawing interest from Milan, Juventus and Manchester United, and will have the chance to further his stock after a late call-up for the Netherlands at Euro 2024.
Oranje boss Ronald Koeman has lost Frenkie de Jong and Teun Koopmeiners, as well as midfielder Marten de Roon, in the build-up to the tournament in Germany.
Koeman criticised former club Barcelona for their handling of the injured De Jong before Koopmeiners' absence was also confirmed this week in another blow for the Netherlands.
Ajax forward Brian Brobbey is another said to be struggling for fitness, forcing the Dutch to act swiftly with reinforcements.
Zirkzee's inclusion was confirmed on Wednesday as the Netherlands added the striker to their international camp ahead of their tournament opener against Poland on Sunday.
The 23-year-old does not have a single senior cap under his belt for the Netherlands, but did score seven goals in 19 caps for the Under-21 side.
Zirkzee found the net 12 times in 37 appearances for Bologna in the 2023-24 campaign as the Serie A side qualified for next season's Champions League.
That form has reportedly drawn interest from Erik ten Hag's Man Utd, Juventus – who appointed Thiago Motta as their new head coach on Wednesday – and Milan.
Ian Maatsen, who reached the Champions League final with Borussia Dortmund this year, is the other man brought in for the Netherlands to fill the void left by De Jong and Koopmeiners.
The Netherlands also face Austria and France in Group D at Euro 2024, where Germany open the tournament against Scotland on Friday.
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