Middlesbrough will ask for extended dispensation for
manager Gareth Southgate as he attempts to gain his coaching
qualifications.
The 36-year-old has combined his first year in management with his
studies for his badges, and recently spent two weeks on a
residential course at Lilleshall along with coach Colin
Cooper.
However, Southgate will not be able to fulfil the newly-amended
Premier League requirement of being enrolled on the UEFA Pro
Licence course by the start of the 2007-08 campaign, and that could
leave Boro with a problem.
The Teessiders have already held talks with the Football
Association over the way forward, but seem likely to have to
persuade the Premier League board to extend the special
dispensation they granted Southgate last year to continue in his
post.
Chairman Steve Gibson said: "The FA know our problems and to be
fair to them, they have been very helpful and we hope there is not
going to be a problem.
"I cannot say categorically that we do not expect a problem because
that's not the case, there could be.
"But we will have to deal with it if and when it happens."
Southgate has already completed his UEFA B Licence and is currently
studying for the A Licence, hence his trip to Lilleshall.
However, he cannot enrol for the Pro Licence until he has completed
that course, and the demands of his job and the lack of available
opportunities to fit in the necessary tuition are hampering his
efforts to meet the agreement his club reached with the governing
body last season.
Gibson, who fought hard to appoint the former England international
as his manager, is confident the club once again has a strong
case.
He said: "We have spoken to the FA, and part of the problem is that
the courses have not been there for Gareth to go on.
"You imagine stepping out of the dressing room, where you perhaps
have a two or three-hour day, and then suddenly you are into
management and you have to eat, breathe, sleep, drink it.
"For him to find time during the season to progress, it's a bit of
a nonsense. There is no fast-tracking. "