Middlesbrough striker Mark Viduka has revealed he doesn't envy
former team-mate and now Riverside boss Gareth Southgate.
Last season the pair were team-mates as Boro went all the way to
the UEFA Cup final under former manager Steve McClaren.
Southgate replaced the now England head coach in the summer but,
although impressing Viduka with the transition from player to
manager, the Australia international wouldn't like to be in the
current manager's shoes with the Teessiders currently struggling
just above the Premiership drop zone.
"It is not an easy job being a manager. I have been playing
football for a long time and I think it would be very difficult if
somebody told me next year I was manager," he said.
"In that position, I would not know what to do. But Gareth has
taken to it very well. He is going to be a good manager.
"After playing football for so long and being through all the ups
and downs, you start learning how to deal with these things.
"It is probably different being a manager because once the players
go across that line, there is nothing much you can do, apart from
half-time talks and whatever.
"But he is coping quite well and a few results over Christmas - if
we can get a string of wins together - we could come into the new
year in a great position."
