FORMER Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate is set to become one of the most powerful men in English football.

Southgate is the favourite to become the Football Association's new technical director, a wide-ranging role that will have a major impact on the future direction of football in this country.

FA chief executive, Alex Horne, and director of football development, Sir Trevor Brooking, have been interviewing candidates in the last couple of weeks, and Southgate is understood to have a prominent position on their shortlist.

The successful candidate, who will be based at St George's Park in Burton, will work alongside Brooking, with the responsibility of leading on the technical development programme at The FA.

A particular focus of the technical director's role will be to lead and manage a world-class, qualified and licensed national coach education workforce and programme.

They will also work closely with representatives from the Premier League and Football League to support the implementation of the Elite Player Performance Plan, the programme that will overhaul the existing academy system.

Since leaving Middlesbrough in 2009, Southgate has become an increasingly influential figure at the FA, and he could be installed ahead of this summer's European Championships.

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THE bulldozers moved in to Sunderland's Academy of Light training base this week to finally start work on a project that has been in the pipeline for more than a decade.

After years of having a big ditch resting beside the main building at the complex on Whitburn Moor, the construction of an indoor training facility and outdoor synthetic floodlit pitch has finally started.

The work is expected to take until October to complete, meaning the Black Cats' academy and first-team players should be able to use the new surfaces when the wintry weather hits.

The plans, which had raised concerns among members of the public in nearby Cleadon Village, will boost the club's chances of being granted top Category 1 status in the Elite Player Performance Plan.

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SUNDERLAND are having to plan for a Premier League title-winning party at the Stadium of Light tomorrow.

Despite the fact Manchester City are favourites to clinch the crown, the possibility of Manchester United finishing top on the final day means the venue has had to have a run through of events.

A full rehearsal has had to take place so that, should United be crowned champions, those involved in the presentation ceremony know what they are doing.

The rehearsal is merely the first of many this summer at the Stadium of Light and as soon as tomorrow's football action is over, the concert team will be moving in.

On Monday morning, the first stage of transforming the 48,000 venue into a musical arena is to take place ahead of major summer concerts from Coldplay, Bruce Springsteen and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.