TEN years ago, Gareth Southgate and Stuart Pearce took time out from England's Euro 96 campaign to introduce the Sex Pistols at their reunion gig in Finsbury Park.

This evening, at the City of Manchester Stadium, the footballing friends will be reunited as their teams lock horns in the Premiership.

If it's not quite 'Anarchy in the UK', it at least promises to be 'Manic in Manchester'.

"He hauled me to a Sex Pistols concert during Euro '96 but I felt a bit of an imposter to be honest," said Southgate, who played alongside Pearce in the majority of his 57 games for England.

"I have a very diverse taste in music so I'm not averse to the odd guitar being thrown across the stage. But that was a little bit too heavy for me.

"Having said that, though, I remember it being a good night. I always enjoyed Stuart's company and we've kept in contact since the end of our careers.

"I have tremendous respect for him as a man and he was someone that was an inspiration to play alongside on the football field."

Pearce's passion and commitment have accompanied him from the dressing room to the dug-out and, with Paul Ince having taking over at League Two strugglers Macclesfield this week, six members of England's Euro 96 squad have now moved into management.

Southgate is unsurprised at the number of managers to have emerged from Terry Venables' squad, claiming the side that lost to Germany at the semi-final stage contained more "leaders" than any other he played for during his illustrious career.

But while he always viewed his own move into management as a viable career move, the Middlesbrough manager has admitted that Pearce's passion for the game made him an even more obvious manager in waiting.

"I knew he was a deep thinker about the game," said Southgate. "He was always interested in the tactics we were playing and the training methods we were using.

"He always looked after himself very professionally and the fact that he played as long as he did tells you how seriously he took that side of things. So it wasn't a great surprise to me that he wanted to go into management.

"To want to stay in the game beyond your playing days, you have to have an enthusiasm for football. The fact that he played as long as he did indicates that he has a tremendous love of the game."

That love could well be waning at the moment, however, with his City side having gone three games without a Premiership win and shipped four goals in last weekend's humiliating defeat at Wigan.

Pearce was quick to demand more from his players in the wake of City's humbling at the JJB Stadium, displaying the same steely intensity that he earned him the nickname "Psycho" during his playing career.

Southgate always came across as a more sensitive soul than his erstwhile England colleague but while he remains unlikely to hurl tea cups around the dressing room, he admits he has had to alter his outlook since hanging up his boots.

The move from poacher to gamekeeper has not been without its problems, with the hardest part of the job being the breaking of bad news.

"You have to change," said Southgate. "I've always had an edge to me because I don't think you can achieve anything as a player without one.

"But you have to put sentiment to one side when you're in charge of a business, and that's effectively what being a football manager is. Personality doesn't come it - it's all about making professional decisions.

"You want to develop players and improve things but, at times, you have to make decisions to get results. While we speak about improving a club over a period of time, we have to get short-term results as well.

"Sometimes, that means you have to take decisions you might not have considered as a player or even a coach. When you're a coach, you're helping to develop people all the time. A manager has to be a bit more ruthless in the decisions they make."

This evening, Andrew Taylor is likely to be left disappointed as Southgate seeks to accommodate Jonathan Woodgate and Robert Huth in a defence that is also likely to include Emanuel Pogatetz.

The Hartlepool-born defender will be understandably unhappy at his exclusion, a reaction Southgate is willing to encourage.

"When I was a player and I was left out of the team, I still thought the manager was a whatever," said the Boro boss. "But I thought, 'Well at least he's had the decency to speak to me'. That's the principle that I've worked on.

"I don't expect players to be pleased about being out of the team - I'd be concerned if they were - but we have a squad here where even our young players have played for the first team.

"Every player has played for the first team so, come matchday, they're all looking at you to be involved in the team or on the bench.

"In that sense, we have quite a big group to deal with."

Southgate's only other selection dilemma comes in attack, with Mark Viduka nursing a broken toe that is likely to keep him on the sidelines for at least another month.

Jason Euell is likely to play off Aiyegbeni Yakubu's shoulder in the Australian's absence, with Brazilian Fabio Rochemback recalled to the heart of midfield.