FA Premiership: Gareth Southgate will today be introduced as Middlesbrough's manager. The 35-year-old club captain will succeed Steve McClaren, but with Boro refusing to comment, it is unknown whether this means the end of his playing career. He has one year left on his contract.

Also unknown is who Southgate intends to have alongside him in the dugout, although chairman Steve Gibson said recently he wants to maintain the existing coaching structure that includes Steve Round, who has a Pro Licence, and Steve Harrison. It is believed Southgate may tweak the set-up.

Boro's move is sure to attract serious criticism from the League Managers' Association, which has been critical of the mere idea of Southgate becoming a manager without either the Pro Licence qualification or a Uefa A badge.

"Middlesbrough and Gareth should not suffer because he has had such a successful career at club and international level," the club's chief executive, Keith Lamb, said last night. "Until recently Gareth has spent his summers serving his country. It makes little sense that such players should be denied rare opportunities like the one he now has simply because he hasn't had the chance to gain the qualifications.

"It is no coincidence that many of the current crop of good young managers did not play at the highest level, so were able to concentrate on gaining coaching qualifications while many top stars were playing for their country. If that continues, the natural conclusion is that most top British managers will have no experience of international football."

Middlesbrough will also point to precedent, most recently at Newcastle where Glenn Roeder was appointed without the Pro Licence, and at Fulham with Chris Coleman and West Bromwich with Bryan Robson. Dispensation was granted in each situation. If there is a formal objection then Boro will have 12 weeks to argue their right to choose Southgate.

Djibril Cisse's representatives have been in talks over the past 24 hours with Marseille with a view to a loan move. The France international will provide his response to Marseille's overtures today, but it seems his routes out of Anfield are becoming restricted.

Cisse had hoped Lyon might offer Liverpool a fee for a permanent transfer, but that receded with the apparent withdrawal of the Lyon chairman Jean-Michel Aulas's interest yesterday.

Having stated last week that Cisse "would suit us very nicely", Aulas appeared to have been stung by the revelations that Cisse had met the Marseille chairman Pape Diouf, claiming he would not pay for a player "whose heart is at Marseille".