Gareth Southgate will leave his role as England manager regardless of whether the country win Euro 2024 or not, according to Gary Lineker, who has also revealed why a BBC Sport pundit is likely to replace him and having named a current Premier League boss as another option.
The Three Lions are through to the last four of the European Championships where they tackle the Netherlands in Dortmund on Wednesday night for a place in Sunday’s final against either France or Spain. It it the third time in the last four major tournaments that England have reached this stage, though hopes of them actually triumphing this time around are being tempered by what many feel are lukewarm performances so far.
Indeed, England have only beaten Serbia in their opening game so far inside 90 minutes, having been held to draws in their final two group games against Denmark and Slovenia, and then failing to dispatch either Slovakia or Switzerland in regular time.
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Ultimately England have advanced to the last four after beating Slovakia after extra time and then on penalties against the Swiss, with frustration of Southgate’s team selections and tactics still drawing widespread criticism.
And while that has eased somewhat given England’s success in reaching the semi-finals, there still remains a feeling among many that the national side are yet to play anywhere near their best and that Southgate has failed to get a proper tune out of his star-studded squad.
Either way, Southgate is determined to stick to his guns and will not be persuaded from altering his approach having seen it push England into the last four at least.
Southgate admits Euro 2024 will likely be his last with England
Southgate went into this tournament knowing it would likely be his last as national boss.
“If we don’t win, I probably won’t be here anymore. Therefore, it might be the last chance,” Southgate said ahead of the competition.
“I think around half the national coaches leave after a tournament – that’s the nature of international football.
“I’ve been here for almost eight years now and we’ve come close. You can’t constantly put yourself in front of the public and say, ‘A little more please’, because at some point people lose faith.
“If we want to be a great team and I want to be a top coach, you must deliver in big moments.”
Asked if he had the option to extend his deal, Southgate added: “No. The reason is that there would have been more criticism, which would have put more pressure on the team.
“England did that once before with Fabio Capello [before the 2010 World Cup] and there was a big drama before the tournament.
“It’s better to check yourself after the tournament,” he concluded.
And while an avenue back into the game at club level with Manchester United has been shut off, TEAMtalk understands Southgate is known to be open to the right opportunity in the Premier League were it to present itself to him.
His current deal with the FA is due to expire at the end of the calendar year and the FA have already given some thought over whom could step into his shoes.
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To that end, former Chelsea and Brighton boss Graham Potter was strongly linked with the job last week.
However, Match of the Day host, Lineker, has now revealed that one of his colleagues on the BBC Sport panel this summer looks far more likely to be on the FA’s radar.
“This will be Gareth Southgate’s last tournament,” Lineker said on The Rest Is Football podcast.
“I think, whatever happens. If he wins, I think he’ll absolutely bow out, and if he doesn’t then I think he’ll bow out. It’ll be his decision.
“But I wouldn’t disregard Frank Lampard. I think he tactically gets it. I think the players will respect him immediately. I’m getting ahead of things here.
“If you’re going to go English, you go… who else? Eddie Howe? Eddie Howe, possibly?”
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Talking up Lampard’s credentials, Lineker continued: “I think he’s been a bit unlucky in his managerial career in some ways. I think he gets it tactically.”
Another BBC pundit, Micah Richards, also talked up his qualities, adding: “When he went to Derby, I think the feeling was he played really good football, but it should have got them up.
“He went to Chelsea [during] the transfer embargo and still managed to get top four, with all the bringing the young players through, [Tammy] Abraham, [Mason] Mount, etc, etc. Then he went to Everton, kept them up.
“It wasn’t the great style of play but he utilised what he had available to him. He goes, obviously, back to Chelsea. I think that was the one where people were judging him. It can be chaos, Chelsea.”
Lampard has taken charge of 196 games as a manager, winning 81 and giving him a win percentage record of 41.3%.