The FA are increasingly desperate for Gareth Southgate to stay as England manager after observing all the debates about appointing a foreign manager to replace him last week.
Southgate sparked fears that he would walk away from the England job after exiting the World Cup to France at the quarter-final stage and telling reporters he felt “conflicted” despite a contract that runs until December 2024.
“For everything that I’ve loved about the last few weeks, I still have how things have been for 18 months,” said Southgate.
“What’s been said and what’s been written, the night at Wolves.
“There’s lots of things in my head that’s really conflicted at the moment, so what I want to make sure, if it’s the right thing to say, is that I’ve definitely got the energy to do that.
“I don’t want to be four, five months down the line thinking I’ve made the wrong call. It’s too important for everybody to get that wrong.”
Southgate is expected to make his final decision in the new year, but the Daily Telegraph now claim there is optimism within the FA that the England boss will stay for the Euro 2024 campaign.
And that would be the best-case scenario when you look at the favourites to replace him.
According to the Telegraph: ‘The FA are acutely aware of the criticism they could face by appointing a foreign manager such as Mauricio Pochettino, Thomas Tuchel or Northern Irishman Brendan Rodgers.
‘But sources currently see little option if Southgate does go with Chelsea’s Graham Potter and Newcastle United’s Eddie Howe unavailable, and other potential English candidates not gathering much backing.’
The other potential English candidates are Steven Gerrard (recently sacked by Aston Villa) and Frank Lampard (favourite for the next to be sacked by Everton).
The FA are more than happy with the job being done by Southgate, despite some sections of the media calling for him to be sacked.
Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson said this week: “England will always want an English manager in charge, it’s in their blood.
“We foreign managers who have been in that job always were criticised for not being English. If I was the FA, my number one priority would be to keep Southgate, because I don’t know what English manager would be available to take over.”