The Three Lions are through to the last four of the European Championships. They are now set to tackle the Netherlands in Dortmund on Wednesday night, July 10 for a place in Sunday’s final against either France or Spain. This is the third time in the last four major tournaments that England has reached this stage with manager Gareth Southgate taking lead.
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Before Euros, Southgate made the decision to leave Marcus Rashford out of his 33-man squad. This may have been due to his actions in and out of the pitch. Southgate revealed at that time that his only focus was to ensure England wins the Euro 2024 championship.
Gary Lineker tips off who could be the new manager for England after Gareth Southgate
Amidst this, Gary Lineker believes that regardless of what happens at Euro 2024 Southgate could retire. He has thrown his support behind Frank Lampard as a potential successor to Southgate as England manager. Lampard has a very mixed record in the Premier lLague, but he made an impression on the BBC pundit during the BBC's coverage of Saturday's quarter-final victory over Switzerland, reports The Sun.
Speaking to Micah Richards on their Rest is Football podcast, Lineker suggested Lampard's tactical acumen and respect from players make him a strong candidate. Richard praised Lampard's analysis of England's penalty shootout and said:
I was glued to his analysis for three minutes. You can tell he's articulate, the way he explains points. You can tell there's a manager there inside of him.
Lineker, who recently made a joke about Lampard’s hair, quickly added:
There's no question about that. I think he's been a bit unlucky in his managerial career in some ways. He gets it tactically.
He insisted that the current UEFA European Football Championship would be ‘Gareth Southgate's last tournament whatever happens’ and Lampard could make a good replacement for him. Lineker said:
If he [Southgate] wins I think he'll absolutely bow out and if he doesn't then I think he'll bow out. It will be his decision.
But, I wouldn't disregard Frank Lampard [as Southgate's replacement]. I think he tactically gets it. I think the players would respect him immediately.
Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself here but if you're going to go English you think who else? Eddie Howe maybe?
Lampard has won just 41% of his games in charge and was most recently the caretaker manager of Chelsea between April and June 2023.
Is Gareth Southgate retiring after Euro 2024?
Talk of Gareth Southgate retiring has been taking over the football world since he suggested he might do that after the Euro 2024. Ahead of the start of the championship, Southgate told SkyNews that he’s only focused on leading England to glory at Euro 2024 and he may call it a day after that.
Speaking of his future as the England manager, Southgate said:
The reality of that [being England’s manager] is we focus totally on this tournament. I've worked in this building for over 10 years and, yeah, the ambition has been to win a tournament.
So, there's nothing for us to consider until we've done that. And if we can do that, maybe I'll retire and do nothing anyway.
Southgate, so far, has led England to a World Cup semi-final in 2018 and a quarter-final in 2022. In 2021, he led England to the finals of the Euros at Wembley - which the side lost on penalties.
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Sources Used
The Sun: BBC pundit tipped to replace Gareth Southgate as England manager after Euro 2024
Sky News: Gareth Southgate says he might retire if England win Euro 2024 - as he defends leaving Marcus Rashford out of squad
