The FA have started planning for life after Gareth Southgate.
And they haven’t ruled out replacing Southgate as England boss with another foreign manager. Southgate revealed this week Euro 2024 could well be his last major tournament in charge.
Southgate, who took over in 2016, has a contract until December and will sit down with FA bosses to discuss his future after the Finals in Germany. FA chief executive Mark Bullingham is desperate to keep Southgate for as long as possible.
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Southgate has been England’s second most successful boss in history after Sir Alf Ramsey, after leading the Three Lions to a World Cup semi-final and Euros final. But Bellingham admits the FA need to accept Southgate might not be around much longer – and has started considering who the next boss will be.
(Image: PA)
Bullingham said: “Gareth has been really, really clear that he wants to talk about this after the tournament. I don’t want to provide any distraction for him and the team. What I I will say is you know I think the world of Gareth. He’s done a phenomenal job.
“You know we value him massively. I have said before that any organisation really has a succession plan in place for their top employees, and we are no different to that. We have that for top employees. Clearly, you plan lots of different scenarios for all your top employees all the time.”
Bullingham insists no potential successors have been spoken to, but refused to rule out the chances of the next boss not being homegrown. He added: “We are sitting down after the tournament together and will talk about everything.
“I’ve had no approach about him (Southgate). I want to focus on the here and now, focus on the tournament ahead and then we’ll get into all those questions at whatever point we need to in the future.”