Two days after guiding his country to its second consecutive defeat in the Euro final, England manager Gareth Southgate announced his resignation.
With Sir Alf Ramsey leading the Three Lions into a major tournament final during that historic 1966 World Cup victory, the 53-year-old is only the second England manager to depart the team.
Supporters who thought Southgate was not getting enough out of such a quality team criticized him this summer. Southgate also guided England to the World Cup semifinal in 2018 and the quarterfinals in 2022.
But he certainly leaves big shoes to fill after giving supporters real optimism in tournaments where England had previously performed poorly.
We explore potential Southgate replacements as he hangs up his waistcoat for the last time.
Eddie Howe
According to Sky Sports News, the FA has the current manager of Newcastle on its shortlist to manage England going forward. The manager of Newcastle has long been predicted to lead the Three Lions one day.
Since taking over as Newcastle’s manager in 2021, the 46-year-old has shown promise. After leading the team to a fourth-place result in the 2022–2023 Premier League season, they advanced to the Champions League group stages for the first time in 20 years.
Howe has already made an impression at Bournemouth, when from 2012 to 2015, he led them from League One to the Premier League by winning two promotions in three seasons.
He might, however, end up costing more to hire than other applicants because of the possibility of having to pay compensation for a manager who is already employed.
In 2022, Howe agreed to a new “long-term contract” with Newcastle; however, the duration of that agreement was never made public.
Another issue would be that he would have to accept a large salary reduction in order to accept the position of national manager.
Graham Potter
Another Englishman rumoured to be on the FA shortlist is the former manager of Chelsea.
Seven months after moving from Brighton, in the spring of 2023, Potter was fired by Chelsea, and he hasn’t had a job since.
The 49-year-old is still highly regarded, though, and it has been stated that he has rejected several job offers in Europe and the Premier League since then.
Potter gained notoriety at Brighton following a standout tenure as manager from 2019 to 2022. By the completion of the 2021–2022 Premier League season, he had guided the squad to their highest-ever league position, ninth place.
Lee Carsley
Some people believe that the manager of England’s Under-21 team will eventually manage the senior team.
That would imply that he would be taking over for Southgate, who led the Under-21 team himself from 2013 to 2016.
After leading the team to victory at the European Championship the previous year, when they ironically defeated Spain 1-0 in the championship match, Carlsey would be taking over.
Despite being born in Birmingham, he played for the Republic of Ireland because of his grandmother, a native of County Cork.
But in March, Carlsey declined a chance to take charge of the Republic of Ireland national team.
Mauricio Pochettino
According to Sky Sports News, the FA has shortlisted another former Chelsea manager who is renowned for emphasizing forward play.
With the transfer, Pochettino would be reunited with several of his former players, including promising talent Cole Palmer, whom he managed at Chelsea, and Harry Kane, with whom he worked throughout his stellar tenure as Tottenham’s manager.
After leaving Chelsea by mutual consent at the end of the 2023–2024 season, Pochettino is searching for a new position.
Given England’s turbulent World Cup past versus Argentina (see Diego Maradona’s “hand of God” in 1986 and Diego Simeone’s role in David Beckham’s dismissal in 1998), some Three Lions supporters might find it difficult to accept Pochettino’s appointment.
If he is hired, he will undoubtedly need to win over some fans.
Thomas Tuchel
The German strategist is just another former Chelsea manager who is being considered for the England position. After leading Bayern Munich to their first Bundesliga title loss in eleven years, the 50-year-old has been unemployed.
But Tuchel is unquestionably one of the greatest coaches out there, and many supporters would probably think highly of his selection.
With a great tournament football background, he won the championship with Chelsea the next year after leading Paris Saint-Germain to the Champions League final in 2020.
What would England supporters think if a German took over as manager?
Some people may need to experience victory on the pitch in order to forget about England’s heartbreaking eliminations from previous tournaments at the hands of the Germans.
