England boss Gareth Southgate will remain in charge for Euro 2024; Three Lions lost to defending champions France in the quarter-finals at the World Cup in Qatar; Sky Sports pundit Neville calls it "the right decision"
Sunday 18 December 2022 14:48, UK
Gary Neville has welcomed news that Gareth Southgate will stay on as England manager through to the end of his contract, which runs to the conclusion of Euro 2024.
Southgate said he needed time to consider his next step after England's World Cup quarter-final exit to France but on Sunday morning it was confirmed he would remain in the post.
Sky Sports pundit Neville believes Southgate is the right person to take England into those European Championships, after a World Cup campaign which, despite falling short of matching or bettering the semi-final finish four years ago in Russia, or the Euros runners-up spot last summer, still showed positive signs of progress.
"I think it's the right decision," Neville told Sky Sports News. "When I saw that it was going to be discussed in the New Year, I didn't think that would work, letting it hang for so long. I felt it needed to be dealt with and the fact it has come out overnight is welcome.
"It puts it to bed, it allows everyone to focus for the next 18 months. If there is going to be a change it will be after the next tournament, it means a proper succession plan can be put in place.
"It didn't feel right Gareth leaving and it also didn't feel like either he or the FA had got anything lined up, either in their own careers or for the FA to replace Gareth.
"We've played well in this tournament, we played well against France, I thought we were the better team on the night and that happens in football sometimes.
"I know we always want an autopsy, a scapegoat, a blame but it doesn't really exist for me in this tournament. I think the players, manager and coaches have handled themselves pretty well, accepting that losing a quarter-final, there will be those, including myself, thinking 'why can't we get over the line?'
"But having not got over the line myself a few times, I understand it."
Southgate has never won a trophy as a manager but despite calls from some quarters for him to be replaced by a head coach with a proven track record of delivering silverware, Neville says his former England team-mate has delivered significant improvement and outperformed more illustrious names of the past who have taken management of the national team.
"This idea they're mutually exclusive those things and you can't have what Gareth's brought - which is respect, integrity, good football, good performances - and then win, I don't go along with that," said Neville.
"This idea that this nice Gareth Southgate can't win a tournament with England, I don't buy into it.
"We brought in Sven-Goran Eriksson who was apparently a hard winner and so was Fabio Capello, coaches who had success at club level, and they didn't deliver anything like what Gareth has delivered with England. Let's put that to bed.
"Over the last 10 years we've wanted a better team, a more technical team, better performances, getting to the latter stages of competitions, keeping possession… Gareth has done all those things.
"He has made us feel better about playing for England again, getting our players and our game respected around the world. We're in a good place. With the women's success, with the youth team success, England have had a really good 10 years, this idea we need to bring in this hard-nosed, killer winner and all of a sudden we'll be OK, I don't buy into it.
"I played with Southgate, I've known him a long time - he desperately wants to win. Don't be fooled by this nice façade just because he's polite when he speaks to people and does the press conferences where he's articulate.
"Remember the way he's dealt with some big decisions and he's been harder with it than a lot of England managers over the years who have bottled it with big names and put them straight back into the team."
The decision of Southgate to stay on buys the FA time to work on their succession plan for him.
However, Neville says the options to replace Southgate currently feel limited - and pointed out a lot can change by Euro 2024.
"The real problem is there isn't a massive pool. You don't know who's going to be available, what moment they're going to be in, the feeling around that person at that moment in time," said Neville.
"In 18 months' time you could say [Steve] Cooper, [Eddie] Howe, [Graham] Potter could be the three names you throw in the hat... [Frank] Lampard, [Steven] Gerrard… the four or five names in the hat we've got that are English coaches and then for instance some international coaches as well.
"But you don't know where they'll be in 18 months' time. Graham Potter might have had the most incredible time at Chelsea, Howe might have got Newcastle into the Champions League and loving his time up there, we really don't know and that's where the FA have to do their work now.
"Work with Gareth and work with a group of successors to make sure who is the best candidate at that time.
"Gone are the days where England can just go and buy a manager from a club, buy them out of their club contract and bring them into an England contract. The England job unfortunately isn't as precious as some of the top Premier League clubs."
