Alan Shearer thinks Gareth Southgate will quit England job with ‘head held high’

Football Mad -

Former England striker Alan Shearer believes Gareth Southgate will quit his role as national team manager in the wake of Sunday’s Euro 2024 final defeat.

England were beaten 2-1 by Spain in Berlin as Southgate’s men finished Euros runners-up for the second tournament in succession.

Along with a run to the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup it means Southgate’s record is the envy of every England boss since Sir Alf Ramsey led the team to World Cup success in 1966.

Gareth Southgate’s England came up just short for a second successive Euros (Bradley Collyer/PA)

But Southgate has been criticised for what many see as his conservative and cautious approach and has often been accused of having failed to get the best out of a promising crop of players.

The 53-year-old former defender, whose England contract runs out in December, said after the final that a decision on his future was “not for now”.

Shearer admitted in a column for the BBC Sport website that Southgate had taken England on “one heck of a journey” since he took over in 2016 but added: “I suspect Sunday’s defeat by Spain will be his last game as England manager.

“Right now Gareth will be hurting like hell after what happened in Berlin but my feeling is that, when the dust settles on the final of Euro 2024, he will decide he’s had enough.

“It should be his decision to stay or go – and I think it will be – but it is a tiring job and he has been doing it for a long time.

“If he does leave, he should go with his head held high because England are in a completely different place now compared to where they were when he took over in 2016.

“England were at rock bottom after losing to Iceland and becoming a laughing stock that summer, followed by the embarrassment of Sam Allardyce’s exit after his short stint in charge.

“My guess is – and it is only a guess – he may now say to someone else that it is their turn to try to get England over the line.

“If he does, then he has put the team in an excellent position for someone to take the team forward, to take that next step and win a major tournament.”