Gareth Southgate has extended his contract as manager of the England men’s team by two years to December 2024.
The deal means the Three Lions’ most successful coach since 1966 World Cup-winner Alf Ramsey is due to remain in his post for the next two major tournaments.
Southgate’s previous deal, along with assistant Steve Holland, had been due to expire after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar but he will now be in charge beyond Euro 2024 in Germany, should England qualify.
“I am delighted that Steve and I have been able to extend our stay in our respective roles,” Southgate said.
“It remains an incredible privilege to lead this team. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mark [Bullingham, CEO], John [McDermott, technical director] and the Board for their support – and of course the players and support team for their hard work.
“We have a great opportunity in front of us and I know they and the fans are all excited about what this squad could achieve in future.”
In his five years in charge, Southgate has led England to the World Cup semi-finals, third place in the Nations League and runners-up at Euro 2020.
Analysis: Why every England fan should be pleased with three more years of Southgate
By Daniel Storey, i chief football writer
England’s 10-0 win in San Marino was record-breaking for its margin of victory, but significant for Gareth Southgate.
He surpassed Sven-Goran Eriksson as England’s longest-serving manager (in terms of games played) since 1990.
If Southgate makes it to the end of his new contract, he will sit behind only Walter Winterbottom and Alf Ramsey, the two footballing knights who respectively took England into the professional age and to the top of the world.
Southgate fell into this job. Sam Allardyce was the permanent choice with the temporary tenure, scuppered by his own hubris and left to stew about the perceived witch hunt that caused his downfall.
But unlike so many of his predecessors, Southgate has grown into this job rather than been suffocated by it. He is only the second England manager to record consecutive major tournament semi-final appearances and he is more responsible than anyone for reconnecting the English public with their football team. If hearing Sweet Caroline on tedious repeat is the only price to pay, it was worth it.
Whether Southgate’s character is important is open to debate; these things generally appear crucial when the team is doing well and become meaningless when it fails. But Southgate brought an openness and honesty to the role that had wavered over the previous two decades.
He is, simply put, a decent man with decent ideals who is as desperate as any supporter for England to win but understands the new-found power that players and managers have to act as pillars of their communities and difference-makers in areas far bigger, and far more important, than football.
Southgate is not immune from criticism. He has regularly been lambasted for being too defensive despite England being one of the highest-scoring teams in international football during his reign. His big-match record was picked apart before the European Championship but unhelpful psychological barriers were finally destroyed against Germany in June.
His tenure will ultimately be judged by his ability to win a major tournament, but that itself is proof of his own success. Now our hope is born out of logic rather than misplaced jingoism or desperation.
It is tempting, if you are a Southgate critic, to remark that he has merely been the beneficiary of good fortune, thrust into a job ahead of schedule at a time when English football had finally implemented a coaching system that promoted technique and poise over blood and thunder. But do not overlook Southgate’s courage in overseeing that progression.
England’s Euro 2020 squad, with the extra pressure playing at home ensured, was their youngest in 60 years and it excelled. He has given debuts to 20 different players since September last year; 14 of them were aged 23 or under.
And so he has earned this contract extension; anyone who argues otherwise is deliberately ignoring his progress and deliberately fabricating obvious potential successors.
England are not perfect because England will never be perfect; doubts are a prerequisite when you have gone 55 years without a major honour. Difficult questions will lie ahead if England fail in Qatar or Germany, but then that’s the lot of any England manager.
But that’s not really the point. Southgate has taken us closer to a dream that we assumed had passed by on cold, biting winds. He has avoided the root-and-branch tournament reviews that littered our past as we worked out how best to apportion double doses of blame and shame. He has created competition for places like never before and a pathway for bright young talent.
On and off the pitch, Southgate has constructed an England squad of which we can be proud for who they are, what they represent and how they play.
Three more years of that sounds like something we should all get on board with.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3HLALvm
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