Gareth Southgate has revealed he’s got no regrets about walking away from his job as England manager amid the Three Lions’ impressive start to life under Lee Carsley.
The 54-year-old quit his position less than 48 hours after his side were beaten by Spain in the final of Euro 2024.
Southgate did well during his time as England boss, with the Three Lions reaching two finals, one semi-final and one quarter-final of major tournaments throughout his reign.
Yet the former Middlesbrough boss has now made it clear he’s got no regrets about departing – while also saying he felt it was time for a new chapter.
England football: Gareth Southgate has no regrets about walking away from his job earlier this summer
PA
“I think it was probably the right time for change,” he told Sky Sports.
“I don’t think you can have regrets. We made decisions with the information we had at the time to try and produce a winning team.”
In another world, England would have won a trophy under Southgate.
They reached the final of Euro 2020 three years ago, with penalties denying them the prize after a 1-1 draw with Italy.
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And England conceded a late winner against Spain as they slumped to a 2-1 defeat in the final of Euro 2024 in July.
Southgate is proud of what he achieved, however.
England were a team in crisis when he took charge in 2016, having crashed out of Euro 2016 to Iceland.
Southgate says expectations has been ‘raised’ following his tenure – but stopped short of discussing Carsley and the job he’s done so far.
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“We raised expectations and that was important. We needed to put English football back on the map,” he said.
“There’s no point in me talking about the team now.
“It’s for me to let other people take over, to give them the space to go and take the team on to the next challenges.
“There’s no point in me getting involved in anything like that.”
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England football: Gareth Southgate refused to weigh in on the job Lee Carsley has done so far
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Right now, it’s unclear what the future holds for Southgate.
He was linked with the Manchester United job at the start of the summer, only for the Red Devils to stick with Erik ten Hag.
Bookies have Southgate as a candidate for jobs as Newcastle, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough when he does return to management.
Yet the 54-year-old is in no hurry to return to the dugout.
England football: Gareth Southgate is proud of the job he did during his spell in charge of the side
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“I’ve got lots of opportunities, I’m very open-minded to what’s next,” he said.
“That might be in football, that might be outside of football. I’m just going to take some time, refresh, recharge and go from there.
“I think at the moment people know that I need to get my energy back.”