The Football Association have given Gareth Southgate a couple of weeks to decide if he wants to remain England manager, according to reports.
The Three Lions crashed out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stage against France despite a good performance in a narrow 2-1 loss, which saw Harry Kane score one penalty and miss another.
Southgate led England to the semi-finals at the 2018 World Cup and went one better by reaching the Euro 2020 final last year – but Southgate has said he won’t be rushed into a decision after the latest tournament.
“When I’ve been through the past few tournaments my emotions have been difficult to really think through properly in those following few weeks,” Southgate said.
“It took so much energy out of you and you have so much going through your mind.
“I want to make the right decision either way because it has to be the right one to go again, or the right one not to go again and I don’t think tonight is the time to make a decision like that.
“Neither are the next few days really.”
And now The Sun claim that the FA will give Southgate ‘the Christmas break to decide if he wants to stay on as England boss’ with the hierarchy ‘desperate’ for Southgate to stay on.
FA bosses ‘recognise’ that the World Cup has taken a lot out of Southgate and they hope the former Middlesbrough boss ‘will take time to reflect on what has happened over the past few weeks and feel he does have the appetite and desire to return for a further 18 months at the England helm’.
The Sun adds that the FA understand that Southgate ‘deserves space to recharge his batteries with his family and ponder’ his future and they ‘anticipate sitting down with Southgate early in the New Year so that a prompt decision can then be made by all parties’.
Former FA vice-chairman David Dein reckons Southgate should stay on, he told The Sun: “In my opinion Gareth should stay. The FA think the same, they want him to stay. He may decide he can’t take the team any further and he may be right.
“But even then I’d like him to stay in some capacity. Because I think he’s a decent man.”
Dein added: “Qatar have won a lot of friends because of this World Cup and the way it has been handled.
“If you ask the fans and you ask the players have they enjoyed it, yes they have. And we have to ask ourselves, what is football without fans?
“This has been a unique experience.
“I am hoping it will change the Qataris, too. Qatar will benefit from this going forward. I hope so. That should be a legacy for them.”
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