Dedicated manager with eight years of experience in charge of the England men’s national team, overseeing and orchestrating a significant cultural shift while leading them to two European Championship finals and one World Cup semi-final.
The personal profile at the top of Gareth Southgate’s CV is stronger than any England men’s manager of the last 50 years.
Nevertheless, when digging a little further, any future employer will want to scrutinise those bullet points beneath, ensuring any role plays to his evident strengths and makes the notable weaknesses immaterial.
With that in mind, Manchester United may not have to sack Erik ten Hag in order to bring Southgate on board.
Ten Hag has, after all, signed a new contract at the club, with the FA Cup final win over Manchester City helping his cause, albeit only after Mauricio Pochettino, Kieran McKenna and Thomas Tuchel were sounded out first.
Southgate himself had been mentioned as a possible successor to Ten Hag back in March. At the time he called those links “completely disrespectful”, stressing he had a job to do at Euro 2024, and that he would not speak to anyone else while doing so.
Now, of course, that has changed following Tuesday’s departure, but who knows what Southgate would be willing to take on, or what opportunities await.
Southgate the coach would certainly require some convincing. His in-game management irked many England fans during the Euros, likewise his reluctance for too many changes to the starting XI – a particular frustration given their shortcomings in attack.
Away from the club game for 15 years, despite watching regularly from the stands, it would therefore be some leap to take charge of a team with lofty aspirations, let alone the poisoned chalice that has been the United head coach role since Sir Alex Ferguson left.
i reported in June that Southgate remained on United’s radar long-term, despite sticking with Ten Hag, although at the time the England boss was uninterested in taking over at Old Trafford.
Southgate was also said to be unsure about the monumental challenge of transforming United, although therein lies his main strength, which has earned him admirers at the club.
Together with Dan Ashworth, now United’s sporting director, Southgate implemented the “England DNA” project that focused on supporting young players along the pathway to senior level. That bore fruit with glory for the Lionesses, while the England men’s team improved drastically compared to previous calamites in 2014 and 2016 (the list of years could go on).
That is the side to Southgate’s management skills few can criticise, that ability to create a togetherness among a squad that was previously divided, particularly in the “Golden Generation” where the club split proved both tribal and detrimental.
Southgate changed that, and given his connections with Sir Dave Brailsford as well – the pair are said to be in a WhatsApp group of elite coaches called “Leaders 8” – there is every chance he could one-day be asked to help change the ethos at United.
Not as head coach, but in a role upstairs, although they have been quickly filled since Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos arrived, with Jason Wilcox the new technical director and Omar Berrada also joining from Manchester City as their new CEO.
Wilcox, for one, may feel the pressure to perform right away with Southgate out of a job, but roles can be created, and there would be few better qualified to rid United of its prevalent toxicity.
Hiring Southgate the statesman, and potentially the knight, would be a masterstroke from United, who are English football’s most valuable club, per Forbes, and are second only to Real Madrid in that regard and the levels of expectation.
In keeping Southgate away from the tactics board, he can do what he does best. His “Dear England” letter before Euro 2020 was a sign that he, simply, gets it, while he never shied away from the tougher moments either: calling out racists after the Euro 2020 final, defending the team’s decision to take a knee before matches, coming to the defence of Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson, and putting a knowing arm around Bukayo Saka having suffered penalty heartache himself.
All that only feels like a prerequisite of the England role because Southgate spent eight years making it so. Protecting players, rather than throwing them under the bus, was not always the way in this job, and having taken pelters for the cause, deflecting the criticism his way and having cups thrown at him for his efforts, it may well lead to the Football Association realising they must attempt to keep such a prominent figure within their own setup.
England boast a men’s technical director of their own in John McDermott, who took over from Les Reed in 2021 and will be in charge of naming Southgate’s replacement.
McDermott may well wonder what room could be made for Southgate at the FA, beyond worrying for his own job, but it would be a worthwhile venture, ensuring Southgate has some level of input in the coming years.
Be it Eddie Howe, Graham Potter or otherwise, Southgate can at the very least anticipate an unofficial, informal, advisory role by WhatsApp that answers the many queries of the next head coach – “just how do you spin all these plates?” – and it may be one that is eventually certified.
If England don’t, then United might, and if they don’t either, it won’t be long before Southgate the technical director is snapped up. He will have clubs queueing up in that regard. The jury would only really be out if he’s hired as a coach.