Southgate signed a new contract through to the end of 2024 yesterday. — Reuters pic
LONDON, Nov 23 – England manager Gareth Southgate said he would like to return to club management at some point and that he would be motivated to “prove people wrong” about his track record in domestic football.
Southgate, who was handed the England job on a full-time basis in 2016, signed a new contract through to the end of 2024 on Monday. He led England to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals and the Euro 2020 final this year.
The 51-year-old’s only role in charge of a club was at Middlesbrough where his three-year stint came to an end after their relegation from the Premier League in 2009.
“There is the obvious challenge because people view my club management purely through the eyes of a relegation. There is the part of you that wants to prove people wrong,” Southgate told British media on Monday.
“There will be a day when I do that, I’m sure. If in three years I decided that was it, I (would be) 53, with the experience of managing in one of the most pressurised jobs in football, with the biggest games in world football behind you.
“If that was the decision at that point, then I would have a lot of excellent experiences behind me. But I have no idea what I will feel in three years’ time. And I don’t feel an urgency to push to other things.”
England qualified for next year’s World Cup in Qatar as group winners with a 10-0 victory in San Marino last week. – Reuters