Gareth Southgate says it’s ‘time for change’ and announces he will step down as England manager

England's manager Gareth Southgate at the end of the final match between Spain and England at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Berlin Sunday. Spain won 2-1. Southgate announces Tuesday he will step down as England manager. (AP)
Short Url
Updated 17 July 2024
Follow

Gareth Southgate says it’s ‘time for change’ and announces he will step down as England manager

  • Southgate’s contract was due to expire this year and his announcement comes after months of uncertainty surrounding his future
  • Southgate achieved what no other England manager has by leading his team to two finals, including a first on foreign soil

LONDON: After eight years, four major tournaments and two finals, Gareth Southgate announced he was stepping down as England manager on Tuesday, saying it was “time for change.”

Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Spain in the European Championship final proved to be his last game in charge of the national team.

“As a proud Englishman, it has been the honor of my life to play for England and to manage England. It has meant everything to me, and I have given it my all,” he said. “But it’s time for change, and for a new chapter.”

Southgate’s contract was due to expire this year and his announcement comes after months of uncertainty surrounding his future.

Mikel Oyarzabal’s 86th-minute winner in Berlin was a painful way to end his reign after he transformed the fortunes of England’s underperforming national team.

Hired in 2016, he led England to back-to-back finals at the Euros and to the semifinals of the World Cup in 2018.

But, ultimately, he was unable to end the nation’s decades-long wait for a first major trophy since the World Cup in 1966.

“Gareth, I want to thank you — not as the President of the FA, but as an England fan,” Prince William said on X. “Thank you for creating a team that stands shoulder to shoulder with the world’s finest in 2024. Thank you for showing humility, compassion, and true leadership under the most intense pressure and scrutiny. And thank you for being an all-round class act. You should be incredibly proud of what you’ve achieved. W.”

Southgate said before the European Championship that it would likely be his last tournament if England did not win.

During it, he faced fierce criticism for the team’s early performances and some fans threw plastic beer cups in his direction at the end of the 0-0 draw with Slovenia in the group phase.

But he achieved what no other England manager has by leading his team to two finals, including a first on foreign soil.

“Gareth has made the impossible job possible and laid strong foundations for future success. He is held in the highest regard by the players, the backroom team, by everyone at the FA and across the world of football,” said Mark Bullingham, chief executive of the English Football Association.

Before Southgate’s arrival England had won only seven knockout games at tournaments since 1966. The team won nine during his tenure.

England was also in the top five of FIFA’s rankings for six years under Southgate. Previously its longest run had been seven months.

Southgate was not an obvious choice to take over when hired after Sam Allardyce’s one-match reign came to an end after just 67 days in charge.

He didn’t have a stellar managerial career, with a three-year spell at Middlesbrough his only job in club soccer.

But he was well-respected within the FA for his work with England’s under-21 team and he exceeded all expectations with the senior job.

The World Cup semifinal in 2018 came after England had suffered the humiliation of being eliminated by Iceland at Euro 2016 and failed to advance beyond the group stage of the World Cup in 2014.

England had not advanced to a semifinal since Euro 96 and hadn’t reached that stage of a World Cup since 1990.

At the Euros in 2021, Southgate went one better by leading his team to the final, which it lost to Italy in a penalty shootout.

England were tied 1-1 with Spain in the final on Sunday before Oyarzabal’s late winner.

“We look back at Gareth’s tenure with huge pride — his contribution to the English game, including a significant role in player development, and in culture transformation has been unique. However, it is his record of winning tournament games which is most extraordinary,” Bullingham said.

Southgate was widely seen as a unifying figure during a period of political upheaval in English politics and society, taking over the national team shortly after a divisive referendum on leaving the European Union and seeing five different prime ministers during his time in charge.

“Gareth Southgate’s greatest achievement was not on the pitch, but in the standard that he has set for how a role model and representative of our country should conduct themselves,” Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis said on X. “His legacy will be a generation of young people who have learned from him that leadership is primarily about decency, integrity and bringing honor to others. That is worth more to our country than any trophy.”

Now thoughts will turn to finding Southgate’s successor and the FA said the process was already underway.

Jurgen Klopp stepped down as Liverpool manager at the end of last season, but the German has said he wants to take a break.

Former Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino is out of work, as well as former Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel.

Sarina Wiegman has led the England Women’s team to success in the Euros and also to the final of the World Cup last year.

Leading English contenders could include Newcastle manager Eddie Howe, former Chelsea bosses Graham Potter and Frank Lampard and England Under-21 manager Lee Carsley.

England play Ireland in the Nations League on Sept. 7, but the FA said it was prepared to go into that match with an interim coach, rather than rush to a decision on its next manager.


Carsley makes flying start as England interim boss in win over Ireland

Updated 07 September 2024
Follow

Carsley makes flying start as England interim boss in win over Ireland

  • Rice and Grealish, who both snubbed Ireland to represent England, scored in the first half of Carsley’s maiden game in charge following Gareth Southgate’s exit
  • Carsley has stepped up on a temporary basis while the Football Association seek a permanent successor to Southgate

DUBLIN: England interim manager Lee Carsley enjoyed a dream debut as goals from Declan Rice and Jack Grealish silenced their Ireland tormentors and inspired a 2-0 win in Saturday’s Nations League opener in Dublin.
Rice and Grealish, who both snubbed Ireland to represent England, scored in the first half of Carsley’s maiden game in charge following Gareth Southgate’s exit.
Southgate quit after England’s heartbreaking Euro 2024 final defeat against Spain in July.
Carsley, who guided England Under-21s to European Championship glory last year, has stepped up on a temporary basis while the Football Association seek a permanent successor to Southgate.
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe and former Chelsea manager Graham Potter are said to be among the leading contenders.
But Carsley’s hopes of landing the job himself were boosted by England’s confident display in the Nations League Group B2 victory at the Aviva Stadium.
It was a bold statement of intent from the 50-year-old, whose adventurous England were a far cry from the staid unit that twice finished as Euro runners-up under Southgate despite rarely playing to their potential.
England’s first win in Dublin since 1964 has to be placed in context given the poverty of opposition provided by Ireland
Ireland’s new manager Heimir Hallgrimsson is a qualified dentist and he may find the job of rebuilding his struggling team proves more painful than root canal treatment.
Carsley stuck by his controversial decision not to sing ‘God save the King’ before kick-off, a move that antagonized the more patriotic sections of England’s fanbase.
Birmingham-born Carsley has Irish grandparents, which allowed him to win 40 Ireland caps during his playing career, but he said on Friday that he has never sung a national anthem because he prefers to focus on the match ahead.
If Carsley, whose next game comes against Finland at Wembley on Tuesday, continues to mastermind this kind of eye-catching performance, the debate over his anthem stance will quickly be forgotten.
This was only England’s second trip to Dublin in 29 years after a 1995 friendly between the teams was abandoned when visiting fans rioted at Lansdowne Road.
Promoting “a new era of friendship” between countries with a tortured political past, Irish Taoiseach Simon Harris and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer swapped football shirts ahead of the match.
There was still a hostile reception for Rice and Grealish, who were jeered by the 50,000 crowd for changing their allegiance to England despite representing Ireland at senior and Under-21 levels respectively earlier in their careers.
Neither was bothered by the taunts as Rice starred and Grealish, omitted from the Euro squad, seized the chance to shine as England’s number 10 in the absence of Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden.
Carsley’s nerves were exposed when he mistakenly sat on the Ireland bench before kick-off, but England eased their novice manager’s anxiety in the 11th minute.
Newcastle winger Anthony Gordon, who got just one minute of playing time at the Euros, accelerated onto Trent Alexander-Arnold’s raking pass for a shot that was saved by Caoimhin Kelleher.
Gordon worked the rebound back to Harry Kane and his strike deflected to Rice, who planted a fine finish into the top corner from 12 yards.
Rice took the diplomatic approach as he refused to celebrate the goal, instead opting for a placatory gesture that suggested he wanted to bury the hatchet over his England switch.
Playing with far more freedom and imagination than they could muster under Southgate, England struck again in the 26th minute.
After Alexander-Arnold and Kobbie Mainoo exchanged passes, Grealish capped a flowing move, meeting Rice’s cutback with a fine finish into the bottom corner from 10 yards.
There was no hiding Grealish’s delight as he celebrated in front of England’s supporters and put his fingers in his ears to suggest he wasn’t bothered by the Irish abuse.
England had to knuckle down more in the second half as Ireland found some momentum, but they were never in danger of blowing the lead as Carsley’s audition got off to the perfect start.


Klopp celebrates ‘school reunion’ on return to Dortmund dugout

Updated 07 September 2024
Follow

Klopp celebrates ‘school reunion’ on return to Dortmund dugout

  • “It was like a school reunion,” Klopp told Sky Germany, adding “it’s what I always dreamed of: that we’d meet again in life and just have a good time together”
  • Dortmund also said goodbye to defender Mats Hummels

BERLIN: Former Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp said his return to the club’s dugout in Saturday’s testimonial match was “like a school reunion,” nine years after his last match as club coach.
Dortmund bid farewell to team stalwarts Jakub Blaszczykowski and Lukas Piszczek, with each captaining a side featuring several club legends as well as current manager Nuri Sahin.
Blaszczykowski’s side, coached by Klopp, won 5-4 in front of 82,000 fans at a sold out Westfalenstadion.
“It was like a school reunion,” Klopp told Sky Germany, adding “it’s what I always dreamed of: that we’d meet again in life and just have a good time together.
“It’s like coming home. There are so many great memories. It’s nice to see the fans again.”
Klopp spent seven years as Dortmund coach, winning two Bundesliga titles, one German Cup and taking the team to the 2013 Champions League final at Wembley, where they lost to archrivals Bayern Munich.
Klopp, who stepped down as Liverpool boss at the end of last season citing exhaustion, is yet to return to coaching, having said in July “as of today, that’s it for me as a coach.”
The coach poked fun at the aging players, saying “we had a lot of excess weight in attack, midfield and defense today.”
Dortmund also said goodbye to defender Mats Hummels, who left the club for Serie A side Roma in the summer.
Hummels, who played 508 games for Dortmund, was one of only a few current players to take the pitch.
He said afterwards “it’s a mix of joy and sadness.
“I’ve spent a lot of my football life here.”


Liverpool ‘colossus’ Ron Yeats dies aged 86

Updated 07 September 2024
Follow

Liverpool ‘colossus’ Ron Yeats dies aged 86

  • The ex-Scotland defender was part of the Liverpool side that won the Second Division title under Bill Shankly in 1962
  • He had been living with Alzheimer’s disease in recent years

LONDON: Former Liverpool captain Ron Yeats, who led the club to their first FA Cup and two top-flight titles, has died aged 86, the Premier League side announced on Saturday.
The ex-Scotland defender was part of the Liverpool side that won the Second Division title under Bill Shankly in 1962 and went on to win the old First Division twice, the FA Cup in 1965 and the Charity Shield three times.
He had been living with Alzheimer’s disease in recent years.
“Liverpool FC is mourning the passing of legendary former captain Ron Yeats,” read a club statement. “In the words of Bill Shankly, a ‘colossus’ in club history.


“The thoughts of everyone at LFC are with Ron’s wife, Ann, all of his family and his friends at this incredibly sad time.
“Flags across club sites will be lowered to half-mast today as a mark of respect.”
Yeats was signed from Dundee United in July 1961 by Shankly, who invited journalists to “take a walk around him, he’s a colossus” at the 6ft 2in (1.87 meter) defender’s unveiling.
Yates took over as captain within six months and went on to make 454 appearances over more than a decade at Anfield.
His record 417-match run as Reds skipper was only broken by Steven Gerrard in the last decade.
He left to become Tranmere’s player-manager for three years, followed by a brief spell in the United States before returning to Anfield in 1986 as chief scout for two decades.
Yeats also won two caps for Scotland.


Frustrating farewell for Suarez as Uruguay held by Paraguay

Updated 07 September 2024
Follow

Frustrating farewell for Suarez as Uruguay held by Paraguay

MONTEVIDEO: Luis Suarez bade a frustrating farewell to international football on Friday as Uruguay were held to a 0-0 draw by Paraguay in South American 2026 World Cup qualifying.
Suarez, 37, announced on Monday he was stepping down from international duty after a glittering 17-year career for Uruguay that saw him finish as the country’s top scorer with 69 goals from 143 appearances.
But the former Barcelona and Liverpool star, who now plays in Major League Soccer with Inter Miami, was unable to add a 70th goal to his international tally in Friday’s farewell game at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo.
Despite enjoying 65 percent possession, Uruguay were unable to find a way through a dogged Paraguay defense in a disjointed match littered with some 24 fouls.
Suarez, whose career at international and club level was dogged by controversies such as his ban for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup, was one of four Uruguay players to be shown a yellow card in a fractious encounter.
The result leaves Uruguay in second place in South America’s 10-team round-robin qualifying tournament with 14 points from seven games, four points behind leaders Argentina.
Colombia can leapfrog over Uruguay with a victory over Peru in Lima later Friday.
The top six teams in the South America standings qualify automatically for the 2026 finals in North America with the seventh-placed team advancing to a playoff.


Saudi players arrive in China ahead of World Cup qualifier

Updated 06 September 2024
Follow

Saudi players arrive in China ahead of World Cup qualifier

  • The Green Falcons face China on Tuesday in the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 tournament, following a disappointing draw against Indonesia

DALIAN: The Saudi national team arrived in the Chinese city of Dalian on Friday ahead of their World Cup qualifier there next week.
The Green Falcons will face China on Tuesday night at the Dalian Suoyuwan Football Stadium, in the second game of the third round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
The Saudi squad wasted no time as they immediately began their preparations on Friday evening with a training session overseen by head coach Roberto Mancini. The players who participated in Thursday’s match against Indonesia took part in recovery training, while the rest engaged in general training exercises.
The previous day in Jeddah, Indonesia held the Saudis to a surprise 1-1 draw in the opening game of the third round of qualifiers. It was a case of two points dropped to the lowest-ranked team in Group C, not least because Salem Al-Dawsari had a penalty attempt saved with 11 minutes remaining.
Indonesia might be Asia’s most improved team of late, bolstered by the naturalization of several Europe-based players, but were nonetheless ranked 133 in the world, 77 places below their hosts.
The Saudi squad was greeted on arrival at the airport in Dalian by Jaber Rashid, a representative of the Kingdom’s embassy. The Saudi Arabian Football Federation president, Yasser Al-Misehal, thanked the embassy for the warm welcome and assistance it has provided to the team.