Former England manager Gareth Southgate insisted he was in no rush to get back to work and may even consider a job outside of football management next.
After eight years in charge of the national team, Southgate stood down from his role after England’s heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final.
The 54-year-old, who previously had a managerial stint at Middlesbrough, was linked to Manchester United over the summer but said he is in need of some time away to recharge his batteries.
And Southgate even hinted that he is not set on a return to the dugout next, with other opportunities outside the sport also of interest.
‘I’ve got lots of opportunities and I’m very open-mined about what’s next,’ he said in an interview with Sky News. ‘That might be inside of football, that might be outside of football. I’m just going to take some time; refresh, recharge and then go from there.
Asked if he had been approached by any clubs offering him a job, Southgate responded: ‘I think people know that at the moment I need to get some energy back.
‘I’m intent on enjoying my life and I’m not going to rush into anything. I want to make sure that I make the right decision.
‘I’ve got some charities that I want to support which are very important to me but also there’s opportunities outside of football that I’m also quite interested in.’
Having had time to reflect on his Three Lions tenure, Southgate said that England’s defeats in consecutive European Championship finals will continue to sting but insisted he had no regrets about the way he led the team.
‘We wanted to do that final piece and to finish winning the final would’ve been perfection but it wasn’t to be,’ he said. ‘I’m sure the team can go on and be successful in the next years.
‘I I think it was probably the right time to change. I think what we see now is that hope change can bring and I’m completely content with that, eight years is a long time in a role.
‘I don’t think you can have any regrets, we make decisions we had at the time to try and produce a winning team.
‘We went to the first final in 60 years, we went to another final we’d ever been to away from England. We made huge progress. Of course, as a professional, you want to win and ultimately, some people will judge you purely on that
‘But we also had some incredible nights, we built a team with consistency to compete in every tournament and I’m hugely proud of that progress. As a leader, you need to look at where you picked it up and where you leave it.’
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