Next England manager odds: Who could replace Gareth Southgate?

Gareth Southgate has stepped down as England manager following defeat by Spain in the Euro 2024 final.

Telegraph Sport looks at the contenders for the national job after Southgate and the Football Association agreed to part ways.

Our football experts have also explained which manager they would pick to lead England into the 2026 World Cup. 

The Newcastle manager is on the shortlist of possible contenders. It is understood that he has been one of the topics of informal discussions when an eventual successor for Southgate has been on the agenda. The big question is how invested he is in the project at St James’ Park, where he has guided them into the Champions League following the takeover by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. He is on a long-term contract on good terms.

Has a strong reputation despite lasting less than a season at Chelsea and having more than a year out of football. Having started at Ostersund in Sweden and Swansea City, it was at Brighton where he emerged as a coach with a clear style of play and the ability to improve young players. It was at the Amex Stadium where he worked with Dan Ashworth, who had previously been the Football Association’s director of elite development and oversaw England’s dramatic improvement at youth level.

If there is a manager who knows how to get the best out of Harry Kane, it is Pochettino. The Argentinian was manager at Tottenham when Kane started his goalscoring spree. But there were other English players who benefited from his coaching too – at the 2018 World Cup, Southgate took five Spurs players to Russia. Pochettino is available after leaving Chelsea and his reputation was intact after a year at Stamford Bridge. But there would be question marks over whether being England manager would be received well in his homeland.

Would the FA appoint a German coach for the national team? If they did, Tuchel would be excellent in knockout games with his game management and set-up, as he showed when he guided Chelsea to Champions League glory in 2021. Chelsea’s plight since sacking him points to the problems there being more than the manager. And while Tuchel’s spell at Bayern Munich did not last long, fans also wanted him back and signed a petition for him to stay.

Going from England Under-21 manager to the seniors is a path trodden by Southgate when he stepped in for Sam Allardyce in 2016. Carsley is highly regarded by the FA since his appointment with the Under-20s four years ago, with the 50-year-old sounded out for jobs elsewhere including the Republic of Ireland, where he won 40 caps as a player

The FA has always had an eye on the “golden generation” of the 2000s as coaches of the future. Steven Gerrard undertook an FA coaching course before going into management with Rangers and Aston Villa. He is now at Al-Ettifaq as part of the Saudi Pro League’s expansion. Gary Lineker has championed Lampard, pointing out he was unlucky in his previous jobs and would have the respect of players. Lampard’s last job was in an interim role upon returning to Chelsea in 2023, after his first spell from 2019-21 ended in his sacking.
 

Southgate’s successor: Our experts pick their next England manager

Chris Bascombe: Eddie Howe

It is a question for the Football Association as to why anyone would want to leave a city where you have the chance to earn god-like status for earning regular Champions League qualification – and have the resources to build a side in your vision – in order to take a gig where you are vilified for failing to win the Euros or World Cup. Nevertheless, Howe is on record as saying the England job is his ultimate goal. If he really cannot say no, it seems a no-brainer to offer him it.

John Percy: Mauricio Pochettino

England need to look outside the box and find someone who can take a highly talented team to the next level. Pochettino would demand instant respect. He has an aura and, most importantly, the experience to ensure the likes of Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden will be on the journey. These players now need to look up to someone who has star quality and I believe Pochettino has that, if the Football Association is prepared to look outside England for the next manager. Pochettino can work with young players and, while certainly strong-willed, would be savvy enough to work within the FA’s structure.

With regards to Southgate, it is possible to have both opinions that he has been a terrific appointment and taken England forward, while also recognising his time is up and, perhaps, he is holding certain players back with his inherent caution.

Sam Dean: Mauricio Pochettino

A confession: I am instinctively uncomfortable with the thought of a non-Englishman managing the English national team. A personal view is that an international side should only be able to appoint a coach from that nation. But the rules are the rules, and the decision-makers at the FA would be foolish to restrict themselves to Englishmen when they are able to cast a wider net.

If we are to therefore leave aside the issue of nationality, Pochettino stands out as the most attractive candidate. He is not obsessed with strict tactical systems (which are almost impossible to impose at international level, because of a lack of training time), he is more than capable of creating the right culture and atmosphere that England need and he has the required charisma and personality to handle the extraordinary off-field demands of leading our national team.

Daniel Zeqiri: Thomas Tuchel

The argument that international football should be the best of ours against the best of yours has strong merit, but from a footballing perspective Tuchel ticks a lot of boxes. 

He has an excellent record in cup competitions and is one of Europe’s best when it comes to setting a team up for a one-off knockout tie. Tuchel has worked in the Premier League and managed Harry Kane at Bayern Munich, so his knowledge of the playing pool is not in question.

Known to be a prickly character at times but an excellent coach, dealing with players in the smaller doses of international breaks could suit. No chance of falling out with a national association over control of transfers because there are none. 

His structured, positional football would be a step closer to what the Manchester City, Arsenal and now Chelsea players are used to at club level. International football is a different beast, but it feels like England need to harness the shared methodology across the country’s top clubs.

Thom Gibbs: Graham Potter

I have talked myself into Graham Potter. The continuity candidate as a decent and sensible man with the inconclusive club management career. The most important question for any interviewee will be “what would you have done differently at this Euros?” and I suspect Potter would say “not much,” which the FA will probably like. For all of the frustrations about Southgate’s tactics, selection and subs he transformed the culture of the national team. That must not be squandered and Potter seems more likely to preserve his legacy than some of the starrier names, who never work out for England anyway.

James Ducker: Carlo Ancelotti

Yes, it is never going to happen but there is nothing wrong with dreaming. Given there are (oddly) no rules in place banning national associations from appointing a foreigner and the choice of credible English candidates is virtually non-existent (time to start producing some coaches, lads) then I’m struggling to think of anyone remotely better than Don Carlo. Players love him and respect him, he adapts according to the players he has and always finds a system to suit them and he’s a charming, delightful man who also happens to be a serial winner who copes with the pressure and nonsense better than almost anyone out there. OK, so the pipe dream lasted, what, all of 30 seconds, but it was fun while it did.