Gareth Southgate will be offered the chance to extend his stay as England manager, regardless of how they do at Euro 2020.
The 50-year-old guided England to the World Cup semi-finals in 2018 and a third-place finish at the inaugural Nations League a year later. Most recently he has got them through to the last-16 of Euro 2020.
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England are currently preparing to face Germany in front of more than 40,000 people in Tuesday’s eagerly-anticipated European Championship last-16 tie at Wembley, which you can listen to LIVE on talkSPORT.
Southgate’s side did not capture the imagination despite reaching the knockout phase as Group D winners, but FA chief executive Mark Bullingham is delighted with the overall job being done by the manager.
“Am I enjoying the football? Yes, I am,” he said. “Gareth has done a brilliant job, finishing top of the group, really solid defence, and he’s done really well on and off the pitch, in every aspect.
“Our support is unwavering. 100 per cent unwavering. Unwavering support. We are 100 per cent behind Gareth. He knows how we feel about him.
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“We feel he is brilliant, both on and off the pitch. We want him to carry on. He’s doing a great job. Regardless of Tuesday. Absolutely.
“Regardless of the group stage of the tournament we would have wanted him to carry on, not just in (this) tournament but if you look at Nations League as well, he did brilliantly in that.
“I remember the Spain game (the 3-2 Nations League win in October 2018) – absolutely great performances.”
Southgate was given the England role after Roy Hodgson’s successor Sam Allardyce made a swift exit in 2016, with the Under-21s boss doing enough in temporary control to earn a four-year deal.
The former defender signed a new contract in October 2018 to take him through to next year’s World Cup in Qatar and Bullingham would like him to stay beyond that.
Bullingham did not specify when that would be until, however, The Times’ Henry Winter said it would be up to the next European Championship in 2024.
“Gareth knows exactly how we feel about him,” he said. “He knows that we think he’s doing a great job and we’d like him to carry on.
“We would love him to carry on, for sure, beyond this contract.”
Bullingham said they would “get into that formal conversation after this tournament” but believes Southgate “could do anything in club world or FA world” given his skillset.
But he has not asked the 50-year-old what he wants to do at a time when everyone’s focus is making it the Euro 2020 finale at Wembley on July 11.
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