Gareth Southgate has the 100 per cent support of the dressing room to carry on as manager even if England lose against France on Saturday. Luis Enrique was sacked as Spain manager on Thursday after the 2010 World Cup winners’ shock defeat to Morocco in their last 16 match.
Earlier in the tournament, Roberto Martinez, manager of former world No 1 team Belgium, quit within minutes of their failure to make it out of the group stages.
Similarly, Germany’s technical director Oliver Bierhoff had his contract cancelled after they failed to get out of the group stage for the second tournament running. But even if England exit at the quarter-final stage – a step or two backwards from their recent semi-final and final appearances in major tournaments – the players want him to lead them into Euro 2024.
“Gareth has a contract for two more years,” Kieran Trippier, a senior figure in the dressing room, said. “We all love Gareth. Gareth is a fantastic manager.
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“If you look at the depth, everyone knows the roles if they are playing, if they are not playing, if they have to enter the pitch, everybody will be ready. With the quality we’ve got throughout the squad to come on and make an impact, everyone will be ready.
“It shows sign of a good manager to do that.” Southgate’s preparations were boosted by the return to training of Declan Rice, who returned to training after taking Wednesday off with illness.
“Dec was involved today,” Trippier confirmed. “He didn’t train yesterday but he was in high spirits as he always is and he trained well today.”