Ange Postecoglou ‘shock contender to replace Gareth Southgate’ as England manager as five-man shortlist emerges
ANGE POSTECOGLOU is a contender to replace Gareth Southgate as England manager, according to reports.
Southgate called time on his eight-year stint as Three Lions boss yesterday after suffering a second consecutive European Championship final heartbreak.
With the search for a successor at St George’s Park underway, Tottenham boss Postecoglou is reportedly amongst the candidates.
That’s according to the Telegraph, who report that FA technical director John McDermott is keen on the Aussie tactician.
It’s claimed that Postecoglou has been tracked by the FA for years.
With McDermott himself is understood to have followed the former Celtic manager’s career from his time in Australia as well as Japan and Scotland.
While his arrival in the Premier League has made fans and pundits pay attention after transforming the way that Tottenham play.
Postecoglou, 58, helped Spurs to a fifth place finish in the league last term, winning 20 of their 38 Prem clashes and playing aggressive attack-minded football.
McDermott has been tasked with appointing Southgate’s replacement and Postecoglou isn’t the only potential candidate.
According to the Telegraph, four other managers are amongst the front-runners to take over.
Southgate's England record
Here is a look at Gareth Southgate's record as England manager.
Overall record
- Games: 102
- Wins: 61
- Draws: 24
- Losses: 17
- Goals scored: 213
- Goals conceded: 72
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Newcastle manager Eddie Howe, England U21 boss Lee Carsely and former Chelsea gaffers Graham Potter and Mauricio Pochettino are understood to be being considered.
Carsely would likely be brought in as an interim manager, with the FA willing to wait to find the right man.
But that doesn’t rule out the potential of securing the role permanently down the line – the same way Southgate did in 2016.
Postecoglou worked as a pundit for ITV during Euro 2024 and gave his thoughts on the state of affairs with the England national team after their 1-1 group stage draw with Denmark.
He said: “It’s actually predictable that the England story is pretty similar. You go in with high expectations, and there’s extreme reactions either way.
“I think it’s part of It when you represent England in particular, you need to embrace that.
“You need to understand that. And I think for the most part, the players seem to be understanding that. And also there’s a fair bit of experience in there.
“I know there’s a lot of reference points where people say, well, in other tournaments England have sometimes made radical changes and it’s worked. I just don’t think that that’s the point they’re at at the moment.
“I’d like to see players just playing in their natural positions to start with. I think that’s your starting point.
“I think if you can get midfielders in the midfield areas, wingers in the winger’s areas, and if that’s the way you want to play, I think that helps you get a little bit of stability.”
But despite Postecoglou being under consideration for the job and his clear thoughts on what he may change about the set-up, international football may not attract him.
Postecoglou previously managed the Australian national team between 2013 and 2017, but after securing qualification to the 2018 World Cup he stepped down – citing a lack of enjoyment as his reasoning.
He said: “I walked away from a World Cup. We qualified and I walked away.
“The reason I walked away was I just didn’t enjoy what I was doing.
“No [regrets], I knew it was the right time and it wasn’t an easy decision obviously because you are giving away a World Cup.
“It was the right decision for me, it was the right decision for where I saw the next stage of my career.
“And if I didn’t make that decision at that time, if I had waited until after the World Cup, I’ve got no doubt I wouldn’t be sitting here [at Tottenham] now.”
Southgate's gone - now it's time to go foreign
By Dave Kidd
There is a natural preference to appoint an English successor.
And in an ideal world, the England manager should always be English. But this is not an ideal scenario.
So the FA must be ambitious in sounding out the best man for the job, regardless of nationality.
Because England need a manager who would gain instant respect with players, who would be tactically bold enough to take on Spain and a strong enough character to deal with Jude Bellingham’s Real Madrid Galactico status, which threatens to cause future issues within the England squad. Yes, when the FA have gone foreign in the past, it hasn’t worked out well.
Yet the problem with Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello was that neither had any previous involvement in English football.
They lacked knowledge and understanding of the football culture — indeed, Capello barely spoke the language.
Now there is a wealth of overseas managerial talent with significant Premier League experience, including Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Mauricio Pochettino, Carlo Ancelotti and Thomas Tuchel.
Read more from Dave Kidd on who England should turn to.