Southgate puts England contract talks on hold in bid to avoid Capello mistake

14 March 2024 , 22:30

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Southgate puts England contract talks on hold in bid to avoid Capello mistake

Gareth Southgate has revealed he has told the FA to shelve talks about his England future until after the Euros.

Football Association chiefs are ready to give Southgate a new deal to take him up until the 2026 World Cup, with his current £2.5million-a-year contract due to expire in December.

But Southgate insists he does not want any distractions from winning the Euros and claimed he is too busy dreaming of taking the Three Lions to celebrate in front of the four lions at Trafalgar Square.‌

“I’m completely relaxed about that and I have no idea where we’ll be in the middle of July, other than I hope it’s Trafalgar Square and let’s get the party on. Four lions!” said England boss Southgate.

“I think we would have to sit and think about that at the end of the tournament. I’m happy to talk about it briefly now, but I’m not going to talk about it the whole summer, what’s next.

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“We’ve consciously shelved any discussions internally about what might be next, because I think if we had sat and signed a new contract and done that before the tournament, everybody would have said: ‘Well, you did this with Fabio Capello and you should be proving yourself before you sign.’

“I think it has the potential to negatively affect the reaction to the team. The team needs the clearest run they can possibly have at this tournament, so my job is to remove pressure from the team where possible.

Gareth Southgate will delay talks about his future until after the Euros (PA)

"We’ve got to accept some pressure because we’re one of the favourites. But, equally, I don’t want to put anything additional onto the team.”

Southgate did also accept that he has to deliver and win the Euros before he earns himself a new contract to take the team to the World Cup.

Southgate added: “We have to translate that with the next step now. That’s the challenge I have to accept as well, and I’m really comfortable with that.

‌“We could stink the place out and everybody wants me shot. So there’s no point in speculating about what might happen after the summer. I’m not expecting us to stink the place out."

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John Cross