GARETH SOUTHGATE has been tipped for a shock career change if he quits as England boss.
The Three Lions chief saw his side fall at the final hurdle yet again with defeat to Spain in Sunday’s Euro final.
England shipped an 86th minute winner to lose 2-1 in Berlin.
And it sealed a successive heartbreak following the penalty defeat to Italy at Wembley three years ago.
Southgate’s future now remains unclear, with the gaffer previously hinting that Euro 2024 may be his final tournament.
The FA have reportedly lined up a number of targets including Newcastle boss Eddie Howe, plus former Chelsea trio Graham Potter, Mauricio Pochettino and Thomas Tuchel.
And should Southgate step away from the England job, he could find himself involved in the world of politics.
Football fan Sir Keir Starmer is the new Prime Minister after Labour won the General Election with a landslide victory.
And a political expert claims Southgate, who has already been tipped for a knighthood, should also be made a LORD.
That’s so he can then become the new sport and culture secretary.
BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERS
Former PM David Cameron was made a Lord in November by Tory leader Rishi Sunak, allowing him to serve as Foreign Secretary until the election.
And American political guru Frank Luntz, who worked as a pollster for the Republican Party in a 30-year career, reckons Starmer should make a similar move with Southgate.
IT will take a while for me and every England fan to get over this, writes Jack Wilshere.
To come so close to winning that trophy, only to be beaten in a second Euros final in a row, is a huge disappointment.
Especially when it really felt like this was our time.
It seemed that everything was coming together for us to end the long wait for a major title.
But Spain deserved it. They were the better team in the final and the best team of the tournament.
We will all — supporters, players, coaches, the FA — have to move on and go again.
Because English football is still in a good position.
Gareth Southgate has taken us to two finals, a semi-final and a quarter-final in four tournaments. We have never produced a run like that before.
The challenge now is to maintain this level of competitiveness and make England even better.
Southgate and his staff have done a fantastic job in changing the whole environment and narrative around the national team.
Whether Gareth carries on or not, the wider culture he has put in place must be preserved.
This tournament was the biggest test of that culture the team had to go through.
They overcame the problems and went all the way, only to fall at the final hurdle.
But there is every reason to believe we can challenge at the World Cup in 2026 and beyond.
We’ve got a really good group of players, many of them young, who can go on playing and performing for England for years.
Jude Bellingham, Kobbie Mainoo, Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer — to name just five — have plenty more tournaments in them.
This tournament will also be an inspiration for the next generations of players. Unfortunately there isn’t the trophy lift to take that to a completely different level.
But England have delivered moments in Germany that will be replayed forever.
The Bellingham overhead kick and Ollie Watkins’ semi-final winner will be recreated in playgrounds and cages up and down the country.
What I would like to see now is England continuing to develop, to become a team that can consistently dominate opponents and can give a real identity to English football.
We now have players who are comfortable on the ball and technically very good.
The biggest disappointment of the tournament was that we didn’t see that as often as we would have liked. That leaves us with a ‘what if?’ feeling.
England must not lose that old-school mentality of finding a way to win even when you’re not playing well — that never-say-die spirit which got us through this Euros more than once.
But the next step is to allow other qualities to shine through, to give the players that our system is creating the platform to show everything they can do.
The job for me and for other coaches is to keep producing players that are comfortable on the ball and understand how to perform under pressure at a high level.
English football is in a good place but we need to keep going. Then we will finally get over the line.
Real all of SunSport columnist Jack Wilshere’s Euro 2024 columns…
He said: “Gareth Southgate is an exceptional communicator.
“He knows how to navigate the complexities of the UK’s social divisions without blowing himself up better than any coach I’ve seen on either side of the Atlantic.
“in our polarised world, where people are even seeking to politicise sport, he is a uniquely qualified unifier.”’
Meanwhile, Southgate could also end up having a top corporate career instead if he wishes.
Found of sport talent agency TLNT Global, Tim Lopez, said: “There’ll be a rush of blue-chip brands wanting to engage with him, to be associated with his core values, his success.
“He is an unbelievable leader of men. Prior to his involvement in the England team it was an exceptionally heavy shirt to wear for players.
“But he has transformed the team into a group of players who want to wear the shirt who want to play for him. That kind of leadership is priceless.”
On the chances of Southgate getting a knighthood, a government spokesperson said: “The whole country is proud of what the team have delivered and getting to a second consecutive European Championship final is quite a feat.
“Gareth and the team have brought us some great moments to remember over the last few weeks.
“He has provided great leadership, he has done the country proud, but I wouldn’t get into commentary around honours.”
IT now seems as though he really is cursed. Along with the rest of us, writes Charlie Wyett.
Tragically, unbelievably, Harry Kane’s agonising search for a trophy still continues and you know have to wonder whether he will ever actually manage it.
Certainly for England, in any case.
Kane has now suffered defeat in three major club finals and two finals of the European Championships.
Last night, the Three Lions captain was so ineffective that he was replaced by Ollie Watkins just after the hour.
Like much of this tournament, he really struggled to make the impact when England needed him, not that he had much service.
He had one shot in the first half and that was Rodri, who subsequently injured himself and went off at the break.
When Cole Palmer struck that brilliant equaliser, Kane was off on his feet from the bench, only for the national team to get another kick in the bo**ocks at the end.
Kane was substituted in both the games against Switzerland and Holland which England went on to win but on this occasion, he could only witness a gut-wrenching twist just when it looked as though Gareth Southgate’s team had dug their way out of trouble.
The Bayern Munich striker suffered the World Cup 2018 semi-final loss against Croatia, endured heartbreak against Italy in the Euro2020 final and then missed from the spot in the World Cup 2022 quarter-final against France.
He really thought that this was his time, even though England did not play well in Germany.
Kane will know that he will have more opportunities with England. But not many more.
The World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico seems a long way away and it will surely be under a new manager. Will England be better than they are now? Probably not.
And we are all left to wonder how much better England would have been with a fit and firing Kane at his very best.
Read the full verdict on the curse of Harry Kane…
Or check out all of Charlie Wyett’s Euro 2024 stories…
