Pundits and ex England internationals lead calls for Crawley's Gareth Southgate to stay as England manager following World Cup exit

Pundits and ex England internationals Ian Wright and Gary Neville are leading the calls for Crawley’s Gareth Southgate to stay following England’s 2-1 World Cup quarter-final defeat to France.
England's coach #00 Gareth Southgate reacts at the end of the Qatar 2022 World Cup quarter-final football match between England and France at the Al-Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, north of Doha, on December 10, 2022. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)England's coach #00 Gareth Southgate reacts at the end of the Qatar 2022 World Cup quarter-final football match between England and France at the Al-Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, north of Doha, on December 10, 2022. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
England's coach #00 Gareth Southgate reacts at the end of the Qatar 2022 World Cup quarter-final football match between England and France at the Al-Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, north of Doha, on December 10, 2022. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

England were knocked out of the World Cup on Saturday (December 10) after a 2-1 defeat to France.

Aurélien Tchouaméni opened the scoring for the French before Harry Kane equalised from the spot on 54 minutes.

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France, however, won the game as Olivier Giroud fired home in the 78th minute.

Following the defeat Gareth Southgate has said that his role as England boss will be "reviewed" as the pundits lined up to urge him to stay in post.

In an interview following England's World Cup exit to France, Southgate said that both he and the FA will "need time" before making a call on his future.

But in the television studio, ITV pundits Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Ian Wright all called for Southgate to continue as England manager.

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Gary Neville on ITV said: "I would love Gareth to stay on for another two years.

"I’d love him to stay on beyond that, whether as the coach or whether it be a role the FA decide in the future. England in the past few years have won youth tournament, we’ve won the women’s tournament in the summer, we got to the men’s final in the Euros.”

Ian Wright hailed Southgate as the best manager for England since Alf Ramsey, who was coach when England won the World Cup in 1966.

"His leadership skills and the experiences he’s had, what he’s done – he’s the most successful manager we’ve had since Sir Alf Ramsey.

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"I’d like to see him continue, and if he’s not going to manager then at least some role at some level of the team."

Roy Keane said that he "fully agreed" with Neville and Wright, adding that he "fully expect[s]" Southgate to continue.

"You’d fully expect Gareth to stay on for the Euros. I don’t see him having an exit plan in his head.

"I can agree with everything everyone’s said about Gareth, he’s done a brilliant job. But I’m sure he’ll want to look at his future and his family situation, does he want to give it a couple of years? Hopefully he does."