Roy Keane, legend of Irish football and Manchester United, returned to England’s elimination from the World Cup: “What England does in the big games is find a way to lose them. How can you win big tournaments like that? players have to be able to take control of the situation; during the match against France they had the chance to put the opponent in crisis, they should have loosened up. If you ease the pressure against a rival like that, you pay duty,” he told The Sun.

But nobody wants Southgate to leave. Even Gary Neville… Having been in charge of the Three Lions since 2016, Southgate has already cemented himself as the best boss to take the reins since 1966 World Cup winner Alf Ramsey, reaching the Russia 2018 semi-finals and Euro 2020 final.

A last-eight defeat to France at Qatar 2022 has left Southgate pondering his future, though, having told the Football Association he would like time to consider his next steps. Neville believes he should remain for England’s next major tournament campaign, however, and suggested he could spend the year-and-a-half interim to help find a successor to follow in his steps.

“There will be those who are listening, who say, ‘You’ve got to have someone who gets us over the line, you’ve got to have someone who has a winning mentality, you’ve got to change the manager’,” he said. “I get that, it sounds beautiful and wonderful, but I remember us getting rid of Bobby Robson in 1990. I remember us getting rid of Terry Venables in 1996.

“It didn’t go particularly well straight after those tournaments and I think Gareth is doing a very good job and one more tournament for me feels right. “Hopefully, this team can stick together and evolve. I think it evolved in this tournament. We were more progressive, more positive in matches, and we go for it again.

“He has seen it all, and I think he should be kept within the system to design the future. He has been there for 10 years. I would like him to stay with the FA beyond his coaching role.” Southgate is contracted through Euro 2024 and sits fifth among England managers for an overall win ratio, with 60.5 per cent.