Former England ace and Premier League legend Alan Shearer has claimed he has "no doubt at all" over the idea of Gareth Southgate staying on as Three Lions boss for the 2024 European Championship.
From the moment the full-time whistle was blown on Saturday evening to confirm England's elimination from the World Cup at the hands of France, there have been a plethora of reports suggesting Southgate will opt to step down from his role as national team manager.
While some have greeted that news with glee, such is their desire to see England be managed by someone else after Southgate's six years at the helm, Shearer is adamant he should remain in charge for the next major tournament in one-and-a-half years' time.
Writing in his BBC column, Shearer claimed: "I have no doubt at all that Gareth Southgate should stay on as England manager to take us to the 2024 European Championship. I know he hasn't delivered the trophy we wanted in Qatar, but we have to look at the bigger picture."
The Newcastle legend added that the main reason why hopes were so high for England out in Qatar was because of the stellar work Southgate has done since taking the reins.
"We thought we could win this World Cup because of what we've done under him in the past, and also what we had shown at this tournament," Shearer added. "We were serious contenders for many reasons and Southgate was behind all of them.
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"After reaching the semi-finals in Russia four years ago and the final of Euro 2020, going out in the quarter-finals might look like a backward step but we are definitely heading in the right direction with him at the helm.
"We are a better team now than we were in either of those two tournaments, even though we haven't gone as far this time - and there is far more to come from these players."
Whether Southgate actually does stay on remains to be seen, but his post-match comments in the wake of the 2-1 defeat by France certainly made for interesting reading.
The 52-year-old conceded he felt "conflicted" over his future in the job, claiming: "I've found large parts of the last 18 months difficult. For everything that I've loved about the last few weeks, I still have how things have been for 18 months.
"What's been said and what's been written, the night at Wolves [where England lost 4-0 to Hungary]. There are lots of things in my head that are really conflicted at the moment, so what I want to make sure, if it's the right thing to stay, is that I've definitely got the energy to do that."
Southgate's contract runs until December 2024.
