Southgate will not coach for a year, unlikely to take over another national team

 ATHENS(Agencies): Former England manager Gareth Southgate said on Thursday he would not return to coaching for at least the next year and was unlikely to take over a different national team. The 54-year-old stepped down in July after England’s second straight European Championship final defeat, ending an eight-year spell with the Three Lions. “Sometimes when you are in a big role you don’t realise the weight until it’s gone,” he told the European Club Association’s general assembly. “It is one of those jobs where everybody has an opinion. “I am enjoying my life so there is no rush. For 11 years I committed fully to the national federation. I won’t coach in the next year for sure. I am certain of that. When you come out of a big role you need to give your body time, your mind time.” Southgate led England to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals and the quarters in 2022, and the finals of the last two European Championships for their best international results in decades. England are still searching for Southgate’s replacement with interim manager Lee Carsley currently in charge. Southgate himself said he was unlikely to take over a different national team and would consider coaching a club only under the right conditions. The former England coach had been linked with a move to Old Trafford as a potential successor to embattled Manchester United coach Erik ten Hag, as well as with a technical observer role at UEFA, the governing body of European football. “(A return to) club football? Depending on what role that is,” he said. “I have been fortunate to have worked with fantastic players. You got to have excitement, passion to go to work every day,” he added. “It is unlikely to be another national federation. England was from the heart.”