Jamie Carragher has insisted the manager of the England football team "should always be English", amid reports linking Brendan Rodgers to the post.
Rodgers, who is Northern Irish, has been among those mentioned as a potential successor to Gareth Southgate. Southgate is yet to confirm his next steps after England's elimination from the World Cup at the hands of France, and is under contract until the summer of 2024 after signing an extension last year.
The former Liverpool boss, under whom ex-England international Carragher finished his playing career, is not the only name in contention. Thomas Tuchel has reportedly thrown his hat into the ring, while Mauricio Pochettino, Eddie Howe and Graham Potter have all been suggested as the next man to lead the Three Lions, though there are also many - including members of the 2022 England squad - who are keen for Southgate to stay in charge.
England haven't had a foreign manager in charge of the men's team since Fabio Capello, who oversaw a tame last-16 elimination from the 2010 World Cup. It's a different story for the women's side, though, who won the most recent European Championships with former Dutch international Sarina Wiegman at the helm.
None of the final four teams at the 2022 World Cup have a foreign manager. Didier Deschamps is looking to lead France to glory for a second time as manager after also doing so as a player in 1998, while Zlatko Dalic (Croatia), Lionel Scaloni (Argentina) and Walid Regragui (Morocco) are all in charge of their home nations.
Indeed, at the Qatar tournament, eight of the nine foreign managers suffered elimination at the group stage. The only exception was Paulo Bento, whose South Korea team lost in the last 16 after needing a last-minute winner to take second spot behind Portugal in their group.
Should the next England manager be English? Have your say in the comments section
“Look, I've found large parts of the last 18 months difficult," Southgate said after England's exit. "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, there's lots of things in my head that’s really conflicted at the moment, so what I want to make sure, if it's the right thing to say, is that I've definitely got the energy to do that.
“I don't want to be four or five months down the line thinking I've made the wrong call. It's too important for everybody to get that wrong.
“After every tournament, I’ve sat with everybody at the FA and talked things through logically and I think that's the right process to go through again.”
