Gareth Southgate would be perfect for one Premier League job

Gareth Southgate has been tipped to make a sensational return to management at former club Crystal Palace by talkSPORT’s Alex Crook.

The ex-England boss has enjoyed an extended football sabbatical after leaving his post with the Three Lions following defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final.

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During his time away, Southgate has continued to be linked with a number of top jobs, most notably the hot seat at Manchester United.

Despite this, the 55-year-old has refused to jump into a new role, and recently reiterated that he is in no rush to return to the dugout.

Before his eight-year spell as Three Lions boss, Southgate’s only previous job was at Middlesbrough between 2006 and 2009.

He guided Boro to two mid-table finishes in the Premier League before being relegated in his third campaign.

Southgate: ‘No passion’ for Premier League job

Speaking on The Football Boardroom Podcast, Southgate admitted he is not motivated by a potential return to Premier League management, insisting it would take a ‘big club’ to tempt him.

He said: “I’ve got no passion to just go and manage in the Premier League. 

“I did that at 35, I finished 11th, 12th. Who is in those positions now, probably Bournemouth, Brighton?

“So I don’t feel the need to just go and do it to say I’ve managed in the Premier League.

“I’ve had one of the biggest jobs in world football so I’ve been spoiled. Huge nights, working with outstanding players. No owner interfering.

“The bit that, externally, people are saying is, ‘Well, he didn’t win’. So how do you prove that you can win? You’ve got to one of those big clubs.”

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Southgate fell just short of ending England’s long-standing trophy drought – suffering defeat in the finals of both Euro 2020 and 2024.

And the ex-Three Lions boss claimed he could understand football club owners opting against appointing him due to the negative publicity surrounding his past near misses.

He continued: “Now we know those big clubs… do I think I could have done the job that some people who have been in those clubs recently have done? Could I do better? I think I could.

“But we’ve talked about the baggage that comes with me as an appointment if you’re an owner. 

“And there’s a reality around (that), I can understand what that noise is. There’s that bit which makes me potentially a complicated appointment for a club.”

Crook: Southgate a ‘good fit’ for Palace

While Southgate might have distanced himself from a return to club management in the near future, this didn’t stop the talkSPORT studio from speculating where he could eventually end up.

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And chief football correspondent Alex Crook was quick to suggest Crystal Palace, where Southgate began his playing career and made 191 appearances between 1988 and 1995.

The Eagles will soon be looking for a new head coach, after Oliver Glasner announced he will leave the club in the summer.

Tipping Southgate for the vacancy, Crook said: “I think he’d be a good fit at Crystal Palace.

“[He] obviously knows the club, he will know Steve Parish. I think he will get the respect that his record does deserve at Crystal Palace.

“But the question that he’s got to ask himself and he sort of said it – he’s had the biggest job in the country, even though Palace obviously has a special place in his heart. 

“Is he going to get the same motivation out of being Crystal Palace manager as he did taking England to the finals?”

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Southgate’s Man United credentials questioned

Despite Southgate insisting he would be more tempted by the prospect of managing a top club, Crook was not convinced he would be the right man for the job at United.

Michael Carrick is in interim charge of the Red Devils until the end of the season, having taken over following Ruben Amorim‘s sacking.

But Southgate has frequently been linked with the job at Old Trafford after both Erik ten Hag and Amorim were dismissed during his football sabbatical.

Asked why Southgate was not his first pick for the role, Crook said: “I don’t think he’s a top-level manager, certainly not domestically.

“Look at what happened at Middlesbrough and I think there’s a big difference between being England manager and being Manchester United manager. 

“Especially when you look at the England team and one of the big things that he did, Gareth, he took the ego out of the dressing room.

“There’s a lot of ego still in that dressing room [at Man United].”