'He took that to heart' – Gary Lineker, Jamie Carragher and top pundits deliver final verdict on Gareth Southgate exit

Former England striker and broadcaster Gary Lineker – who reached the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup – feels Southgate helped bring togetherness back to the national team set-up.

“Wishing Gareth Southgate all the very best in the future. He brought pride, respect and a togetherness to England that we hadn’t seen for a long time,” Lineker said on X.

“He was close, very close to footballing immortality and he always did the job with humility, decency and dignity. Thank you, Gareth.”

England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford said the defeat to Spain in Sunday’s Euro 2024 final would “hurt for a while” and also paid tribute to Southgate.

The Everton number one wrote on Instagram: “I also want to say a special thank you to the boss for always believing in me during his time with us and I would like to wish him all the best in his next steps. Thank you Gareth.”

Former Liverpool and England defender Jamie Carragher described Southgate’s time as manager as a “great ride”.

In a post on X, Carragher said: “It’s been a great ride for all involved over the last eight years.

“Two finals, semi final and a quarter final in Gareth Southgate’s four tournaments is a very tough act to follow!”

Ex-England full back Gary Neville simply posted: “Thank you Gareth you did a great Job.”

BBC Sport pundit Chris Sutton, who covered Euro 2024, feels Southgate can leave with his head held high.

The former striker, who was capped once by England in 1997 when playing for Blackburn, wrote on X: “Gareth Southgate is a class act and can leave his position as England manager with his head held high and with great pride with what he has achieved.”

Former England striker Alan Smith said on Sky Sports News: “He (Southgate) brought an enjoyment to the job, took the fear out of it to a certain extent.

“Players finally looked forward to joining up (with England) whereas before maybe they would be a bit reticent.

“He has proved it can be done, and obviously has had a fine group of players to do it with.

“My reaction is one of sadness that he has gone, because he is a fine individual, we all know that, but going on to the World Cup was perhaps a step too far given the nature of the performances (at Euro 2024), rather than getting to the final, which was a great achievement.

“The criticism he received, he clearly took that to heart and you can only do this job for so long – it wears you down and I think that has happened to Gareth.

“We can only thank him for what he has done for the national side.”