Gareth Southgate will be hard to replace and deserves plaudits for his tenure as England manager, says David Seaman.
Southgate stepped down from the high-profile post on Tuesday, ending a nearly eight-year run in charge of the Three Lions. During that time, Southgate led England to the semi-finals at the 2018 World Cup and the finals at the last two European Championships, and while he wasn't able to guide the team to a trophy, Seaman believes Southgate's time as manager should be seen as a success.
Speaking to Betway, the 75-times capped Seaman explained why he thinks Southgate will eventually be remembered fondly by England fans and how hard it may be to find a replacement for the 53-year-old.
"Gareth Southgate has taken England such a long way," Seaman said.
"I thought that coming so close again might have pushed him on even further to have one more go at the World Cup, because that is the pinnacle of all tournaments, but he’s made his decision to leave.
"He deserves so much credit for what he’s done, and should be hailed as a hero for what he’s achieved.
"Gareth has had a lot of criticism, the crowd have booed him and thrown cups at him, which is tough to take when it’s your own fans.
"I think he’ll be a manager everyone will look back on and appreciate, though. That’s what often happens. We should be careful what we wish for, because Gareth consistently got us to semi-finals and finals, and that will be hard to replace.
"Everyone thinks a new manager will come in, hit the ground running and kick on from the level that the previous manager has set, but it doesn’t always work out like that. We’ve seen it at club level with Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson – great managers leave and it all falls to pieces."
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