GARY NEVILLE has urged Gareth Southgate to decide his England future “in the next few days”.
The Three Lions boss will be given the Christmas break to work out whether or not he wants to stay on in the dugout.
But Manchester United legend Neville, 47, reckons Southgate, 52, should make a decision sooner than that.
Especially with England in Euro qualifying action against Italy and Ukraine in March.
Neville told Sky Sports: “I think Gareth needs to come out in the next few days and put it to bed.
“[He needs to say] ‘I’m staying,’ or ‘I’m not,’ because I don’t think it goes into the New Year.
“And obviously we’ve got games in March I think, and I don’t think that’s fair on the FA, because they need to find a successor.”
Neville suggested Southgate could depart after the Euros in 18 months – with a new boss already lined up.
He added: “Gareth obviously is honest and a man with great integrity, he’ll make the decision that’s right for him but right for the FA as well, he’ll do the right thing.
“It feels to me like 18 months is right, and that they’re doing this next tournament and maybe Gareth doing that knowing that there’s a successor in place, there’s a succession plan in place, would feel right to me.”
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But even if Southgate does call time on his spell as boss, Neville reckons he should stay within the England setup.
Hoping Southgate doesn’t return to club management, Neville said: “He’s seen it all Gareth, and I think he should be kept in the system to design the future.
“He’s been there for 10 years, we’ve had great success with the women’s team, we’ve had great success with the younger teams, I think we’ve had relatively really good success with the men’s team.
“I feel like he’s seen that over 10 years the improvement in performance, and that performance and culture have improved.
“I’d like him to stay with the FA beyond his coaching role.”
Southgate spent three seasons in charge of Middlesbrough before moving on to be England U21s boss, and then the first team.
He took over in 2016 and has led the Three Lions to a Euros final and World Cup semi-final.
