The latest of rumours from the English football camps suggest that Lionesses coach Sarina Wiegman would be considered by the Football Association (FA) as a possible successor to England men’s manager Gareth Southgate.
With Southgate’s contract expiring in 2024, the FA have been on the lookout for replacements and it is believed that Wiegman’s name ranks high in the order as they begin to consider options for a replacement.
Southgate’s era was a bittersweet one for English fans, as many criticised him for his rather stubborn and dull midfield play. But, he did indeed yield a fair degree of success, as he helped England reach the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2018 and also fell just short of attaining European glory in 2020 when he lost the EUROs to Italy in the final.
Wiegman on the other hand has now coached the Lionesses to the FIFA Women’s World Cup final against Spain as the two sides will duke it out for eternal glory on Sunday. In fact, her leadership has transformed the Lionesses into an unstoppable force as she succumbed to only one loss in the 38 matches she has taken up the role of England’s head coach.
When asked about the decision to consider Wiegman, FA Chief Executive Mark Bullingham said on Thursday: “People always say it is the best man for the job or the best Englishman. Why does it have to be a man? I think our answer is always: ‘It’s the best person for the job.’ We think Sarina is doing a great job and hope she continues doing it for a long time. I think Sarina could do anything she wants in football.
“If at some point in the future, she decides she wants to move into the men’s game, that would be a really interesting discussion, but that’s for her, right? I don’t think we should view it as a step up. If she decides at some point in the future to go in a different direction, I think she’s perfectly capable of that. It’s the best person for the job, if that best person is a woman, then why not?"