Sarina Wiegman may replace Gareth Southgate as England men's boss

Posted Friday, August 18, 2023 by Express.co.uk

Sarina Wiegman could replace Gareth Southgate as England's men's manager.

Mark Bullingham, chief executive of the Football Association, believes that Sarina Wiegman could be a leading candidate to succeed Gareth Southgate as manager of the England men's team. Wiegman has enjoyed a stunning spell with the Lionesses and is just one game away from winning the Women's World Cup for the first time in her managerial career.

Wiegman has never coached in men's football but is one of the best in the women's game, having managed the Netherlands and several Dutch club sides before joining England in 2021. Speaking ahead of Sunday's final against Spain, Bullingham insisted that Wiegman would be more than capable of replacing Southgate if she decides to transfer her skills to men's football one day.

"Sarina’s doing the Lionesses, she’s doing a brilliant job," said Bullingham. "I don’t like the language, should it be the best man for the job. I think it’s the best person for the job. Do I think football is behind other sports in terms of a lack of female coaches at the top level? I do.

"I think that has to change and the third part of it is do I think Sarina could do any job in football? Yes, I do. I’m really happy with the job she’s doing and I hope she stays doing that for a long time. 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?"

Sarina Wiegman may replace Gareth Southgate as England men's boss
Sarina Wiegman has done an excellent job during her time in charge of the Lionesses (Image: GETTY)

When asked if English football would be ready to get behind a female Three Lions head coach, Bullingham replied: "It’s the best person for the job. If that person’s a woman, then why not? You analyse the pool for the job at that particular time.

"Do I think there’s a really strong diverse pool of both men and women for a big national job? No, I think the pool is small for both, actually, but I don’t like the mindset that it has to be a man. So, I’ll say it again. From our point of view, Sarina is doing a great job in what she’s doing and we want her to continue.

"If and when we get a vacancy in either of our senior men’s or women’s manager positions, we’d go for the best person for the job, which would be the best person capable of winning matches."

Wiegman is contracted to England until 2025 but has recently been linked with the vacant United States job following Vlatko Andonovski’s resignation. She is set to be rewarded with a new Lionesses deal after the World Cup, though, and Bullingham is fully expecting her to stay for the foreseeable future.

"We’ve seen the rumours," he added. "She’s a special talent, we know that. From our side, she’s obviously contracted through until 2025. We think she’s doing a great job, she’s someone we’d like to have with us for a very long time."