Gareth Southgate announced that he was vacating his post as England manager this morning which has left the media questioning who will fill the former Middlesbrough manager’s boots.
There are plenty of talented coaches in the EFL currently and, whilst most of them are not ready to lead the Three Lions just yet, they may have the potential to do so in the future whether that is in five, 10 or even 20 years.
With that in mind, here are five EFL managers who could one day manage England.
The current Middlesbrough manager is perhaps the most obvious candidate to go on and manage his country in the future.
The 42-year-old’s first and only taste of management thus far has been with Middlesbrough, who he took over as they sat in 21st place in the Championship in October 2022.
Carrick was an instant success at Middlesbrough as his attacking style of play took his team to fourth place in the second tier. Although last season only yielded an eighth-place finish in the Championship, Middlesbrough made it to the semi-final of the EFL Cup.
Now entering his third season with the club, Carrick will be looking to achieve promotion with Boro in the 2024/25 season and this could help him to establish himself as a top Premier League manager; one of the first requirements for a potential England boss.
The former central midfielder had a lengthy international career which spanned 14 years and saw him earn 34 caps for England. This experience of the media scrutiny that comes with playing for the Three Lions would be a real asset for Carrick if he were ever the England boss.
Lincoln City manager Michael Skubala has had an unorthodox journey to EFL management. But the football world is now realising his potential as a coach from both a tactical and a mental standpoint.
Skubala’s coaching career started at a secondary school before going on to manage university football and then the England futsal team. In fact, the 41-year-old was only given his first formal post in football two years ago.
The unique path Skubala has taken shows his mental fortitude and ambition, two attributes which will be key if he wants to make it to the pinnacle of football as England manager.
The former Leeds United coach has only managed 34 games in senior football, most of which have been with Lincoln City.
He was appointed as manager of the Imps in November 2023 and he turned what was looking like another mundane season as a mid-table League One side into a push for the playoffs, which the Lincolnshire side narrowly missed out on after a final-day defeat to Portsmouth.
Like Carrick, Skubala has a very distinct and very attacking footballing philosophy and, with a full summer to finely mould this Lincoln team, they will be looking at trying to gain promotion to the second tier next season.
The man who denied Skubala’s Lincoln a play-off place on the final day was John Mousinho, who has an excellent managerial record to date.
The 38-year-old was appointed Portsmouth manager in January 2023 and he has achieved nearly two points per game across 76 games with the League One Champions. This success also led to him being named the League One Manager of the Year for the 2023/24 season.
This winning mentality is key for any England manager to have, part of the reason for the pressure on Gareth Southgate was that, despite going far in multiple major tournaments, England had not actually won anything under his tutorship.
Portsmouth chief executive Andrew Cullen also highlighted Mousinho’s leadership and motivational skills when announcing his appointment as manager.
This is an integral skill which any England manager needs to develop. Dressing room problems were the root of the failure of the national team in the early 2010s but if Mousinho has shown an ability to cultivate a constructive atmosphere that should lead to him getting to the very top of the managerial game.
Former Newcastle defender Mike Williamson is one of the most promising managers in the EFL right now, even if he is only managing a League Two club in Milton Keynes Dons.
Williamson’s managerial career started in the north-east with Gateshead, a football club whose revolution he was at the centre of. He guided the Heed to promotion from the National League North in the 2021/22 season, as a player-manager, following their demotion to the sixth tier due to financial reasons in 2019.
In his first season in the fifth tier, Williamson secured a solid 14th-place finish for Gateshead whilst also taking the club to Wembley as they reached the FA Trophy final.
Last season, the Heed looked set for a promotion push before Williamson was snapped up by MK Dons who at the time were in 16th place in League Two.
20 wins and one Manager of the Month award later, the Dons managed to finish in fourth place in League Two, although they fell short in the playoffs.
Williamson plays a hyper-attacking style of football using a back three and a high press in which his teams sometimes simply look to outscore the opponent.
Although this style certainly entertaining for the neutral, it may need more refining if he wants to achieve the levels of success required to get him the England job in the future.
Last but not least, Des Buckingham has accumulated a vast amount of experience for a 39-year-old whilst also securing an unlikely promotion for Oxford United last season.
Buckingham began his managerial career in New Zealand with Wellington Phoenix, when he was appointed manager with the club at the bottom of the A-League table. However, he managed to lead the side to a seventh-place finish, eight points off the bottom of the table.
The Oxford-born man also spent time in the international set-up of New Zealand, albeit at youth level, and he was named Men’s Coach of the Year at the 2020 New Zealand Football Awards.
Buckingham also spent time in India as the manager of Mumbai City FC. He guided the team to victory in the Indian Super League in the 2022/23 season, breaking 15 records in the process and winning another individual award as Coach of the Year voted by the Indian Players Football Association.
This led to Buckingham returning to boyhood club Oxford United mid-way through last season and securing a fifth-place finish before winning the League One play-offs, gaining his side promotion to the second tier after eight consecutive years in the third division.
The former Melbourne City man needs to find a home and build a project to enhance his reputation in England and the U’s could provide him with the perfect opportunity to do so even if they are set for a tough first season in the Championship.
These managers may still have a long way to go before they are even considered for the England job, but all of them are set for exciting yet challenging seasons in the EFL next year.
Aryan Jolly is an aspiring football journalist who joined The Real EFL in the summer of 2023. He specialises in prediction content and the National League.
