Gareth Southgate insists he won’t quit as England Under 21s boss, but admits decision is out of his hands

England’s 3-1 defeat by Italy saw them crash out of the group stage at the Under 21 European Championship on Wednesday night
Head coach Gareth Southgate says that he will not resign from his role
Southgate admits, however, that his future is not up to him alone

Published:
22:22 GMT, 24 June 2015

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Updated:
00:36 GMT, 25 June 2015

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Gareth Southgate will not quit his role as England Under 21s head coach after his side tumbled out of Euro 2015.

For the third Under 21 European Championship in a row, England failed to get out of their group and their exit from the Czech Republic was sealed by a miserable 3-1 defeat to Italy, a nation they have not beaten at this level since 1997.

Southgate signed a 12-month contract extension in January, which runs until the end of the 2017 tournament in Poland, but he accepted that the decision might taken out of his hands by the Football Association. Dan Ashworth, the Technical Director with whom Southgate has a strong relationship, will be key.

Gareth Southgate insists he wants to stay on as England Under 21s’ head coach despite their tournament exit

Harry Kane (centre), Danny Ings (left) and Jack Forster-Caskey look dejected during England’s defeat by Italy

Andrea Belotti wheels away after putting Italy ahead against England, volleying home on Wednesday night

Jack Butland is left wrong-footed as Marco Benassi’s shot takes a cruel deflection to make it 2-0

He was honest enough to admit that England’s performance had not been good enough against Italy and said: ‘I’m contracted to stay on. I’d like to stay on but in the end it’s not my decision.

‘I think what we have done over the last two years is raise the profile of the team and the style with which we’ve played. We’ve had some massive success stories in terms of individuals who have come through the programme.

ENGLAND’S MISERABLE RECORD

2013 European Under 21 Championships – knocked out in group stages (finished bottom of group behind Italy, Norway and Israel)

2014 World Cup – knocked out in group stages (finished bottom of group behind Costa Rica, Uruguay and Italy)

2015 European Under 21 Championships – knocked out in group stages (finished bottom of group behind Portugal, Sweden and Italy)

‘One of two players have come through this tournament and emerged from it. People will look at all of that, I’m sure, when making their decision.’

England, who enjoyed 59 per cent possession and had 20 shots, never recovered after conceding two goals in the space of four minutes.

This performance was not as bleak as some of the efforts that Stuart Pearce’s squads at 2011 and 2013 produced but, crucially, it was lacking in quality when it mattered.

Southgate said: ‘It’s two years’ work to get here. They’re so tight as a group and have learned so much about tournaments, life and themselves. It’s probably the best football we’ve played but games are won and lost in both boxes.

‘It’s a cruel defeat for them but that’s the nature of football. We had some good chances that we didn’t take – there’s so little between these teams at the tournament. It comes down to small details and concentration. The two-minute spell is the turning point of the game.’

This is the third summer in the row that England have gone out from a tournament at the group stage but Southgate argued: ‘We can’t associate these players with the history of English football. Everyone makes defensive errors but tonight they were punished for them.’