England manager Gareth Southgate wished new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer well – but stopped short of offering any tips to survive in the public eye.
Starmer led Labour to a landslide victory in Thursday’s General Election and has installed his new cabinet from Downing Street.
While Starmer settles into Number 10, he will be hoping to find time to tune in as Southgate’s England side face Switzerland in Saturday’s crunch Euro 2024 quarter-final in Dusseldorf.
Never in doubt. https://t.co/quw7HN8f13
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) June 30, 2024
The match will be Southgate’s 100th as England boss since he took the reins, initially on an interim basis, in 2016.
That run has seen him outlast four British prime ministers, with Starmer now the fifth.
Asked if he had any advice for Starmer and who he thought had the tougher of the two jobs, Southgate replied: “Well, I’m not envious of his job. No, I don’t have any advice.
“I think when you’re in a position of responsibility, as I am, you realise that advice comes from every direction.
“Everybody has a simple solution to complex problems, so I’m sure he’s going to be inundated with that sort of feel.
“Yeah, having been in the role I have, the one thing I would do is not be offering any additional issues for him by speaking publicly about anything, so I wish him well.
“We want a strong country. We all want the best possible conditions in the UK and whoever is in charge, whichever government is in charge, that’s what we all desire.”
Southgate’s tenure has seen plenty of political footballs enter the field of play.
The 53-year-old has previously spoken about issues such as racism – including the taking of the knee by his players before kick-off – homophobia, Brexit and whether the 2022 World Cup in Qatar should have been boycotted.
