‘What are they smoking?!’ - Man Utd fans go berserk at Gary Neville & Roy Keane for ringing Gareth Southgate endorsement as they call for ‘Big Sam’ to be brought in instead

Southgate has emerged as a potential successor to Erik ten Hag and it has been reported that United's minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe is confident of luring the England manager to Old Trafford. United legends Roy Keane and Gary Neville both told the Stick to Football podcast that Southgate would be a good appointment for the Red Devils.

Neville and Keane's comments have been met with a furious response online from a number of United fans. X user @karthikeyan3108 wrote: "Neville should probably start keeping his opinions to himself considering his glorious stint as a manager himself."

Fellow X user @United_Benj was also not keen on the idea of the England boss taking charge of United, suggesting he would be as bad as former Three Lions manager Sam Allardyce. "Dear god. Replacing Ten Hag with Southgate?! Might as well bring Big Sam in," he wrote.

United fan @racheal_ifedayo also reacted with incredulity, writing on X: "What are they smoking? Why would we want Southgate fgs"

Ten Hag got some breathing space thanks to United's dramatic 4-3 win over Liverpool to reach the FA Cup semi-final. However, he is still on thin ice as the Red Devils remain sixth in the Premier League and with little chance of qualifying for the Champions League.

Southgate is England's most successful manager since Sir Alf Ramsey, taking the Three Lions to the World Cup semi-finals in 2018 and the quarter-finals in 2022 plus the final of the last European Championship, where England were beaten on penalties by Italy.

The England manager is under contract with the FA until December and has decided not to make any decision on his future until after the European Championship. England face Brazil on Saturday and then Belgium on Tuesday. United's next game is away to Brentford on March 30, when they will bid to close the gap on Tottenham for fifth place.