Wayne Rooney remains England captain as Gareth Southgate confirms there is no break clause in four-year contract

Southgate has been given a contract until the 2020 European Championship and confirmed that the FA do not have an option to remove him without sacking im after the 2018 World Cup

Gareth Southgate addresses the media for the first time after being named the permanent England manager (Getty)

Gareth Southgate began his four-year mandate as England manager by confirming Wayne Rooney would stay on as captain and promising to redefine the culture around the team.

Southgate officially turned his interim title into a permanent one on Wednesday but has long been the lone candidate and has had plenty of time to ponder his first steps in the job.

Appearing before the press at Wembley he was able to answer some questions definitively: Rooney would stay as skipper but not be a guaranteed starter, his deal does not include a break clause after the 2018 World Cup, changes to the backroom team are under way but not yet confirmed.

He also spoke passionately about the need to remove any of the rough edges that remain around the side's preparations and protocols - drawn into action by the the unflattering pictures and reports which emerged of Rooney and several others squad members on a night off last month.

Rooney early-hours socialising with hotel guests at England's team base has not cost him the armband - though he will need to earn selection to get his hands on it.

"Wayne is England captain," he said, settling one issue immediately.

"I think I said that at the beginning of the interim period but what's also clear is I've only selected him to start in two of the four matches we've had.

"Obviously it's not the case that Wayne expects to play every game.

"Wayne has played an important part for England up to this point and I'm sure he can do that in the future but we also have to develop others."

Southgate tried to temper his words about last month's evening exploits, aiming for a positive tone rather than a hectoring one, but could not hide the fact that he found much of what he saw and read unacceptable.

"The important thing is we've got an opportunity to talk about environment and culture around the team. If we think we're good enough to play the best teams in the world and give ourselves a slight handicap along the way then good luck with that," he said.

"We've got to make sure every opportunity to recover and to perform at our very best is taken. It (the players' conduct last month) is not disappointing because I think young people make decisions, and I made plenty of poor decisions when I was a young player. It's how you react and learn from those moments that's important.

"There have got to be clear guidelines but it's also important that players take some leadership in that. Look at elite teams and there's a clear process of players taking responsibility in what that looks like.

"I like to treat players with respect, treat them like adults and there has got to be trust between coach and players."

Southgate confirmed there is no break clause in his contract (Getty)

When negotiations began it was expected Southgate would receive a contract worth around £1.5million a year with a break clause for both parties to review the arrangement after the 2018 World Cup.

But having moved into a position of strength after a 3-0 win over Scotland and an entertaining 2-2 draw against Spain, the 46-year-old was able to leverage more favourable terms.

His pay is thought to be nearer £2million, with performance-related incentives, and he was clear that his four-year deal came with no built-in caveats.

"No, there's no break clause," he said.

"I'm taking over at a point where the last two tournaments haven't been as successful as we'd like. There's big potential in the squad but a lot of hard work ahead.

"We've got a group of players I think are going to develop a lot and it's important to look not just at short-term results."

Southgate was unveiled as the permanent England manager at Wembley (Getty)

FA chief executive Martin Glenn, who was an influential voice in the appointment process, insisted he was happy to commit to Southgate over a two-tournament cycle.

"He is a tough negotiator actually, but we had an alignment of interests," he said.

I think everyone knows how important Steve has been for me in terms of the work we've done in the last few years (at under-21 level) and in the last few weeks

&#13; <p>Gareth Southgate</p>&#13;

"I wanted, and had a mandate from the board, to offer a four-year contract because we've got quite a young squad. We need time to see that squad's potential develop and be nurtured.

"I think we'll do well in Russia, personally, but in the hypothetical event we didn't there's a longer-term project and I think we need to support Gareth, to build towards 2020 and hopefully beyond. I felt it was important we had a contract that reflected that."

Southgate wants his assistant, Steve Holland, to join the FA payroll on a permanent basis having previously worked a job split with Chelsea.

Discussions around that are ongoing, though Chelsea's strong performances in the Premier League this year mean they may not be willing to let their coach go until the end of the campaign.

Southgate confirmed that Rooney will remain his captain but called for more leaders in the squad (Getty)

There are also no guarantees that Sammy Lee and Martyn Margetson, drafted to the coaching team by former boss Sam Allardyce and retained during Southgate's temporary stint, will remain.

At least some changes to the backroom team are expected but negotiations are not yet complete.

"We're working towards that and hope to be able to make some announcements soon," he said.

"I think everyone knows how important Steve has been for me in terms of the work we've done in the last few years (at under-21 level) and in the last few weeks, there's no secret in that.

"At the moment everything is ongoing."

PA