With the fans bored and desperate, it looks increasingly likely that England’s manager Gareth Southgate will walk away soon. The Concourse explore how his legacy will be evaluated by Three Lions fans.
If there is one very prominent opinion held by England fans which captures all of football’s naivety, it’s this: Southgate is a Volvo on a racetrack.
The question to ask ourselves is not whether Gareth Southgate is a Volvo. Of course he is.
What we should be asking is whether international football is indeed a racetrack. If it is, that suggests Gareth Southgate might have failed miserably as the England manager. He’s done just the opposite.
So what’s all the fuss about? It seems no matter how well the team does, there remains a collective frustration towards Southgate. There’s an ‘I told you so’ attitude from England fans. It’s a self-preservation thing.
Henry Winter, Chief Football Writer at The Times, said: “Bad decisions and bad results have marred Southgate’s reputation. And particularly at the moment, the quality of players he’s got.”
“Player selection is the hardest conundrum to solve. ‘Where was Foden?’ and ‘Maguire’s sh*t’ have been the most recent barbaric yawps of reproval heard from pub gardens.”
“Everyone calls it the ‘impossible job’. I think it’s the loneliest job. It’s pretty unforgiving”, Winter says.
“He will hurt [when he leaves]. England stays with people. It stayed with Bobby Robson until his last breath.”
It stayed with Southgate after that miss at Euro 96. He felt he’d let the country down that day. He’d hate to play the fool twice over.
He could never be a fool if he tried. Nineteen brave men have accepted ‘the impossible job’. Most of them knew full well it was a job that ruined careers. It’s taken Southgate to demonstrate just how possible it really is. A fool couldn’t do what Southgate’s done.
The success has arguably been the best of any period in England’s history. A semi-final, followed by a final. The team broke the England goalscoring record in a calendar year in 2019 (38 goals) and again in 2021 (52 goals). No England manager has won more tournament games than Southgate.
But still he apologises for ’96. That’s the reason he won’t outstay his welcome.
Make no mistake, Southgate won’t be sacked. He’ll walk away. He’s done enough to avoid a public culling from the FA.
Winter considers Southgate an “FA yes man”, despite recalling being “initially underwhelmed” by the appointment. Everyone was.
Managers in this game are expected to be charismatic, bombastic figures with egos that demand respect. When a humble, quiet, measured Gareth Southgate signed the papers, few were convinced.
His two previous roles at the FA as Head of Youth Development and then Under-21 Head Coach were key to his appointment.
“He was one of the original architects of building this generation of good players with the work that he’d done at the FA, arguing for more emphasis on skill. You could tell what he was trying to do. Take the fear out of the shirt, rebuild the relations with the fans, and he’s done that,” Winter explains. “It’s definitely been a success. Culturally, tactically.
“If you go to St George’s Park, Raheem Sterling will be sitting having a coffee with the Under-17s who all idolise him. So, there is that continuity. There is that sharing of knowledge. And I think Southgate, to his great credit, has encouraged that because Southgate has always been that kind of person himself.
His team selections and tactics in the big games have sparked much debate, especially in the 2022 World Cup where many fans were unimpressed with his approach.
England fan and host of the Three Lions Podcast, Russell Osborne, says: “He’s been reluctant to change things when it’s come to the crunch.”
His opposite numbers have played bold moves.
Winter recalls: “Southgate hadn’t really responded to that. I don’t know whether he’s learnt, I hope he has. Has he got that nous to get England over the line?”
What makes a substitution bold, though? Does it have to turn the tide of a game, or does it simply involve replacing a midfielder with a winger? Southgate has a bank of examples for the former. The latter screams facile, naïve, cursory. Anyone could do that.
Look at the win over Wales. Southgate brought Jordan Henderson in, dropping the ever-zestful Mason Mount. The result? 3-0. His critics silenced… temporarily.
Winter sees results and decisions as more significant to the anti-Southgate discourse than any match report or opinion piece. “I mean, journalists have got egos, but I don’t think we influence the fans so much as the other way around. I think fans have got a lot of power. That’s what shapes the destiny of the mood around a manager, and I would certainly say that’s the case with England. I think the fans would just like more adventure.”
There appears to be this obsession with the style of football played by England. Pragmatism doesn’t excite. Well, look back at any tournament-winning team. They don’t concede goals. Spain’s golden generation conceded zero in knockout matches en route to winning three major titles in a row. England only got to the Euros final because of clean sheets. Southgate’s team conceded two goals in seven games — none from open play. Supporters might be encouraged to enjoy the pragmatism, knowing it’s winning games.
One of the most memorable England nights of late was the 2-0 win over Germany at the Euros last year. The starting eleven that day was classic Gareth. Back five, two holding midfielders, and Saka on the wing (merely a fringe player at the time). Southgate knew the narrative. He said post-match, “if I pick that team and we don’t win — I’m dead”. It was a triumph on many levels which answered all his critics. Under Southgate, England are savvy. All the rest shouldn’t matter.
“There is criticism, but I think Southgate understands it. Whatever demands people place on him, he’s placing even greater demands on himself.”
“I don’t think he’s particularly concerned about what the media thinks. It won’t be a particularly painful divorce when he goes,” says Winter.
Osborne thinks “the talk has been loud over potential replacements for him, and while that has subsided a bit, I don’t think it would take much for those voices to be raised again.”
Whether fair or not, Southgate is at a crossroads: If he cannot win now (with this team), he may never be able to.
How will the nation treat Gareth Southgate, should he return from Germany empty handed?
He’ll be the man who just couldn’t do it in the big games. And yet, in retrospect, we adore Terry Venables and his London swagger. In retrospect, Bobby Robson is immortal. In retrospect, Southgate would become the man who managed to take England from the depths of football to a major final and two semis. How telling this is. Hindsight is wonderful; foresight lends perspective.
Rarely do results alone kill an England manager.
Only through the raucous ensemble of fans did we hear the last death rattle of McClaren, Taylor and Hodgson and co. Gareth Southgate has credit in the bank. He’ll cash it in before things turn ugly. England managers are indeed made weak by time and fate, but Southgate is strong in will.
He’s endured great vilification and ensured great vibes. This Volvo’s done all right.