The game is, and should, be over for Gareth, but it’s nothing personal
When The Early Whistle was ready for takeoff in the summer of 2021, there were high hopes for England. A World Cup semi three years before, which the Three Lions hadn’t reached since 1990, was a proud achievement for a nation whose national side had been humiliated and were on the brink of even worse things in 2016. And it was all made possible by the man whom so many had lacked faith in as Head Coach at first, Gareth Southgate.
But by the time the dust had settled on the postponed Euro 2020 tournament, a clear pattern was beginning to emerge. Yes, England had progressed a stage further, but the dogged determination to sit back after scoring was starting to look like something that just couldn’t be shaken off. In truth, they hadn’t progressed at all.
Be that as it may, finishing as runners-up had earned Southgate the right to have a crack at the World Cup in Qatar. Yet perhaps predictably, his England went out with a whimper against the French, and that was the moment when the axe should’ve fallen. After all, he’d been in the job for a good six years, which is longer than the vast majority of international managers get to enjoy. So what’s the conclusion? That really, it’s the fault of the FA for not appointing a successor who could’ve taken the helm in Germany, and maybe guided this talented bunch all the way. Who, in all seriousness, would walk away from the job a mere eighteen months after coming so close? Sometimes you need to push.
Spain were undoubtedly the team of the tournament at Euro 2024, but they were far from unbeatable and certainly nowhere near the side who conquered the world over a decade ago. Had England played to their strengths, it might well have been a different story, but under Southgate they never did and therein lies the fans’ frustration. Save for the idiots who decided to launch plastic cups in his direction, their criticism has been entirely justified. It’s not the players’ fault, it’s not even the now ex-manager’s fault, but unfortunately the FA decided to stick with the safe option as they so often do.
If we’re being honest, Southgate had taken England as far as he could after that final against Italy, but it was blindingly obvious after the last World Cup. He should go down as one of our greatest managers for what he’s achieved, but sadly tactical masterclasses are not part of that. He managed to foster an unshakeable dressing room atmosphere and togetherness in the camp that were beyond the likes of perceived managerial greats such as Fabio Capello. England are also no longer the laughing stock of the world when it comes to penalty shootouts – a miracle worked in itself.
Southgate has proved he can turn water into wine where man-management’s concerned, and that will be his legacy, his authority that he stamped on the England set-up. But the final hurdle in international football, a major trophy, is always so close and yet so far whoever you are, and to take that last giant leap takes something incalculable, intangible, a quality so rare it’s almost beyond mere mortals. We now know that Southgate doesn’t possess it, and the baton should’ve been passed to the next candidate long before now, so that they had the chance to build on the impressive foundations he’s put in place.
But those foundations are there and won’t be going anywhere soon, and of that Gareth Southgate and the whole of England should be justly proud. It’s just a shame that his successor – whoever it turns out to be – wasn’t in the job earlier. Forget this talk of “Is there anyone better?” because you don’t know until you try. Ironically, that’s the daring mindset we could have done with so much more of at Euro 2024.
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