Gareth Southgate gave us back our pride in the Three Lions – and plenty of memorable moments along the way
GARETH Southgate deserved to win a trophy as England manager.
Unfortunately, you don’t always get what you deserve in life.
No man could have worked harder to give the country the silverware it craved and no man cared more about our national team.
As a player he went through agonies after missing that fateful penalty against Germany at Euro 96 — and victory as a manager in the Euro 2024 final against Spain on Sunday would have been a wonderful redemption.
Southgate himself said he didn’t believe in fairytales — and there was to be no happy ending as ultimately England came up short again when it mattered.
But his legacy should be one of great achievement, not of failure.
This is an England boss who transformed our feelings towards the Three Lions.
Hardened fans, who claimed they only cared about their club, fell back in love with England during Gareth’s eight years in charge.
As The Sun’s chief football writer, I followed England through the Sven Göran Eriksson era, on to Steve McClaren, then Fabio Capello and Roy Hodgson.
None of them could hold a candle to Southgate.
Eriksson could not get past the quarter-finals and McClaren didn’t even qualify for Euro 2008.
Then there was Italian disciplinarian Capello, who always gave the impression that he was doing us a favour and didn’t want to be there before he eventually quit.
Hodgson’s reign was a disaster.
After being thrust into Euro 2012 in an emergency, we somehow made the quarter-finals.
But his team went out of the 2014 World Cup finals after two games before being dumped embarrassingly out of Euro 2016 by Iceland.
England fans had had enough.
They couldn’t be bothered with the national team any more and neither, it seemed, could the players.
Southgate, who had joined the FA in 2011 to improve coaching standards and develop youth football, was under-21s boss at the time but didn’t fancy the senior job.
The environment was too toxic and he wasn’t sure he wanted the hassle.
But, after Sam Allardyce’s ill-fated one-match reign, the FA went back to Southgate to test the water by taking temporary charge.
Southgate took it on reluctantly and, when the FA then wanted to make his position permanent, he made it clear he had to have free rein to do the job on his terms.
This was to be a new England with no club cliques, no wars with the media and an openness and honesty from coaches and players.
No time for negativity
He never believed it was the impossible job as many claimed before him.
He had no time for negativity.
Fans may not care about the relationship between players and the media.
But Southgate knew if he encouraged his squad to open up, he could foster an atmosphere where everyone was on board.
Hodgson’s coach, Gary Neville, used to actively dissuade players from engaging with the media.
What an irony that Neville now makes millions as one of our game’s foremost TV pundits.
Neville would have hated the Southgate regime.
He loved the old days when he and his United mates sat on one table and Liverpool stars sat on another and never the twain would meet until they were out on the pitch.
Southgate’s regime was properly inclusive and if you didn’t like it you didn’t get picked.
As England progressed and reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup, we could see the manager’s efforts being rewarded.
He followed that with a penalties defeat against Italy in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley, a quarter-final loss to France at World Cup 2022 and Sunday’s final defeat against the imperious Spanish.
Southgate came so close.
Maybe there always was a vital ingredient missing that prevented him getting across the line in tournament football.
Maybe he was too cautious at times, as his critics complained.
And it was sad to see the feelgood factor he had so carefully nurtured over those eight years begin to disintegrate at Euro 2024.
Southgate did not take it well when ex-pros who he considered allies, such as Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer, stuck the boot in and he was shocked at having beer cups dropped on him by disgruntled supporters.
Lineker calling England “s***” on his podcast went down particularly badly, not just with Southgate but the whole England camp.
It was still something of a surprise to discover Southgate was so rattled by it, even though publicly he argued it didn’t affect him.
He seemed to view criticism of his team and tactics as a personal attack on him when often it was just an assessment of the performance.
Questions were raised about his loyalty to certain players, especially his captain, Kane, who did not appear fit despite his claims that he was 100 per cent.
During his time in charge, Southgate had shown his ruthless streak in ending the international career of England legend Wayne Rooney and for this Euros he axed Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson, who were almost considered his mates.
Yet he couldn’t bring himself to leave Kane out when we could all see he was struggling and he had two very capable alternative strikers in Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney.
Gareth always trusted in his game-plan, and that included Kane up front even with a dodgy back.
The argument that he should have won Euro 2024 with such a talented group of players was certainly one for debate.
Yet look at our history.
There were plenty of teams we thought had the talent yet they failed miserably, most notably the Golden Generation of Eriksson’s reign.
Plenty of entertainment along the way
Yes, the Euros was a let-down and England were probably lucky to make the final.
But Southgate, by some distance, turned his England team into the most successful since Sir Alf Ramsey’s World Cup winners of 1966.
He gave us plenty of entertainment and fun along the way and a reason to feel proud.
We were even starting to crack it at penalty shoot-outs.
Most importantly, Southgate was a thoroughly decent human being throughout it all, treating everyone with respect — whether you were a player, a fan or part of the media.
It’s not easy to maintain those traits in such a high-pressure job when the focus of the whole country is on you and you’re getting pelters.
The essence of Southgate is brilliantly captured in James Graham’s play Dear England, which follows the trials and tribulations of this rarest of football men.
The script is being rewritten for the play’s return next May to take in the defeat against Spain and you’ll no doubt need a tissue to dab away the tears of frustration.
It’s a crying shame the finale will not be featuring tears of joy.
Five biggest moments
ENGLAND had a dire penalty shoot-out record before Southgate’s era.
But a new mettle was shown as the Three Lions beat Colombia on spot-kicks at the 2018 World Cup on their way to the semi-finals.
LUKE Shaw scored the fastest ever goal in a Euros final with his strike after just two minutes at Wembley.
But joy turned to despair as it was Italy who went on to win Euro 2020 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
WITH England seconds from an embarrassing Euro 2024 exit at the hands of Slovakia, Real Madrid ace Jude Bellingham scored a 95th-minute overhead kick to tie the game.
The spectacular goal gave Southgate’s men renewed impetus and they went on to win the last-16 encounter in extra-time with captain Harry Kane bagging the winner.
SOUTHGATE and his players faced down vile racist chants from Bulgaria fans at a Euro 2020 qualifier in Sofia.
The Three Lions chose to play on despite the option of abandoning the game — and thumped them 6-0.
SUPER-sub Ollie Watkins fired in a last-minute winner to beat the Dutch 2-1 in their Euro 2024 semi-final.
It meant Southgate became the first England boss to lead the country to two major tournament finals.
Southgate timeline
1990: Bursts on to the scene with Crystal Palace — making debut as a dynamic central midfielder.
1991-95: Becomes a pivotal force in Palace’s dramatic rise to the Premier League and is captain at 23.
1995: High-profile move to Aston Villa for £2.5million, reinventing himself as a central defender — and wins League Cup at the end of his first season.
1996: Plays every minute for England at Euro 96 — but misses the decisive penalty in the semi-final shoot-out against Germany.
2001: Signs for Middlesbrough for £6.5million.
2004: Captains them to their first-ever major trophy — the League Cup.
2006: Retirement as a player and then becomes Middlesbrough’s manager.
2009: The team is relegated from the Premier League and he gets sacked.
2013: After taking up FA role in 2011, he takes the helm of England’s U21 team, laying the groundwork for future success.
2016: Takes over senior side as interim manager after Sam Allardyce’s exit and is later confirmed as permanent boss.
2018: Leads the Three Lions on an exhilarating run to the World Cup semi-finals, achieving their best finish since 1990.
2019: Reaches the Uefa Nations League semi-finals with England.
2021: Writes “Dear England” letter, which unites the nation following months of Covid lockdowns. Takes England to the Euro 2020 final, but is defeated by Italy on penalties.
2022: England lose in World Cup quarter-finals.
2024: His second and last Euro final, beaten by Spain