Gareth Southgate stayed true to his values until the end – history will look kindly on England manager
In the end, Gareth Southgate did not need the “few days” he said it would take for him to decide whether to carry on as England manager. In the end, he knew at the final whistle on Sunday evening in the Olympiastadion in Berlin as Spain won.
It was evident as he stood motionless in the technical area, shoulders slumped in resignation before the realisation kicked in that England had lost the final of Euro 2024. In that moment he looked spent. Enough now, it was over.
Southgate will not like the above paragraphs because the focus is on him. It was always the one thing he struggled to reconcile with as England manager. He did not like the attention while, obviously, accepting it came with the office.
It was one reason why it was difficult to persuade him to take over in the first place. He was reluctant to follow Roy Hodgson, after the Iceland debacle at Euro 2016, partly because he was unsure what effect it would have on his and his family’s life and also – crucially – because he wanted to be able to do it his way.
When the Football Association turned back to Southgate, after Sam Allardyce’s brief spell in charge, he felt it was his duty – an important word for him - to help out. He is a proud patriot and a proud man. It was only initially as a caretaker, which he did not like, but that was quickly changed with Southgate empowered to manage the way he wanted, concentrating on building the right “culture”, dealing with England’s demons just as he set about trying to improve performances and results. He had a plan of what would work.
Why even write about the focus on Southgate? Because it is important in understanding why he has decided to go now, even if the FA was desperate for him to stay. There was a phrase Southgate used before the tetchy, frustrating Nations League campaign in the summer of 2022 and the 4-0 loss to Hungary. Unprompted, he talked about not wanting to “outstay my welcome”.
That feeling has never left him and so now he senses it is the right time to leave. He believes he started to outstay his welcome and that he was becoming part of the problem rather than the solution.
Southgate feared this before the World Cup in Qatar. Before that tournament he had resolved to quit, upset at the criticism he had faced, shaken by being booed by the fans, and – most of all - fearing he was a hindrance who was holding back the team.
England went out in the quarter-finals to France and still Southgate was unsure, but the positive reaction persuaded him to carry on.
Even so, he knew the negativity was never far from the surface. And that has been England’s curse over the decades. They won away in Italy, for the first time since 1961, in their first Euros qualifier after the World Cup. If it had gone the other way, Southgate knew he would have been under pressure. Is that really the way to manage?
It meant that these Euros always felt like his last tournament. Southgate has had four goes at it and has not won a trophy. Maybe it is the end of a natural cycle, because could he really face a Nations League campaign and then World Cup qualifiers with questions over whether he was right to carry on? It might have become too much of a distraction and that is the last thing that he wanted for the players.
Maybe, also, they do need to hear a new voice. Southgate has refreshed the squad – with 13 new players going to the Euros – but his cycle as manager was coming to a close unless he won. He said that and he certainly has the emotional intelligence to process it.
Southgate is a proud man and one who wants to do things properly. He is a tough operator. But he is also an emotional man. We saw that erupt in his post-match celebrations after the semi-final win over the Netherlands and also when he said he wanted to win the final so much that it “hurts”. It is not unusual for a player to say that, but rare for a manager.
That pride and sensitivity was also hurt with the reaction to the goalless draw against Slovenia. It meant England won the group, but beer cups were thrown at Southgate, which made him all the more determined to walk towards his abusers. He would take it on. He would take them on. He wanted to be in the focus of the frustration, rather than the players. But for those who knew him, it was probably the final straw.
Southgate was also worried that the fear, that he had worked so hard to banish, was returning for England. It might just be a natural result of growing expectation, but it has so often defeated them in the past.
There appear to be plenty with short memories and hard hearts who are thinking good riddance, and maybe Southgate never quite had the wherewithal to get England over the line. Given he was within a penalty shoot-out in one final and only lost the other in the last five minutes that is incredibly harsh. But then harshness seems to be a position people, including players turned pundits, want to take and revel in.
Southgate did also consider his position after losing the last Euros final to Italy. It hit him hard and he fretted that it was his fault. It was not.
History will be kinder to Southgate. There is absolutely no doubt about that. He has established himself, in his 102 games in charge, as England’s second-most successful manager and undoubtedly the most successful in the modern era. That is some achievement given the mess he inherited.
Mark Bullingham, the FA chief executive, was spot on in his tribute when he talked about how Southgate had made the “impossible job possible again”. He has restored credibility. He has even made England more likeable again – and please do not underestimate just how disliked they were around the world for their arrogance, remoteness and sense of entitlement.
It is why Southgate immediately shot down a question before England faced Switzerland in the quarter-finals when he was asked whether he had told the players they had been given an easier route to the final.
Which brings us to another aspect about Southgate: his inclusiveness and empathy. That might be scoffed at. After all, football is about winning, right? And nothing else matters. Well, Southgate showed England how to win again and also that life matters beyond football. He was the most brilliant spokesman, ambassador, leader and he had the bravery to engage with any topic because he felt it was the right thing to do. It was. And it helped England on the pitch as well, where confidence came back because the inhibition was reduced.
One of Southgate’s early messages was the importance of sharing your journey. He wanted the England fans to love the players again and he wanted those players to explain where they had come from, their backgrounds and what has motivated them. That, too, worked. Players opened up. It felt more engaged. More grown-up. More human.
Now, after eight years, four tournaments, bringing back belief, going so close, Southgate’s journey as England manager is over.
There is one last thought. As he is continually reminded, Southgate the player missed that penalty in the semi-final of Euro 96. It has stayed with him ever since. It is in his eyes. It is in his expressions.
Just think, right now, how much it would have meant to him more than anyone else, for England to have finally won a trophy again? He came so, so close. So close that it hurt. And now that chance has gone.
England will eventually do it and if they do, and if it is Southgate’s successor who does it, then hopefully he will have the presence of mind to thank the man who showed them the way.
Southgate was last among the England party to leave the Olympiastadion on Sunday evening. Players and staff were already on the coach as he walked out. There was one last thought from him: no regrets. He had stayed true to himself. And how many of us can say that?