WEARY BOSS KNEW EUROS WAS THE END
GARETH Southgate had reached the end of his tether before Euro 2024 had even started.
Which meant that win or lose, Southgate had decided to resign whatever happened on German soil.
In his own mind, he’d pictured the dream scenario of being able to lead England to their first trophy since 1966.
Then stick two massive fingers up to all those who never accepted him.To tell them to put that in their pipes and smoke it.
He fell short of being able to do this — and having the loudest last laugh of all.
But Southgate showed obvious signs of being a different human being during the tournament. He let his guard down more than once.
Drained
He looked drained before the knockout stages had even begun. He took one broadcast journalist to task in his pre-match press conference ahead of the semi-final versus
Holland.
Southgate became emotional when sitting in a huddle made up of the written press, less than 48 hours before the final.
He infamously lost his cool, when it emerged details of him deciding to switch to a back-three before England’s quarterfinal with Switzerland had leaked out.
He ranted and raved in front of some of his communications staff within the FA.
All of the above combined to create a Southgate the English media were not used to.
He looked and acted like someone who knew this was going to be his last shot at glory.
And even when he became the first boss in history to lead England to successive Euros finals but still bore the brunt of imbecilic criticism, he also knew the game was up.
Events of the past five weeks were just a culmination of years of Southgate feeling unloved and disrespcted.
Mocking
No matter how successful he became, the mocking of him never went away. Some of it was as brutal as it was unjustified.
And here’s the thing about decent people like Southgate — he believes in being treated how he treats others.
But because he’s England manager he’s also fair game. He’s there to be ridiculed because people can, and he just
TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENT
had to sit there and take it. Keep his own counsel.
He couldn’t pick up a plastic pint pot and throw it back. He couldn’t go public with what he really thought about pundits like Gary Lineker calling him and his team “s**t”.
“We all want to be loved, “Southgate said last week, “so when you’re doing something for your country and you’re a proud Englishman, when you don’t feel that back and all you read is criticism, it’s hard.”
Attention
Southgate knew he had enough talent at his disposal to continue in charge until the next World Cup, with a good shot at winning it.
But he also knew that would involve two more years of putting himself and his family through the damaging grind of attention he didn’t warrant.
He was paranoid about people becoming bored of him being England manager, and his time at the Euros confirmed it.
The circus of the role, one of the most demanding in world sport, took its toll. Southgate once revealed he went on a family holiday following the 2018 World Cup and spent most of it asleep on his sun bed. He was mentally exhausted.
And ultimately, however honoured and privileged he felt to have the job for so long, he also knew he had to get out before it drove him mad.