MISSION: POSSIBLE
Lions job no longer self-destructs thanks to Southgate’s mood swing
THREE LIONS boss Gareth Southgate believes that he has stopped the England job being seen as a poisoned chalice.
The former Middlesbrough manager has restored some much-needed pride in the national team after years of underachievement and disappointment.
Southgate was a part of that with his heartbreak at Euro 96 and the Golden Generation which followed failed to live up to their hype.
What should be the pinnacle of any career – playing for England – became a nightmare until Southgate’s revolution made it enjoyable again.
For every manager, it had become the Impossible Job even for the likes of Sir Bobby Robson and Terry Venables.
England celebrate their 1,000th game when they face Montenegro at Wembley on Thursday with legends including Peter Shilton, Gary Lineker and Sir Geoff Hurst invited.
Southgate admits that he was reluctant to take the job at first but can now take pride in how the mood has changed as England prepare to celebrate the landmark.
He said: “I felt that, in more recent times, the job had been viewed as this poisoned chalice. I thought about, would I want the role.
“You started to think of the negative parts that came with it, which were so high-profile for quite a few recent managers.
“But then you start to think about what those people achieved, and you have to, as a leader, think about the vision of what’s possible and how that would feel if we managed to get the country really behind the team and excited by the team and going and getting to the biggest matches with the team and trying to win.
“And they’re the things that, as a leader, you’ve got to inspire others, and unless you’re feeling that way yourself, you can’t do that. But I was inspired by it.
“I know I had been by watching Sir Bobby in 1990.”
Southgate admits that England should have had more to celebrate during the past 999 games with only the 1966 World Cup plus semifinals in the World Cup in 1990 and last year, as well Euro 96.
“Well, I suppose at the moment the win in the World Cup is the ultimate whereas, in actual fact, historically, we looked at it as the benchmark,” said Southgate.
“We are a small island and even in rugby and cricket we’ve had a brilliant run.
“The rugby team, huge credit to them. And they’ve only managed to win once and, with respect, there are fewer countries that are capable of winning.
“So, it’s hard to win and that’s got to be our aim. We’ve got to now raise the bar for the next decades to make sure they are more successful than the previous ones.
“But we can’t have that arrogance that maybe we’ve had over the years that we have a right to be in those latter stages, we have to earn it and, as a team and as a group of staff, we have to earn it.”
As he prepares for this week’s landmark, Southgate remembers how playing for England was his ultimate dream.
“When we went to the National Football Museum last week, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but when you walk around it and see the history that you’ve been involved in, and you have an understanding that we’re talking over 100 years,” he said.
“It’s still only 1,200 players who have ever had the chance to do it. I think 20 managers, probably less. So as a kid, all I wanted to do was play for England. That was coming home from school and watching them play in ’82 in the World Cup.
“Whenever I played I was always thinking beforehand: 56 million people or whatever it was in the country, you’re one of 11 standing there belting out the national anthem.
“So, to be able to play in a poignant match like this and to have so many of our former players coming is lovely for them. I know what that will mean to them.”