WHY do we do this?

The Football Association have already given Gareth Southgate their backing — they’ve made him England’s manager. Why, then, does chief executive Martin Glenn feel it necessary to talk of Southgate managing England beyond the length of his current contract, to the World Cup in Qatar in 2022?

‘We’re confident Gareth can take us through the next few tournaments,’ Glenn said. ‘We want to build for the long term.’ He spoke of age group successes at Under 17 and Under 20 level and of picking players who can make an impact in Russia — but also at the next World Cup, too.

And a lot that has happened under Southgate shows promise. Yet England have a relatively straightforward World Cup group, including Tunisia and Panama. If Southgate cannot emerge from that, is he then the person to mould the brightest generation of young players for more than a decade? Glenn doesn’t have to set targets and issue ultimatums, because Southgate has a contract until 2020, but he doesn’t have to hand out free passes either.

Results are important and if Southgate fails to get out of the group, as Roy Hodgson did in 2014, it will make his tenure difficult. So say nothing. Let events unfold. He has qualified comfortably; he has been bold in his selections.

He doesn’t need a vote of confidence; or to be told that there is a bigger picture than beating Panama. There isn’t. If results didn’t matter, there would be no World Cup finals.