Do NOT let the racists win, Gareth
Pick your best penalty takers and never bow down to the morons
FOOTBALL is about ability, character, unity and mental strength. It has nothing to do with race. Gareth Southgate knows this better than most. He has done more than any other England manager in recent memory to bring a squad of players, and a country, together.
So it is to be hoped that when picking his penalty takers for England’s next shootout, he stays true to his instincts as a coach and manager of people.
Whatever happens, he must not consider the colour of their skin. He must not let the prospect of his players being racially abused skew his opinion.
In short, Southgate must not let the racists win.
Because that is exactly what will happen if a decision is made not to choose a black player to take a penalty in order to protect them from mindless idiots.
That’s what they want: for a manager or coach to bow down to their abhorrent views.
As he generally does, Southgate called it exactly right when yesterday describing the notion of a player being targeted with racial abuse for missing a penalty.
‘We know that’s ludicrous, we know that’s outrageous to even think about,’ said the England boss. So, pay them no mind Gareth. It is a measure of Southgate as a human being that the mental state of his players is at the forefront of his mind.
He is more than just a football manager, at least he certainly is to his players. He is their confidant.
Of course, he wants to protect them. But you can bet your bottom dollar that Bukayo Saka won’t shirk taking another penalty if asked to do so. The same goes for Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford.
Southgate shouldn’t feel responsible for the abuse those black players received after missing penalties in the European Championship final last summer.
It wasn’t Terry Venables’ fault that Southgate was targeted with dog’s abuse after missing in the Euro 96 semi-final against Germany at Wembley.
It wasn’t Bobby Robson’s fault that Chris Waddle and Stuart Pearce were criticised after their infamous shootout misses in 1990 in Turin.
Paul Ince, David Batty, David Beckham, Darius Vassell, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Ashley Young, Ashley Cole and Jordan Henderson have all missed penalties in shootouts at major tournaments since then.
That’s football: you either win or lose; score or miss penalties. The outcome of the match has absolutely nothing to do with race.
Whoever feels compelled to attach failure to the colour of a footballer’s skin doesn’t deserve to be taken seriously.
Certainly not by an England manager who has spoken as impressively about social issues as Southgate has during his reign.
Indeed, during his time as national team boss Southgate has, on numerous occasions, dealt with difficult questions about equality, diversity and inclusion with class and intelligence.
The public support he offered his black players after they were racially abused in Montenegro in 2019 and then in Hungary last year was inspirational.
The fact he would even consider the complexities of selecting a player to take a penalty because of the social media abuse they may face speaks volumes.
Yesterday, when he was asked about Germany’s decision to join England’s players in taking the knee for tonight’s Nations League clash in Munich, Southgate replied: ‘Well, we’re two nations with huge numbers of mixednationals and it’s an important sign for everybody, so we welcome that.
‘I think they were supportive of the LGBTQ+ community when they played in Hungary last year, I think they were the first team to do that with the captain wearing the (rainbow) armband and I think we are united in our beliefs on those things.’ Indeed, England
captain Harry Kane, who wore the rainbow armband in Budapest on Saturday, will continue to do so for the remaining three Nations League matches this month.
This is an England team aligned with all the views of a modern, forward-thinking society — and Southgate has been central to nurturing that culture.
Making England a team we can be proud of on the pitch is, unquestionably, Southgate’s biggest achievement.
A World Cup semi-final and a European Championship final both represent huge progress in terms of the football played on the pitch.
But beyond that, transforming the perception of our national team has been one of the biggest successes of his tenure as England manager.
Before Southgate this was a team with self-interest at its very core. Not any more.
But come on Gareth, pick your best penalty takers. Whatever happens, those of us who aren’t morons are right behind you — and those that miss.