It feels like we are entering the endgame with Gareth and England

GARETH Southgate has another two years on his contract after this World Cup. So why does it feel as if we are entering the final months of his time as England manager?

Perhaps because he is a smart guy. Perhaps because he will have sensed a change in the national mood. There was criticism after the European Championship last year. Criticism that he was too cautious, that he froze in the final against Italy as victory slipped from his grasp. This is not to say his critics are correct. Just that they are out there and growing in number and voice.

If England fail to emulate the last two tournaments under Southgate — and that is a distinct possibility — his final two years could be difficult. Southgate doesn’t need that. He could take a break, return as a club manager. He wouldn’t be short of options.

Then there is the optimistic view. Southgate emerges from Qatar victorious, puts the trophy on the sideboard. His standing will never be higher. Why spend the next campaign trying to recreate magic?

The last three Wor l d Cup-winning managers stayed on — Didier Deschamps of France will attempt to be the first since Italy’s Vittorio Pozzo in 1934 and 1938 to win it twice — but the five that preceded did not. From Franz Beckenbauer in 1990 to Marcello Lippi in 2006, every World Cup- winning manager, mission complete, stood down.

And let’s face it, Southgate does not have the 2010 Spanish team of Vicente del Bosque, or Joachim Low’s Germany, 7-1 conquerors of Brazil and South America in 2014. Deschamps, having won in 2018, still leads the tournament favourites in France. England are not of that stature.

If Southgate’s team won in Qatar it would be an unexpected glory. Their progress in Russia in 2018 was wholly surprising and helped by a kind route. There was more confidence at the next European Championship, and an impressive scalp in Germany, yet

Qatar is different.

SUCCESS at tournaments often depends on avoiding the best teams until deep in the run. Italy got to the semi-finals in 2006 having played Ghana, United States, Czech Republic, Australia and Ukraine. Brazil in 2002 played Turkey, China, Costa Rica, Belgium — before they got good

— England and Turkey again, and then met Germany in the final.

In Qatar, if England win their group and the rest of the tournament goes to plan, the quarterfinal opponents are France. Unless Deschamps’ squad implodes in the coming months — and it is France, so there is always that possibility — it is likely England’s run ends there. And a last-eight exit will be seen as failure for a man whose previous campaigns went deeper.

And that is harsh. France are a good team, the world champions. Their penalty-shootout defeat by Switzerland in the last 16 at the Euros was arguably the shock of the tournament. Yet it will also become the stick with which to beat Southgate. Switzerland did it — why couldn’t he? He has had

more than six years and we are going backwards.

We have seen how it unravels for england managers. every player he did not pick would have won the World Cup, every selection was out of misplaced loyalty or resistance to change. And why would southgate hang around for another two years of that?

Begging, perhaps. Begging on the part of the Football Association. For if southgate goes, who is there to replace him?

A foreign manager? There seems little appetite for that after watching an englishman make a relative success of the job. yet what are the options? graham Potter is newly installed at Chelsea, eddie howe oversees a huge and exciting project at Newcastle, Frank lampard

and steven gerrard are stellar names but still getting to grips with management.

True, even the most appealing jobs in the Premier league might not have the same cache as managing england. yet nothing can be presumed. southgate leaving could cause the FA a massive headache. southgate staying could cause one for him.

There really is no easy way out for either side, after Qatar.