MANAGING ENGLAND? IT’S NO LONGER A POISONED CHALICE It’s gone from the Impossible Job to a Great Job as Southgate puts the pride back in the England shirt

GARETH SOUTHGATE believes he has stopped the England job being seen as a poisoned chalice.

Southgate has restored some muchneeded pride in the national team after years of hurt, underachievement and disappointment. The England boss was part of that with his own heartbreak at Euro ’96. And the Golden Generation that followed failed to live up to the hype.

What should be the pinnacle of any career – playing for England – became a nightmare. And for every manager, it had become the Impossible Job, even for the likes of Sir Bobby Robson and Terry Venables.

But Southgate’s revolution has made it enjoyable again.

England celebrate their 1,000th game when they face

Montenegro at Wembley on Thursday, with legends such as Peter Shilton, Gary Lineker and Sir Geoff Hurst set to look on from the stands.

Southgate admits that he was reluctant to take the job at first – but can now take pride in how the mood has changed.

Southgate said: “I felt that, in more recent times, the job had been viewed as this poisoned chalice. I thought about whether I would 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 – excited by the team, 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 in 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, in addition to winning the 1966 World Cup and reaching the World Cup semi-finals in 1990 and last year, as well as the last four at Euro ’96. “Well, I suppose at