TURNIP FOR THE WORSE
Southgate gets to feel like ex-England bosses
GARETH SOUTHGATE knew it would happen eventually and fully accepts it is now his turn to face the fury of the nation.
He watched the same thing happen to past England managers and saw how much it hurt them.
But even though he faces his biggest test since taking the job, he has never been more determined to lead the Three Lions to glory in Qatar.
Until now the murmurs of discontent have been little more than muted muttering.
But it got personal at mutinous Molineux on Tuesday night.
Fans turned on him big time, taunting him with chants of, “You don’t know what you’re doing”, jeering about him getting “sacked” and drowning his team in boos after the 4-0 defeat to Hungary.
It was all reminiscent of the darkest days of former England managers like Graham Taylor, who was branded a turnip after losing to the Swedes and ‘Wally with the brolly’ Steve McClaren.
Southgate said: “I’ve had plenty of those experiences in my career as a player and as a manager.
“And it’s not realistic to go through six years as an England manager and not have something similar happen.
“I’m a proud Englishman. Of course it’s painful. You can’t park it. It lives with you. Now we’ve got to live with it for the next few months.”
There is no denying that Southgate and his team have gone backwards since they came so close to winning Euro 2020.
It’s the first time England have gone four games without a win under Southgate’s leadership – but it has not shaken his belief in his methods.
He added: “If I was a younger manager that hadn’t been through these experiences before, I might be thinking, ‘Hang on a minute, what’s gone wrong? How did that happen?’
“Well, I’m really clear on all of those things and what would need to be right to make sure that nights like this don’t happen.”
Southgate blamed himself for messing up a disastrous Nations League campaign which could result in England getting relegated from their top-tier group.
He admits he didn’t get the balance of the team right and chased the game too hard against Hungary, throwing on too many attacking players. But he claims it would have been selfish of him to play his best players too much after a hard season.
Southgate said: “That would be detrimental further down the line.
“We might have got away with it but it would have been a big risk.
“It would have been selfish to try to keep pressure off me, rather than what’s right for England going to a World Cup.”
He also admits he saw the fear in his players’ eyes against Hungary as the crowd turned against them.
He said: “You saw the anxiety start to creep in a bit. But this is the reality of professional football. It’s not all sweetness and light.
“They’ve got to use those experiences and harden themselves.” England’s tired players will now finally get a break but Southgate isn’t ready to rest just yet.
He added: “I’ve got a few weeks before I go away. We’ve always put this time in to review the games.
“I’ll take a break for a couple of weeks before the start of the season. Otherwise, further in the year, you will be running on empty.”