HE’S SO CALM AND IS THE IDEAL MANAGER FOR THIS SITUATION

GARETH SOUTHGATE said he always wanted to be like me. I can tell Gareth now, if England win on Sunday, I want to be him. This is the ultimate. Being in a major final with England is what many of us players dreamed of down the years — wanting to emulate that fantastic group of 1966. For Gareth to be the one who leads England, knowing firsthand what he went through in 1996, speaks volumes for the man, his character and the fighter he is. It is upsetting to hear him talk about the burden he has carried, believing he let down his team-mates by missing that penalty against Germany in ‘96.

I was assistant to Terry Venables that night and we were always really confident in our first five penalty takers. They had been practising every day. It was my job to find the sixth. Paul Ince was sat down on the turf and I went over next to him and said: ‘If it does go beyond the first five, do you fancy taking the sixth?’ Incey was looking down at the floor as if half hoping someone else would say ‘yes’ first. Gareth was sat next to him and he looked up and nodded to me. I wasn’t surprised, he was a positive player. He looked confident and he stood up. What happened next changed his life. No one blamed him and I hope he knows that. We all just felt for him because any of you could be that man, the one who misses. Everyone deals with the grief of losing in their own way. Back at the hotel, at Burnham Beeches, everyone was so flat we were drowning our sorrows trying to lift spirits. The lads were drinking beers and brandies then Tony Adams just booed Gareth and said something like ‘Get your head up, you bleedin’ German’. It was gallows humour that just helped to break the atmosphere. What Gareth has taken from ‘96 is that the best players and managers use defeat or disappointment as motivation to become stronger. Many of this group lost the World Cup semi-final three years ago, that should still hurt. But if they want inspiration about how to lay ghosts of the past, they need look no further than Gareth.