England boss Southgate labels the booing of Maguire an ‘absolute joke’

Gareth Southgate said it was an “absolute joke” that Harry Maguire was jeered by some England fans and Jack Grealish called the treatment of his team-mate “ridiculous”.

Having kicked off World Cup preparations with a 2-1 comeback win against Switzerland at the weekend, the Three Lions boss made 10 changes for the friendly against Ivory Coast.

Under-fire Manchester United captain Maguire was among those brought in and was greeted by a smattering of boos at Wembley, where his name had received a similar reaction on Saturday.

There were even some jeers during the defender’s first few touches of the ball in the 3-0 win against 10-man Ivory Coast–a baffling reaction that infuriated England’ s manager.

“I thought the reception was a joke, an absolute joke,” Southgate said. “What he has done for us, the way he has performedfor England, I don’ t get it. We are either in this all together or we are not.”

Southgate not only felt the abuse of Maguire unacceptable but damaging to the rest of the England squad.

“I don’t understand how it benefits anybody because we’re either all in it together or we’ re not ,” the England boss said as Ollie Watkins, Raheem Sterling and Tyrone Mings scored for the hosts.

“I would imagine if you asked a few actually why were they doing that they might not even be able to answer because it becomes a mob mentality. Of course at one end of the ground we’ve got a hardcore section of fans who are playing his song and trying to get his name sung, so I’m very aware it’s not everybody.

“But we’re either all in this together or we’re not, and don’ t think for one minute the other players won’ t be looking at that thinking ‘that could be me one day’.

“That’s been one of the problems with playing for England. Players have thought ‘hmmm, do I want to go because when it turns a little bit difficult then the crowd are going to turn on me’.

“That happened with John Barnes here, Ashley Cole, Raheem, and now Harry. They’re all outstanding players so how that is going to benefit anybody I really don’t understand. We’ re united as a team. We need a Harry Maguire playing well if we’ re going to have a chance of doing well (in the winter) because we’re not going to win a World Cup with players that have three or four caps.”