ENGLAND WILL REGRET the day Gareth Southgate was forced out of the Three Lions job.
That is the view of one of his coaching staff at the Euros who has become the first to speak out after the manager resigned.
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Southgate walked after suffering criticism and abuse despite reaching a second successive Euros final and the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup.
Southgate drafted in Manchester United’s third choice goalkeeper Tom Heaton ahead of the finals to help with training.
And he is clearly angry at the treatment Southgate received and believes there will be regret amongst his detractors in the future.
Heaton, 38, said: “I really do. I think, If you look back at his record, I think he changed the feel of it.
“We were all excited to watch the games. We were performing well. He changed the expectation.
“So I think now that the doors shut, I think we will look back and go, ‘incredible, job.’”
Heaton believes the negativity directed towards Southgate from game one through to the final helped him to come to his decision to quit.
He said: “When I thought back and reflected, I could maybe see it from his point of view.
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Southgate’s England legacy should be celebrated, not torn down
By Tom Barclay
Gareth Southgate claimed that only winning Sunday’s final would earn England the respect of the footballing world.
Spain proved a last-gasp comeback too far in Berlin, but defeat did not change the fact that Southgate’s eight-year transformation put respect back into the world of England football.
Critics will pick apart his cautious tactics, his selection choices and his record in the most high-pressurised games – with some legitimacy.
Yet what is quickly forgotten is the laughing stock our national side had become before he took over in 2016.
A shambolic Euros exit to Iceland that summer had been followed up by Sam Allardyce quitting just one game into his tenure thanks to his pint of wine with undercover reporters.
Then came Southgate, with his decency, his humility, his understated eloquence and his vision for a better, different future.
He had analysed why England had so often failed in the past, from lack of preparation at penalty shoot-outs to players being bored out of their minds during major tournaments.
Southgate took those findings and implemented a culture where players wanted to play for their country again – and it led to back-to-back finals for the first time in our history.
Instead of going to war with the media, he opened his doors to them and discovered, shock, horror, that it was met, generally, with support.
It did not stop him from being criticised when required – we are no cheerleaders, here – but the vitriol of yesteryear – or today on social media – was largely gone.
No manager is perfect and neither was Southgate. We cannot pretend his teams played like those of Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp.
But in the fullness of time, his feats will likely be revered because the results speak for themselves.
Hopefully his successor can go one step further and bring football home.
To do that, they must show respect to what Southgate has created and build on it, rather than rip it down.
To read more from Tom Barclay click HERE.
“I imagine that probably took its toll on him. He’s the sort of guy, that would only be wanting the optimism to try and win it, giving everything he’s got for it.
“I think, if I’m honest, the narrative through the tournament was a surprise to me.
“I was involved from the start of his tenure and it always felt really, really positive.
“I think that first game at the Euros it felt different. It felt like the narrative had changed. Major tournaments are difficult anyway.
“Getting booed in each half, pretty much every half all the way to the semifinal, it’s not easy.”
All through the tournament Heaton believes Southgate had the faith of his players and they wanted him to stay on.
He said: “That was very evident to me.
“It’s very rare in football you get a squad of players – the ones who aren’t playing, especially the ones used to playing every week – every single person there wants to win it, they want to win it for the manager, he is a leader you want to follow.”
Yet fans who used to sing songs about him were now booing and questioning Southgate while a handful threw beer cups in his direction after the third group game that was drawn with Slovenia.
Southgate’s England record
Here is a look at Gareth Southgate’s record as England manager.
Overall record
- Games: 102
- Wins: 61
- Draws: 24
- Losses: 17
- Goals scored: 213
- Goals conceded: 72
Heaton said: “Yeah, a bit brutal. It makes you think, ‘where did it come from?’ Football’s always on a knife edge, I suppose. I know we all want to win it but it’s not straightforward. It’s never easy.
“There are teams sitting in, very, very difficult to break down. And you think ‘we’ve finished top of the group’.
“We had some major moments getting to the final. If you’re going to win it, you have to go through those moments.
“I thought we were doing that well, so we were building up a belief in that.”
The former Burnley goalkeeper had been involved in England squads as a player from 2016 earning three caps.
He was named in Southgate’s standby squad for the Russia World Cup in 2018 when England reached the semi-finals.
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He believed the accusations of being a defensive manager aimed against Southgate, most notably in Germany this summer, were harsh.
He said: “We all want to go and win 3-0 or 4-0, but I think they’re built on really solid defensive displays.
“Not that we set out to be overly defensive by any stretch, but we did have a real defensive strength to us.
“In the final, maybe we would have liked to have controlled it a little bit more. Spain were obviously a good side and a good side through the tournament.
“But even still, you think later on in the game, with the headers, you can get back in it. Even when we go 1-1, I was thinking “we’re in a great spot here.”
Sadly for England they would concede again and a second final under Southgate was lost.
England’s job advert for new boss
The FA’s seven requirements to succeed Gareth Southgate:
- Will hold a Uefa Pro License.
- Will have significant experience of English football, with a strong track record delivering results in the Premier League and/or leading international competitions.
- Will be an exceptional leader who understands and will enjoy the international football environment.
- Will be experienced in successfully identifying, managing and developing English qualified players.
- Will be highly resilient and comfortable in a very high-profile role with intense public scrutiny.
- Will have a track record of creating a high performing, positive team culture and environment.
- Will have strong personal values and integrity and understand and embrace the role that the England Men’s Senior Team Head Coach has inspiring the nation.
