What next for Southgate?

He did better than 98% of other managers. We only lost to the best team in the last five minutes. I wasn't entertained, but we won. We had some of the best moments watching England I can remember - Bellingham's over head, Trent's penalty, Watkins winner etc. Southgate isn't an expansive manager. He sets his team up in a system that has *FACT* worked for eight years. Other managers we've had have set them up & not won.

I do think we're a bit uneven. I think we've got some unbelievable footballers, but unfortunately they all play in the same areas. You either drop one (for instance Kane) and get pelters if it goes wrong or ask them to do different jobs than they might normally do - which is what he's done. I'd like to see more pace in our team - I think that's a miss - but again it comes back to this has been the England team that has performed best in tournaments ever. And it's not something we should forget or take lightly.

I also think he's a f.cking top man for handling what he has in the way he has & someone we can all learn a lot from. Let's consider he took over from Allardyce supping pints of wine & offering to in essence take bungs. Jobs like the England job matter too much to be disrespected & he's got results and looked after himself and his players better than anyone I can ever imagine. I'll be sad when he goes, but hopeful whoever comes in can do everything he did but hopefully play a bit more attacking football. But it's not gonna be easy.

 

He's pulled the team together, got rid of the club factions, had us win a game with 5 perfect penalties. He was the right choice at the time but we now need someone with the winning mentality and I think that will be a foreign manager.

 

That’s a fair point Dyson but in that point you have also queried a few things.

I totally get that it’s a pressured job and agree totally that he took over a mess in 2016 and turned round the general feeling within the team.

Is he a winner tho?

Some will blame the players. Others will blame the manager. Again I’ll refer to talk sport this morning where the point was made that a manager sets his team up. It’s then down to the players to go out and perform to the managers orders. One of the hard parts is finding a system and a formula to get the best out of them. This is the bit for me he’s struggled with and one of the main reasons I’d like us to move on. How many more attempts do we give him to get it right?

I’m not knocking Gareth one bit for what he’s done by getting us to 2x finals. He has changed us for the better. I just don’t believe he’s the man anymore to take us forward.

I’ve not enjoyed watching us this tournament at all other than 2x sets of 45 mins against Serbia and Holland.

Is there anyone out there that could do a better job?

Maybe there is, maybe there isn’t t and like u say…..we may reap what we sow.

What I do want to see tho is these England players go at teams like most of them do at their clubs. We have an array of attacking players at our disposal yet for some reason we have played very slow and laboured and at times looked like going out to inferior opposition.

I'm not saying you are wrong as I love an open debate especially when ppl get me to look at things differently and possibly change my opinion. so far tho…..i dont see much to pursuade me.

My feeling is that this team is good enough as a group of players to win something major given the calibre of other nations at this point in time. We are probably the best squad in world football at the minute or at the very minimum top 3 based on available options. We have Very experienced players now with a few champions league winners. We have some of the world’s best players at our disposal. The hard part is finding a way to get the best out of them. That bit isn’t down to the players.

 

We tend to forget the awful matches we have endured with the sideways passing and back to keeper. If Mcquire had been fit it would have been worse. The players we had on the bench would had terrorised any defence but he insisted on his favourites. In my opinion time for a change.

 

I don't think he's a great manager but I do think he's a great ambassador - and that's arguably more important in the National role. I'd be happy with him staying on but changing the assistant manager/coaching staff just so we can find the extra gear we've been missing in the last 4 tournaments.

 

Any Manager has his favourites

 

I think he's now run his course. He's transformed us results wise in tournaments. Set us up for future tournaments when you look at the age of the lads he's just guided to the final & he's now had public opinion start to go against him. It's his time to go. But I think whoever comes in will need to a brilliant job to match his achievements, and anything (if anything at all) we achieve from here lots will come back to what he put in place.

It's also worth thinking, are our lads as good as people think? Or is it confirmation bias? 90% of people won't have heard of these Spanish lads last night and most would say on paper don't get into our side but bossed us for large parts. Are our boys as good as people think? Have we over achieved?

 

Pizza Hut..

 

You’re as predictable as rain..

 

Can’t disagree there mate. It had to come to an end at some point and for me there’s no shame in ending it now. It was always going to end in dubilation or disappointment just the same as it has for all other England managers.

He’s done good.

I’m not at all slating him for what he’s done as I hope it’s kind of the setting up for the predecessor to come in and take us to the next level.

 

He needs to go. There have been some really good posts about him on here and to add I do agree with those who say he has engendered a real camaraderie in the team. He's done well with the media, he's defended individuals and taken the flak himself. His players seem to like him. He's also guided England to several finals and semi finals now so the stats re the results are really good. I don't see how he can be knocked on the above. However, its also possible to argue the stats could actually be better - we'll never know. What I do know is that football is also about entertainment and for many games over a long period of time now Southgate has set the team up negatively and has ended up boring the pants off me. I would like an England team to be more imaginative, brave and entertaining. Whether we win anything by being entertaining is a moot point but we've still not won anything by being unentertaining have we?
Southgate should go if the FA are willing to take a chance with coach who will play a bit more attacking football overall, at the right time and has the nous to appreciate that fans will applaud a great effort in defeat just as they would in victory. Its about winning yes but paradoxically its not just about winning.

 

I don't think anything will happen immediately. No reason why he should walk. He cas a contract till December. That said I think they will appoint someone by September.

Southgate will get a new job not too far down the line. I'd go Spain or France top 6 side.

 

Obviously would never happen due the profile and salary but I’d be seriously underwhelmed if he was next Barnsley manager, let him retire to his North Yorkshire manor and remember him for what he was a perennial nearly man who kept picking the likes of Henderson , Sturridge and that small waster at Chelsea who’s name evades me that insignificant that he is.

 

Sterling