Whatever happens from here on in, Sir Gareth Southgate needs to stay on and lead England for the next decade.
He wasn’t the preferred choice when he got the job by default back in 2016 after Sam Allardyce was sacked for misconduct (what a stroke of luck that was in hindsight!).
Many people viewed him as a cheap and dispassionate ‘yes’ man who wouldn’t rock the boat, which was just what the FA needed following a series of high-profile scandals. (Women’s team player Eni Aluko being paid hush money to keep quiet about allegations of racism against coach Mark Sampson had followed Allardyce being caught offering businessmen advice on how to get around third party ownership of players in a tabloid sting).
Unfancied Southgate’s only managerial experience had been to relegate Middlesbrough, famously getting that job without the correct coaching badges. Then he led the England Under-21 side to a Euro 2015 group stage exit — incidentally many from that team are now in this side.
Quite what he was doing as England manager was beyond most people and many still hadn’t forgiven him for missing that penalty against Germany in the semi-finals of Euro 96.
Knowing what we know now though, with England in the semi-finals of a World Cup for the first time in 28 years, the appointment of the understated former defender was an absolute masterstroke.
Look at all the money that was wasted on bringing in experienced foreign managers like Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello, who couldn’t get past the quarters and now look at what a young coach, who knew the set-up, has done with lesser names than what the Swede and Italian had at their disposal.
This is what we needed all along: someone who knew what it meant to play for England, but was studious and sensible enough to carry the role through work and not reputation.
It could have gone to any number of names, but Southgate — who was anything but a name — had the greater need to make up for his past after what happened in 1996. (Sometimes that’s the key, unfinished business and burning desire.)
He’s done that now and regardless of anything else that happens in this tournament, the unlikely waistcoated hero is already up there with 1966 winning coach Sir Alf Ramsey and 1990 semi-finalist Sir Bobby Robson as only the third Lion’s coach to reach the last four of a World Cup.
You can see from his rapport with the players how much of a difference it makes to have an Englishman in charge of the England team.
If this is what he has done in only his first senior tournament in charge, imagine what can be achieved if he is given the reins beyond the Euros and into the next World Cup. With England players coming through who won the recent Under-17 and Under-20 World Cups, and the St. George’s Park facility offering all the expertise, the man that knows it inside out should be there for the next 10 years, not two.
