IF you’re going to assess Gareth Southgate’s time as England manager, you probably have to start by looking at where the national team were when he was promoted to succeed Sam Allardyce in September 2016. The previous summer’s Euros had been a disaster, with Roy Hodgson’s England side limping through the group stages in France before suffering the embarrassment of a last-16 defeat at the hands of Iceland. Allardyce’s reign had turned embarrassment into farce, with his 67-day tenure coming to an abrupt end when he was the subject of an undercover sting that purported to expose episodes of malpractice.
Humiliated both on and off the field, England were a laughing stock. SUBSCRIBE to The Northern Echo - read the paper on our brand-new app, access premium website content, remove adverts and join our exclusive members-only rewards club So, while it is possible to question some of Southgate’s decision-making during his eight-year spell in charge of the national team, and level accusations that suggest he has not got the best out of the talent at his disposal – too conservative, too loyal to some of his key lieutenants, too slow to make decisive decisions during a game, too risk averse – it is surely impossible to question the extent to which he has taken England forward in the last decade. On the field, this has been a golden age.
Semi-finalists at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, finalists at Euro 2020, quarter-finalists at the last World Cup in Qatar, going out in ex.
