8 years, 102 games managed, two consecutive EURO finals, one semi-final and a quarter-final - there is no doubt Gareth Southgate is an English football hero.
To many, he is a lot more than just a football figure. He has been the conductor in front of an 11-man orchestra that has toured the world, receiving the loudest raptures of applause everywhere they go, driving us to ecstasies unknown and giving us some of the times of our lives - right?
Well not quite. You could be forgiven for seeing the rejoicing at Southgate’s departure and thinking England crashed out of the group, or that we lost to Slovakia in the last 16, or that we lost to the Swiss on penalties, or that we lost in the last seconds to a Dutch dagger - you get the picture.
England reached the final in the most remarkable way, but for some people, it just isn’t enough. No fan can tell another how to support their team and nor should they, but if the difference between Southgate being hailed as a hero is penalties in 2021, or a loss against a brilliant Spain side in 2024, then for so many he already is.
Those who declare the boundaries between success and failure by the binary measures of silverware rob themselves of the memories of getting to those finals. Clutching your friends and family, better even, complete strangers - that is what Southgate has given us.
So why are some so happy? The most understandable explanation for the response is the increased expectation. Southgate, for all of his success in harmonising the fractious relationship between England fans and the England team, has fallen just short with an unbelievably talented group of players.
But it has to be remembered that Southgate’s ultimate success has been, beyond stopping the England camps from being a warzone, driving our expectations up. People are angry because England can win these tournaments.
Before we would gear up for our biannual murmuring vindaloo until we fell asleep victim to the umpteenth long ball up to Andy Carroll, waking up to another disappointing score-to-nil.
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Southgate's impact with England
Of course, Southgate hasn’t coached the team to the level of players they are, but he has given so many a chance in the shirt during his time, using 99 players across his tenure. That familiar staleness and lethargic energy from players and fans alike is gone.
The cynics will say that the players have dragged him this far, with perhaps the most obvious example of that being Jude Bellingham’s overhead kick goal that saved Southgate from his own Iceland moment.
You could say that the tactical intensity of the Premier League, even from 2016 when Southgate took the job, has arrived at such a place that it is just unrealistic to expect such a defensively-minded manager to integrate players who are so well coached.
The lure of using players so outstanding as Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham would be almost impossible to resist, and to be clear if Southgate had omitted them from the team the hyenas would have been out.
But, this is the one tournament under him that has looked particularly un-Southgate: no real patterns, a lack of directness, and defensively more fragile. England could have used the pace and intensity that Sterling and Rashford both offer.
The decision to play Anthony Gordon for just 6 minutes during the tournament is slightly baffling, and honestly, the Trippier debacle is almost unfathomable. But I repeat, England got to the final back-to-back, what we have seen is unprecedented and this is why it is the impossible job.
This is by far the best England team I have ever seen and statistically might ever see. I remember that Germany game, Pirlo’s panenka, the Suarez sickner and the capitulation against Iceland. After the Iceland game, I remember my Dad explaining to me that this is just what happens, and nobody really understands why but it just does, and then we complain and repeat and nobody is really sure if anyone is having any fun, but that is just England! That isn’t England anymore.
Every tournament, people speak about the joy of EURO 96, again and again, but Southgate has taken us past that mark - twice.
Understandably the pain of losing those finals makes it difficult to accept history being made in front of your eyes, and of course, when the dust settles Southgate will rightly be remembered as the one who changed the tide of the national team.
I was in Germany for the three knockout games before the final, and spoke to countless England fans who had travelled home and away with the team for decades. One that really sticks out is a man named John from Newcastle, who had seen every England game since Italia 90. Speaking to him after the semi-final, I asked where the Watkins goal ranks in terms of moments and he only responded with 3 words, “right up there”.
Right up there.
To me, that says everything you need to know. Fans sacrifice it all to be out there to support England. We yearn for moments like that, we tighten our fists and hold our breath for 90 minutes just hoping for a moment of release, an explosion of emotion that so often never comes.
Nobody understood that more than Southgate himself, which is why it is so disappointing to see so many slamming the door behind him. Nonetheless, he is gone, and only time will tell how England will fare without dear Gareth. He said it himself, "everybody wants to be loved", and I hope he feels the appreciation the vast majority of us have for him. He is a legend, and we are a shameless bunch if he has felt he has had his hand forced to leave.
