I belong to the generation of England fans who remember Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal (I’m not religious, so to me it was just downright cheating), Gazza’s tears and David Beckham’s petulant flicking of the leg whilst on the ground, catching Diego Simeone in the back of the knee leading to that ‘famous’ red card…
For years and years, I sat down to watch England under a succession of managers walk out onto the pitch and weave their tentative magic across many matches in many World Cups and European Championships, only to fall well short of where we needed to get to. I think I even stopped watching games in the Noughties.
However, when England went to Russia in 2018 when I noticed something had changed. I felt hope, not hopelessness; pride, not embarrassment and I actually ENJOYED watching England play football. There was a distinctive and observable difference in them.
Seeing Gareth Southgate’s resignation on the news made me reflective. And sad. Despite his many detractors (‘poor with tactics’, ‘too defensive’, ‘we should be playing attacking football’) what he brought to the Three Lions was chemistry, brotherhood and even enjoyment. It made me wonder about the leadership qualities he demonstrated which made that difference.
A role model. Since missing ‘that penalty’ (remember that, too…) all those years ago, I always wonder what an error like that might do to a leader’s psyche. The narrative around it seems to have made him resilient, given him experience and earned him respect. We’ve all made mistakes but turning them into a steely resolve which can be used to galvanize those in the future shows character. Bukayo Saka suffered the same years later in the 2020 Euros Final; watching Southgate’s consolatory arms-around-the-shoulders exchange with him afterwards gave him authenticity. You can just imagine what he might have been saying.
A talent-spotter. Ever since working with youth teams in his earlier years as a coach, Southgate undoubtedly ‘knows how to pick them’. To field a team four times on the World stage packed with undeniable talent requires insight, observation and an ability to give people a break even when critics are advising otherwise. There’s that resilience again. We saw only recently that successfully bringing on the likes of Cole Palmer and Ollie Watkins TWICE as substitutes in crucial moments of the game showed insight and confidence. Ok, maybe the timing wasn’t so great the second time(!) but he had faith in his insight and their talent.
A decent human being. The annals of history are littered with stories of bad leaders, but what always shines through are leaders who possess the essence of humanity. Never aggressive, always humble, self-effacing, thoughtful but fallible are the qualities which shine through. Leadership isn’t about being showy or being a great orator. Leadership is about having a profound influence on people and their performance through your actions. Which Gareth Southgate did. Many times. And finally made us proud again of the English football team.
He's stepped down now, as we know. It was the right time, and nobody argued. But what a legacy.
