Jamie Redknapp has revealed Gareth Southgate always behaved on England duty during his playing days.
The Three Lions boss won 57 senior caps for his country between 1995 and 2004, featuring at the Euros in 1996 and 2000, as well as the World Cup in 1998.
Ahead of Euro 96, several members of the England squad - including Paul Gascoigne, Paul Ince and Teddy Sheringham - were pictured drinking on a night out in Hong Kong. Photos showed bar staff pouring alcohol down their throats in a dentist chair.
Southgate wasn't pictured on the night out and Redknapp has confirmed the current England manager missed the incident. "He was a goody goody, I'll be honest," the former Liverpool skipper told Sky Sports. "He wasn't in the dentist chair, put it that way.
"He didn't come out that night. That was a great night to be fair, he missed out. He was always very studious, he loved the game, he was very tactically aware when you played with him or against him. Circumstances worked out really well for him.
"He did well with the U21s, Sam Allardyce lost the job and he was the obvious man to choose. What I will say is that he's the first manager in a long long time who has made players look like they want to play for England.
"I used to look at it and it looked like a chore, there were too many cliques. Going back to when I played, there were too many cliques between Man Utd and Liverpool players.
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"I look now and they're really together, you see the social media stuff that comes out, some of it is a load of rubbish, but some of it is really good and interesting.
"I see a really strong team unit. Gareth has created that. There's no two ways about it, if you're not winning you can't create a good atmosphere, but he's certainly done that.
"There's been an element of luck in the draws we've had, we've had a kind run through, but you've got to take advantage of it. I think the most important thing is he's made the country proud again. That's not always easy for this England team."
Southgate is hoping to lead England to glory at this year's World Cup. They finished fourth at the World Cup in 2018, third in the Nations League in 2019 and second at last summer's Euros. England defeated Switzerland 2-1 in a friendly on Saturday evening.
Remembering that night in 2016, Southgate said: “That was the night [England head coach] Terry [Venables] had cut the squad. He had left out Ugo [Ehiogu], Wisey [Dennis Wise], Peter Beardsley and a couple of others [Rob Lee and Jason Wilcox].
“I had got pally with Stuart Pearce and I said to him, 'We’re having a night out with the lads.' He said, 'Nah, in my experience of England if you go out for a drink it’s as if nobody has ever drunk before in their lives – my advice is swerve it.' I'd just got in the squad."
