When we last heard from Gareth Southgate, there was defiance, a characteristic stoicism but a kind of weariness, too. It was after the 0-0 draw against Slovenia on Tuesday night when he was jeered by the England support, a small number of them also throwing plastic cups at him.
The tensions had built. From the defeat by Iceland at Wembley in what was supposed to have been the grand Euro 2024 sendoff through the poorly received win over Serbia in the opening group tie to the dismal performance in the draw with Denmark. More and more dissatisfaction, lots of booing and then the line from the manager about how the environment around the squad was different to everywhere else and why he felt it was “probably because of me”.
