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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Lanre Bakare Arts and culture correspondent

‘Too nice’: Frank Skinner on Gareth Southgate – and his ‘fiery’ successor

Frank Skinner poses for the camera in a high stand at Wembley, with a view of the pitch behind him
Frank Skinner at Wembley. Asked how he would have portrayed Southgate on the 1990s comedy show Fantasy Football League, he said: ‘As a nervous Anglican vicar.’ Photograph: James Rudland/BT

England’s men’s football team “lacked a killer instinct” under Gareth Southgate, according to comedian Frank Skinner, who says Thomas Tuchel’s more abrasive style could help break the team’s 60-year trophy drought at major tournaments.

Skinner, who has co-written a new poem about football fandom and the home nations ahead of Euro 2028, told the Guardian that he believes England ultimately fell at the final hurdle under Southgate because he was too much of a “nice bloke”.

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