As Gareth Southgate watched England toil against Germany in their September Nations League match, he stood on the touchline at Wembley seriously contemplating the end of his reign. England had not won any of their past five games and were 2-0 down with 20 minutes to go. The atmosphere in the stadium flitted between boredom and mutiny, which he interpreted as a manager no longer wanted.
It is no exaggeration to say that Southgate was 30 minutes from making up his mind; once the inevitable wrath of this defeat had died down, he would announce that Qatar would be his last tournament.
