Gareth Southgate

[AFingerofFudge]

I'm a big football fan and like a lot of people I have issues with some of the decisions made by GS during the Euros. However, the relentless online "jokes" about him and how cautious he has been have gone (for me) way beyond an acceptable level and is actually bullying behaviour. We seem to have no ability to be gracious and have turned into a nation that likes to savage anyone that gets it wrong.

I agree OP.

Another reason to dislike the men’s Euros. It’s boring and quite nasty.

Especially since what only seems like 5 minutes ago he was being hailed as a national hero.

It's why I don't like football. It only ever seems to bring out the worst in people

I couldn’t agree more. I haven’t been a football fan for that long, but this Euros has been the most toxic, unpleasant tournament I’ve ever known. (Not forgetting the disgusting racism and abuse directed at Rashford, Sancho and Saka after the Euro 2020 final). Gareth Southgate is super-impressive, both in his managerial ability and his general composure in the environment he’s had to face in this Euros. I know he makes mistakes, but he’s only human - as are all his players! And I think we forget that.

My nephew keeps calling him 'soy boy'. Apparently he's very unpopular. I like Southgate but this tournament has been very disappointing.

I agree op.

‘Soy boy’ makes me think of someone who pretends to be kind/sweet/socially aware just to get attention or get what they want, and I get the impression that GS is very genuine and a decent man. I understand people’s frustration with him for our performance in this Euros so far, but I don’t think it’s fair to call him a ‘soy boy’ - even if it’s funny 😂😂

Most complaining about Southgate are young (so do not see how much England have improved) or daft loudmouths. It has been dull and disappointing, but even if we lost to Slovakia we would have got as far as when he took over. That crawling into the last eight is disappointing is impressive.

Everyone loved him not long ago didn't they

Yes I feel sorry for him! He seems a decent guy with his ego in check and supportive of the players. It must be a difficult job, you come up to so much criticism, the pressure must be immense. I realise he is paid to handle it but still, your average person saying this is probably a bit of a twat TBH.

Exactly! England were consistently shit before he came along 😂😂 he’s not perfect, but he’s got a pretty bloody good track record and the team all seem to love him - unsurprisingly - because he’s taken the time and effort to create a really supportive and friendly team culture.

Football fans want to enjoy a good game of football- pushing forward, especially with the talent we have but GS is more cautious. If it was cracking football and lose or boring and win, GS would go for the later.

I agree, and I really felt that when I watched the Turkey-Austria game tonight, which was filled with really exciting football from start to finish.

Winnng has to be GS’s main priority though, doesn’t it. The whole point of any football manager’s job is to win games, but it’s especially true in his case, as he only has the team for a few matches every couple of years and every single match counts. Considering the abuse he’s already getting, can you imagine what it would be like if they weren’t winning? They haven’t lost a single game at this Euros so far.

I thought so too.

He is paid approx £5 million per year and is the highest paid manager in the tournament. I think for that reward he can cope with some people not agreeing with how he does things. We've got a fairly easy road and we still haven't looked strong. It's been some of the most boring football of major tournament.

For context Sarina Wiegman gets around £400k per year and has won the Euros.

That’s a pretty cruel comment to make about Harry Kane, especially considering he’s scored two goals, without which we’d be much worse off/out of the tournament by now. I agree that HK should have been quite a bit more present in the matches so far, but he has scored goals for us and made a big impact with them.

I love football, his tactics are making me want to pull my hair out. But I'd never stoop so low as to personally attackhim. It's incredibly immature. There's only been a few good games in the entire tournament, seems like some teams are just too scares of the online crap that follows.

I think it’s a thing in the U.K.
I live in Portugal now and as the Portuguese wree saying…when Ronaldo missed the penalty, everyone didn’t start booing him and saying how rubbish he was, they started chanting his name…supporting him

I disagree it's a UK thing as look at the Scottish fans who are supportive of their team win or lose and unfortunately as a Scottish fan it's mostly lose

He's not aggressive enough and makes silly substitutions. Jude Bellingham may be suspended due to his rude gesture to Slovakian fans after he scored.

I'm very disappointed in Harry Kane, he's meant to be one of the best in the world and seems to just slouch around near the goal.

That's really just the Tartan Army projecting that image. It's not really reflective of wider feeling in Scotland itself. A lot of fans are extremely angry at the inexcusably poor performances in Germany, and since the team has been entirely underwhelming for nigh on an entire year, the goodwill that Steve Clarke built up is more or less entirely gone. It's the second abysmal tournament performance in a row. 18 points available, 2 gained. There is a tough Nations League Group A campaign coming up, and unless the team shows some sort of life in those fixtures I'd expect there will be a significant drop off in support and growing calls for Clarke to go before the World Cup Qualis begin.

Maybe I’ve misunderstood your point - sorry if I have - but Jude Bellingham’s gesture shouldn’t be used to judge Gareth Southgate. It was entirely down to JB - and I’m really disappointed in him for doing it because he normally comes across as a really responsible and respectful player. I know he’s still quite young, and only human, but I’m still disappointed.

Absolutely not! I'm not saying that's Southgate's fault at all. I was surprised at Bellingham and very disappointed as there's no need for it. I was just talking about the current tournament.

I also think the way Southgate has been treated, given how he got us into a final, is very unfair. I see no reasonable alternative. I've spent years watching England behind a cushion and can see the difference Southgate has made. But something is going wrong, we are drastically underperforming (as usual).