Gareth Southgate: The Truth About Managing England

We go to a penalty shootout. For us in that moment it was about the process that gives us the best percentage chance of winning. A friend of ours had looked after the dog and he's thrown up all over the bedroom floor. Now bear in mind the Spanish manager's currently in Madrid on an open top bus. Go over to support the fans, they're lobbying beer at me.

If the joy's gone, then you're gonna find it hard to give that feeling that you need to give the players. Sigarat Southgate managed England through eight years, four tournaments, two finals, and in the course of it became the most successful England manager since 1966. But by the end of his tenure, fans were turning on him in the stadiums, the media had decided that he was the problem. His family stayed at home because he didn't want them in those environments. What Gareth shares in this rich, revealing conversation is something that you rarely hear from a leader at that level.

He doesn't offer spin or excuses, but instead an honest account of what it costs to hold the line when the crowd has decided it's already moved on. He talks about how he managed the voice in his head, why he shared his nineteen ninety six penalty miss with his players, and the single moment when he realised that the joy of the job had gone. It was that moment, more than any result, is what told him it was time to leave. This is one of those rich, revealing conversations that just gets better and better every time you come back to it.

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