ALL GONE SOUTH
Gareth Southgate admits if England don’t win Euro 2024 he’ll ‘probably be gone’ and accepts fans will ‘lose faith’
The coach also spoke about his infamous miss in Euro 96
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GARETH SOUTHGATE is in the last chance saloon for glory with England at the Euros.
Southgate jetted into Germany for his fourth major tournament as boss.
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His deal is up later this year and FA chiefs want him to stay.
Yet Southgate, 53, admitted: “If we don’t win, I probably won’t be here anymore.
“So maybe it is the last chance. I think around half the national coaches leave after a tournament — that’s the nature of international football.
“I’ve been here almost eight years now and we’ve come close.
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“You can’t constantly put yourself in front of the public and say, ‘A little more please,’ as at some point people lose faith.
“If we want to be a great team and I want to be a top coach, you must deliver in big moments.”
England, who flew from Birmingham to Erfurt, train for the first time on German soil today in front of 12,000 local fans in the city of Jena.
Southgate’s squad will prepare for Sunday’s opener against Serbia at their remote Weimarer Land Golf and Spa resort.
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Southgate has reached a World Cup semi and quarter-final — as well as losing the Euro 2020 final to Italy on penalties.
He added: “We have great depth in the squad, especially offensively. The team has developed since the last World Cup.”
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Talking to German paper Bild, Southgate was asked if winning can heal the wounds of his Euro ’96 penalty miss against Germany at Wembley.
He said: “For the boys I played with then and also for Terry Venables, who passed away last year, this was their chance.
“I also don’t think it was the fault of those in 2021 who missed penalties against Italy.
“I used to have this stupid idea that 1996 was entirely my fault. But you just have this feeling inside you, which will probably never change.”
Southgate has also warned England fans that playing fantasy football will not win the Euros.
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SunSport columnist Harry Redknapp has led calls for Southgate to take off the handbrake.
But Southgate snapped: “People would like fantasy football. Very few teams play that. The successful ones have balance.”
On claims he is too cautious, Southgate told ESPN: “I don’t think that anybody would say that was the case in Qatar or in qualification.
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“We haven’t always clicked but we haven’t held people back.
“Yet if you get killed in transitions, then the coaches get killed for being naive.”
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