Football Association chairwoman Debbie Hewitt has thrown her support behind England manager Gareth Southgate following the fierce backlash to the country’s recent poor form.
Calls for Southgate to be sacked and vitriolic criticism greeted the home thrashing by Hungary at the end of four games that left England bottom of their Nations League group.
England lost to Hungary in Budapest, scraped a draw with Germany in Munich via Harry Kane’s late penalty (the only goal England scored in the period), played a goalless draw with European champions Italy and were humbled by Hungary in Wolverhampton.
But Hewitt, who became the English FA’s first female chair when she started in her role six months ago, has spoken to Southgate since the defeat last week and reassured him that the governing body has every faith in his abilities to lead the nation into the Qatar World Cup, due to kick off in November, and beyond.
“My personal opinion on Gareth [is that] he is, by the facts on the pitch, the most successful England manager we’ve had for 55 years,” Hewitt said. “The fact he’s taken us to a World Cup semi-final and a Euros final. The bit people don’t see as much is the Gareth at camp and the culture he’s created. Certainly prior to Gareth being the manager of England there was not the pride of wearing the England shirt. There were the club rivalries we’d read about. The players not getting on. He’s changed that beyond recognition and I’ve seen that first hand.”
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Hewitt, who as chair of the FA is essentially Southgate’s boss and would be tasked with appointing his replacement as England manager, has held prominent positions at several major organisations in her career, including Visa Europe and RAC. She has been impressed with the way Southgate handles a particularly challenging role. Southgate, for example, faced criticism virtually all the way through England’s run to the Euro 2020 final.
“I don’t just work in football I work in business and I’ve worked with a lot of chief executives and Gareth’s skills – his high IQ and high EQ [emotional intelligence] – would make him a chief exec in any sphere,” Hewitt said. “And that resilience and accountably, the two qualities I admire most about him, is he takes the accountability, there’s no slopey shoulders, he doesn’t huff, he’s resilient and that’s what you want in an England manager.”
Southgate was offered a new contract, worth around £5m per year, ahead of the European Championship last summer and last November signed to stay on until December 2024, after Euro 2024 hosted by Germany.
“Clearly we [offered him a longer contract] with proper discussion and thought,” Hewitt said. “The fact that there’s been a stumble does not make us automatically say, ’Should we have given him a contract?’. We have confidence in Gareth for all the reasons I described and I think that’s the important thing. And it’s particularly important going into the biggest tournament.”
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