Gareth Southgate admits “contracts are irrelevant” in football and would understand if he was sacked for a dismal performance at the World Cup.
Southgate’s contract was extended after he led England to the European Championship final last summer and is not set to expire until after Euro 2024.
He has overwhelming support from the Football Association but Southgate conceded that his contract is virtually meaningless in terms of keeping his job.
Should England fail to beat Germany in the Nations League on Monday night it will be the first time the nation has failed to win six competitive fixtures.
“I know ultimately I will be judged on what happens at that World Cup,” Southgate said.
“Contracts are irrelevant in football because managers can have three, four, five-year contracts and you accept that if results are not good enough it is time to go your separate ways.
“Why would I be any different? I am not arrogant enough to think that my contract is going to protect me in any way.”
Despite being one of the most successful England managers in history, the air has turned sour following an alarmingly poor run of recent results leading up to this winter’s World Cup.
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The two defeats to Hungary, a draw and defeat with Italy and draw with Germany, all in Nations League ties, were the first time England had gone five competitive games without a win in three decades.
And Southgate, while “absolutely appreciative” of the FA’s backing, accepts that if he does not turn the situation around it could cost him his job.
“We understand how the mood changes with the results and has changed,” he said.
“I am realistic about that and I will be judged on what we do in Qatar and I am perfectly happy to be judged in that way. History is history and you are judged on the next match and the next tournament.”
‘Fans are right to ask questions of us’
Raheem Sterling has arguably had it the worst of any of the current crop of England players. And it was a steep learning curve for him, but an experience he believes puts him in a good position to deal with the negativity surrounding the national team during a testing period.
Sterling can remember first joining up with the England squad, in 2012, and the experience being enjoyable, making his debut in a friendly away to Sweden, his second cap coming two years later when he was Man of the Match at Wembley against Denmark.
But there have been the rough times, too. So bad that he no longer enjoyed England camps. In fact, despite being one of Gareth Southgate’s key players, in the run to the Russia World Cup semi-finals, in 2018, and the final of Euro 2020, Sterling has often found himself a figure of ire amongst the fanbase and pundits: never scoring enough, playing well enough, missing too many chances. His goal return of 19 in 78 caps is highlighted as a deficiency, forgetting how many of those were in important moments in important games.
He was even heavily criticised in the build-up to the European Championship last summer, before scoring England’s only two goals in the group stage – both match winners that saw them through to the knockout stages.
“I remember coming with the national team there was a period that when I first came into the squad it was really enjoyable and there was a period where I actually dreaded coming,” Sterling said.
It’s particularly poignant at a time when his national team manager is coming under an avalanche of criticism for England’s worst performances during his time in charge. Sterling realised along the way that it was important to block out the noise, to ignore what’s going on around him, whether good or bad.
He recalls when the tide of negativity turned for him, when he scored twice in the first half away to Spain in a Nations League tie in 2018, when a third from Marcus Rashford completed one of the best 45 minutes of football England have produced.
“My mentality was, OK, no matter good or bad, I need to just focus on myself and not listen to what the outside world was saying,” he said. “That’s definitely been something that’s put me in good stead. Not just here with the national team. But away from here in football as well.
“No matter doing good or bad it’s to keep level headed and focussed and not listen to the noise. That’s a message that can definitely go with the [England] squad here in the next couple of months. We know there will be noise and we really need to block it out if we are going to do well in [the World Cup].”
Even so, Sterling accepts the anger aimed at the England squad during such a low spell coming just before the World Cup in Qatar that England were supposed to be one of the favourites to win.
Prior to the last four games, England had reached a major tournament final only last summer, and even more recently topped their World Cup qualification group scoring a ton of goals.
“Football is brutal at times,” Sterling said. “That’s why we love it. We’re not here to complain. Yes, it was a great tournament last summer but once you produce like that people want more, they expect more. Then you go put results like this on the table, of course they’re going to be asking questions.
“For me, they are right to ask these questions but it’s for us internally as a team and a collective to change that and make people realise we are the real deal.”
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