GARETH Southgate’s resignation as manager of England was not unexpected news this week.
After taking his team to the final of another tournament, they again missed out on a trophy.
To update the words of the song, there has now been “58 years of hurt” for England fans.
But it doesn’t really feel like that.
During Southgate’s eight years in the role they once called “the impossible job”, England have achieved a great deal.
When he stepped in after Sam Allardyce’s short-lived reign, If you’d have said that the national team would get to a quarter final, a semi-final and two finals in the next four tournaments they competed in, I think most England fans would have taken that.
Add in the fact that the team now play with a better style and more confidence than they have for years and they have youth and a fearlessness and a self assured but not cocky approach that means they no longer fear taking penalties.
And, off the pitch, England fans are now often seen as welcome visitors when the team play abroad.
The anger, arrogance and attitude once displayed by supporters has subsided to the point where trashing bars and booing the opposing team’s national anthem is no longer required behaviour when “on tour” overseas.
So on the pitch and off the pitch, England have come a long way in the last eight years.
And whilst that is a team effort, there is one man who has led the way, set the tone, done the right thing and that is Gareth Southgate.
Without him I don’t think as much would have been achieved as it has.
He took a lot of stick, particularly from ex-players, about England’s early uninspiring performances in Euro 2024.
But he stuck to his guns, believed in himself and his players and maintained his self-respect, and good humour while guiding England to a second final appearance in three years.
He leaves the England team in a much better place than he found it.
People who know him well have had plenty to say about his qualities.
I’ve met him twice when I’ve compered Q&A events with Gareth for the Martin House children’s hospice charity, which we both support.
All I can say is that I think he is a good man with an emotional intelligence, composed calmness and generous nature that is inspiring and not qualities you often find in former sports people.
I thought the Prince of Wales nailed it.
He paid tribute to “all-round class act” Gareth Southgate after he resigned as England manager.
Prince William said he was thanking Southgate “not as the president of the FA, but as an England fan”.
In a statement on X, Prince William said Southgate had shown “humility, compassion and true leadership under the most intense pressure and scrutiny” during his time leading the England men’s football team.
It will be interesting to see what Gareth’s next challenge will be.
Whatever it is, he will give it a great deal of thought.
In the meantime he deserves a good rest.
And our thanks for everything he has done.
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SOME of the criticism Gareth Southgate faced during Euro 2024 was fair and balanced but much was not.
One man whose role changed during this tournament was Gary Lineker.
The former England striker has spent the best part of 30 years hosting the BBC’s coverage of football.
Despite being an ex-player, his role has been to introduce matches and interview other former players who give their opinion as pundits.
I noticed that during this tournament Lineker would often interrupt his guests to provide his opinion on the match they had just watched.
And of course he now presents a football podcast.
During the tournament he appeared on the podcast to pithily but unimaginatively describe the national team’s performances as “sh*t”.
It made headlines, as he knew it would, and saw England captain Harry Kane and manager Gareth Southgate, questioned about it.
Welcome to the new world of Gary Lineker: presenter, pundit, podcaster.
Given his presenting skills are limited to painful puns, simplistic questions to his mates and he struggles to articulate anything more than a sentence that hasn’t been scripted, then I’d prefer it if he devoted his time to podcasting in future.
But in my opinion, there is not a lot that Gary Lineker says that is worth downloading.
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I WAS sorry to read about the death of Nick Butler. A successful corporate partner with law firm DLA in Leeds, Nick was best known as the founder of Connect Yorkshire, a non-for-profit organisation that put growing businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs together with those who had been there and done it.
Nick passed away at home last Friday.
In announcing his death, Connect Yorkshire, which he founded back in 2001 and was deeply involved with for more than 20 years, always on an unpaid basis, said: “Nick had a huge passion for helping Yorkshire businesses grow and recruited many of Yorkshire’s leading entrepreneurs to help.
“He brought a unique blend of passion and experience to create a real sense of community for entrepreneurs to help each other grow their businesses.”
Not surprisingly for someone so well known, well liked and passionate about Yorkshire business, there have been many tributes to Nick.
All pointed to his positivity, energy, enthusiasm and good humour and many simply described him as “one of the good guys”.
I knew Nick from his time as a top lawyer and when he launched Connect Yorkshire I hosted a couple of events for the organisation, meeting some fascinating entrepreneurs and a host of people with ambitions to achieve success in business.
I’ll remember Nick for everything he achieved, the legacy he leaves and always greeting me cheerily.
He was also one of the few people in my working life who called me “Dave”.
I didn’t mind, I’ve been called a lot worse.
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.I’M currently on holiday.
As Frankie Valli might say: “Greece is the word.”
We are island hopping in the Cyclades.
After flying into Santorini we hopped straight on a ferry to Ios and stayed a few days there before taking another, rather ageing ferry across some choppy waters to the island of Amorgos.
Yesterday we arrived in Naxos, the largest island in the Cyclades.
It isn’t that big, but I realised how peaceful Ios and Amorgos had been when we walked into the port of Naxos for dinner last night and were confronted by two things we haven’t been used to: traffic and people.
We hired a quad bike to explore Ios and a beach buggy in Amorgos, where there is one road which runs from the top to the bottom of the island high above the stunning coastline.
Like everywhere I’ve been in Greece, the people are welcoming, friendly and trusting.
When I returned the bike and the buggy to the family-owned car hire businesses, neither checked for damage on the vehicles or whether I had topped up the petrol to the right level.
We’ve eaten simple but stunning meals of fish and other local produce and enjoyed jugs of local wine for a few euros each.
The one thing you get used to when you eat out in Greece is you are very likely to have an audience.
Not fellow diners sitting at tables in narrow streets or outside tavernas, but a feline audience.
These cats are a motley crew of characters who could very well be descendants of Macavity, the cast of The Aristocats and Top Cat.
Their missing eyes, gnarled ears and skinny bodies point to their eventful lives on the street.
They gather beside and under tables staring intently at diners enjoying their meals and hoping for a donation of a piece of fish, a prawn or even the crust of a bread roll.
Most of these cats are friendly but I made the mistake of picking one that wasn’t.
It did allow me to stroke it for a few seconds before unleashing its claws and scratching my hand.
Through gritted teeth, I described the cat as a “feisty little minx”.
My wife told me it served me right.
I deferentially agreed.
What I didn’t tell her was that it reminded me of a former girlfriend.
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WHEN we set out on our quad bike to explore the island of Ios, I said to my wife that I would like to visit Homer’s tomb.
My wife said she was surprised I would be interested.
Not interested in visiting the final resting place of the legendary Homer, one of the greatest poets in ancient Greece and author of the epic Odyssey and the Iliad?
I asked why she thought I wouldn’t want to such a thing.
“Well, you’ve never really been a fan of ‘The Simpsons’.”
Have a great weekend.
