Gareth Southgate’s last dance begins to the soundtrack of England fans’ toxic rage

G areth Southgate, the whole of England is with you. Perhaps this was the first and last point at which these words were ever spoken truthfully. Perhaps it wasn’t even true at the time. The inevitable tranche of snark and eyeball-rolling at Southgate’s latest England squad belies the fact that very little of substance has changed in the three months since the defeat against France.

The seven midfielders are the same as they were in Qatar. Harry Maguire is still in the centre of defence. Harry Kane’s penalty is still airborne. And for all the soul-searching and agonising, Southgate too is still there: still politely explaining himself to an audience that will never listen, still cocking his head slightly as questions are put to him, a gesture that says yes, this is the stupidest formulation of words ever constructed in the English language, but I’m listening.

So here we are: the last dance. Albeit with a lot less chest-bumping and basketball machismo and a lot more bickering about Ben White. The games against Italy and Ukraine this week mark the start of what will almost certainly be Southgate’s last tournament cycle as England manager. Fire up the phone-in switchboards. Fingers on smartphones. Oh, Gareth. Are you – are we – really going to do this all again?

And of course something important has changed here. The public he has strived so fervently to unite over the past six years isn’t coming back. The sense of closeness and national communion that Southgate has always craved around this team: yep, that’s not going to happen. Is there anybody left on this island yet to make their mind up about this guy? Gareth Southgate, at best 50% of England is with you.

Where this rage comes from is a more complex question. People