When ‘Southgate Out’ started trending hours before kick-off, I knew England’s tournament was under way

One of the great joys of football is sharing extreme, usually ill-informed, opinions with other fans, writes Rupert Hawksley

Raheem Sterling scores the opening goal of the Euros for England at Wembley on Sunday afternoon (EPA)

It was mid-morning, probably about three hours before kick-off, when the hashtag “Southgate Out” started trending on Twitter. This furious call for the England manager to be sacked before a ball had been kicked was provoked by early reports – not even confirmation – of what the line-up might be. There was anger that Jack Grealish was on the bench and that Raheem Sterling and Kalvin Phillips were both in the starting XI. What’s he up to? Southgate Out!

Lots of people were quick to point out that it was, perhaps, a bit much to demand “Southgate Out” quite so early in the tournament. But I have to say I am very much here for this sort of behaviour.

One of the great joys of football is sharing extreme, usually ill-informed opinions with other fans. None of us knows anything, yet we all believe that with the right suit and a whiteboard we could do a better job than most professional managers. It’s magical. If you think you know better than the man who has worked with the England squad since 2013, well, why not say so?

This is certainly not a new phenomenon. Football has always been a game of opinions, followed by people not afraid to vocalise them (unlike rugby which should never, under any circumstances, be spoken about). Long before social media, fans would just spout this nonsense in the pub – “He doesn’t look fit to me”; “Why are they playing three at the back?”; “We’re sitting way too deep”. It’s all good stuff and not worth taking seriously. Unless it’s me speaking, of course, in which case the manager must take note.

Unfortunately for those using the hashtag “Southgate Out”, things turned out rather differently than expected on Sunday afternoon. As is often the way. Raheem Sterling scored the only goal of the game against Croatia and Kalvin Phillips was man of the match. Can we have “Southgate In” again, please?

I do hope this reality check for the armchair managers won’t dampen their enthusiasm for chuntering about tactics, though. I intend to continue to tell anyone who will listen what I think (and why isn’t Jude Bellingham starting anyway?). The whole point is to be ignorant and wrong – ideally obstinate, too. It’s what great debates about football are made of. That and cheap lager.

So for now Gareth Southgate can stay in charge. Although to be honest, I reckon we’d have scored more if Jack Grealish had played.

Yours,

Rupert Hawksley

Voices senior commissioning editor