Racism row proves England boss Southgate has leading edge when the going gets tough
THE England top job comes with punishing responsibilities.
Manager, coach, leader, motivator, mentor and confidante are just a few of the vital requirements.
After events in Sofia, when Gareth Southgate wondered out loud if the game would finish when it was stopped for a second time after 42 minutes, he added another.
Southgate turned diplomat, earning universal approval for the way he skilfully handled a deplorable situation.
The FA communications team also deserve a slap on the back for releasing a strongly-worded statement condemning Bulgaria’s racists within seconds of the final whistle.
Southgate is the template for modern day international coaches, zooming in on problems and handling them with compassion and care.
He can add mediation to his LinkedIn profile after the Bulgarian terrace slime twice interrupted the Euro 2020 qualifier.
Southgate took control, even though he knew there would be plenty of people back home insisting he should have gone nuclear by calling his players off the pitch.
England’s head coach said: “We made a bigger statement than any team has ever done within international football.
“I know for some that might not be considered enough.
AFTER 17 YEARS OF ’PROGRESS’ CAN WE REALLY TRUST UEFA’S WAR ON RACISM?
HERE are examples of how Uefa and Fifa have dealt with incidents of racist abuse in matches involving the England senior team and Under-21s.
OCT 2002: Slovakia v England (Bratislava). Uefa fines Slovakia £9,000 following racist chants.
SEPT 2003: Macedonia v England (Skopje). Ashley Cole, Sol Campbell and Heskey all subjected to racial abuse. Hosts fined £16,500 by Uefa.
OCT 2003: England v Turkey (Sunderland). Uefa fine FA £65,000 for fans’ racist language/gestures.
NOV 2004: Spain v England (Madrid). Shaun Wright-Phillips and Ashley Cole subjected to monkey chants. Fifa fines Spain £44,750.
JUN 2007: Serbia U21 v England U21 (Holland). Serbia fined £16,500 by Uefa after Nedum Onuoha and Justin Hoyte were targeted with abuse.
SEPT 2008: Croatia v England (Zagreb). Heskey again disgracefully abused. Fifa fine Croatia £15,000.
SEPT 2011: Bulgaria v England (Sofia). Monkey noises aimed at Cole, Ashley Young and Theo Walcott. Uefa fine Bulgaria £34,230.
OCT 2012: Serbia U21 v England U21 (Krusevac). Danny Rose abused. Serbia hit with a £65,000 fine by Uefa.
MAR 2019: Montenegro v England (Podgorica). Hosts fined £17,000 by Uefa after more monkey chants.
“But it was an impossible situation to look after our players in the way they wanted to be looked after and look after the staff in the way they wanted to be looked after.
“We have tried to maintain some dignity. We had the game stopped twice and we made everybody in Europe and around the world aware this is an issue we were not prepared to accept.”
Listening to Southgate, an hour or so after the final whistle, it was clear England came within a whisker of abandoning the match.
He took soundings from his players at half-time and listened intently to Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane and Tyrone Mings.
They wanted to carry on, to hurt the opposition so badly that Bulgarian football would never forget England’s visit.
That they did, running out 6-0 winners in a hopelessly one-sided game.
Southgate added: “We were very clear at half-time.
“We felt we were giving the authorities an opportunity to get 50 or so supporters thrown out.
“The conversations among ourselves were ‘look, we aren’t confident we will be finishing the game’.
“We were sat ten minutes from half-time with Steve Holland and myself saying ‘I don’t think we are going to finish this game’.
“We knew that if we came off the pitch, we probably wouldn’t be going back on.
“We were very clear, as a group at half-time, that if anything happened in the second half, we would discuss this with the referee and he was also clear that everyone was going off.”
In the end they stayed. There is no right or wrong answer to this issue but one thing is for sure — the players should not be put in this position in the first place.
Sterling humoured his team-mates with a series of tweets poking fun at the ‘Comical Ali’ approach of Bulgaria’s coach and their blinded media.
It was Sterling’s way of dealing with it, but the bigger picture is the future of international football.
This toxic behaviour should not be tolerated, but there will not be another game finished if the minority keep showing up.
Southgate added: “I really think other people have to deal with that. Clearly it has to be dealt with differently. The sad reality is we weren’t able to stop incidents happening.
“Now the investigation has to take that next step because it’s remarkable to have such a spotlight on a game and for that to all happen.
“Sadly, from a societal perspective, that seems to be what we’re dealing with.”
It certainly is. Lessons were learned from Montenegro, when Southgate admitted he struggled to flip between his role as manager and as a spokesman for racial equality.
This time, fully briefed and with the backing of a well-prepared FA, he handled it smoothly indeed.
Southgate added: “From the moment we walked off the pitch in Montenegro, we reviewed what happened.
“We knew we needed to be better prepared as a group of staff to support the players.
“I couldn’t have felt more strongly supported by the chairman, chief executive and the federation and I think the players felt that.
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“I am incredibly proud of the way the players and staff dealt with everything.
“Bizarrely, I think they’ve actually gained strength from the experience.
“I don’t think they could have done it in a more impressive manner.”
