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With the right additions, there’s no reason why we can’t be a top 4 side. There’s still a good 3-5 signings to be made. Top 6 has to be the minimum requirement but wouldn’t be a sackable offence to not finish in the playoffs, imo.

We were lucky to win against Slovakia in the circumstances we did. There was no luck v Switzerland or the Netherlands. England were clear favourites to get to the final from our half of the draw. Therefore, we achieved the minimum expectation in my view. Southgate knows his leadership, rightly...

I’m in agreement we got lucky in 2018. Coming 2nd in the group benefitted us. there hasn’t been many instances in past tournaments where coming 2nd would benefit us like it did in 2018. I don’t idolise Southgate. I just acknowledge what he’s done for the country and think he’s unjustly treated...

Why do you need to do % of %. If you win your group, which England rarely have done in world cups, let alone Euros pre-Southgate, you’re going to draw difficult teams earlier in the tournament. That is the root cause; not winning the group to secure an easier draw. Southgate winning the groups...

Had we finished second in our group this tournament, to get the final we’d have needed to to beat; Germany, Spain, France and then whoever made it to the final. Probably the Netherlands. Which demonstrates exactly how important winning the group is. It isn’t ‘lucky’. Revisit the following...

The chart you paraded showed that ‘other England managers’ QF opponents were equal in strength to Southgate’s SF opponents. This is a source you’ve shared. Why was our QF record 25% pre-Southgate? Even if you remove the Euros, our World Cup in quarter finals record is still 30%. Yet...

We failed to qualify for 1 World Cup (1994) and a Euros (2008) if you don’t qualify that’s the worst outcome so not sure how that goes against what I’m saying. We had France in our group in 2012 and topped it then. Do I discount that too? Of course not, it just doesn’t suit your narrative. Did...

It conveniently misses that England faced harder routes to the final because between 1990-2024 we won our group 7 times out of 18 major tournaments. 3 of which were topped by Southgate. Again, Southgate topped 75% of his groups versus 29% of other England managers. Which further strengthens my...

Correct. Yet, it unwittingly showed that Southgate’s SF opponents were on par with past England managers QF opponents. Yet, Southgate’s records in semi-finals was 66%, whereas across those previous England managers, their record was 25%. Both control groups faced opponents with an average world...

I don’t think this is the slam dunk you think it is. Southgate’s average semi final opponents were on par with previous England managers QF opponents. Correct? Southgate’s record is 66% in semi finals and in 2018, we were the lower ranked team. Therefore, why did England only make 3 semi finals...

See above, nothing random about it. Each manager needed to qualify against the same calibre of teams. Play seeded teams in WCs The fun is winning. I’d rather see Cov win 46 boring 1-0 wins than to see us have high scoring draws and losses. How do you define a spectacle? We’re scoring more...

Football is a results based business though, it’s not gymnastics where the scores are based on a judges opinion. In 1998 we finished second in the group to Romania and likewise in 2002 we finished 2nd to Sweden. Southgate has lost more competitive games because the Nations League count as...

5 goal contributions in 2. Bundesliga doesn’t really excite me. I wonder what the plan is because we’ll have 3 RW and one LW in EMC. Not a credible link imo.

Who is the best England manager you’ve seen then?

That’s assuming the EV’s batteries last up to that. A friend of mine who’s a keen environmentalist pointed out that a newly released JLR EV needed something like 210k miles on one battery to ‘break even’ and the batteries will not last that long, especially as the range on EVs wanes pretty...

Did Sven not cost us tactically in any of the KO games he lost? Winning our groups in 2002 and 2004 would’ve helped secure a ‘lucky’ draws. Likewise with Capello in 2010 - winning our group and we avoid all the top teams. How did he tactically cost against Spain? We made a defensive error right...

You’re still wrong. If I used your logic, I can justify every KO lose under Southgate: 2018 - Croatia had a ballon d’or winner and their midfield and arguably defence was better than in their team, battered Argentina in the groups. On top of this, our worst WC squad since 1994. 2020 - Italy...

You said Southgate should go even if we did win the Euros… As the older statesman, please remind me how many semi finals and finals you got to see England play in before Southgate came in?

We do, Spain tweaked their tactics against us. They typically bait teams with their pressing and didn’t do this so much against us compared to their usual games. In fact, Palmer’s goal came about when we beat their press. I do agree that this tournament, we didn’t get the right mix and the next...

… It’s only luck when it’s an achievement involving Southgate. I’ll let you and @Evo1883 battle this one out.