Gareth Southgate made England relevant again – but it was time to go | Jonathan Wilson

The national team were in a dark place but he made them unrecognisably successful during his eight years in charge

Eight years is a long time in football. Eight years is long enough for people to run out of patience. Eight years is long enough that the successes no longer generate quite such goodwill, that the flaws and foibles annoy all the more.

A rattiness was evident in the group stage of the Euros just gone. There was an impatience, a sense of irritation on all sides. Better to go now than to let it fester, to let those complaints about the environment being created fester into something far more toxic following, say, a goalless draw against Honduras in the second game of the World Cup.

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