“I have always described Southgate as the Prime Minister of football.”Posted at 16:30
Sports psychologist Michael Caulfield, who previously worked alongside Gareth Southgate, said Southgate gave up his England job because he felt it was the right thing to do.
“He has been criticised for almost 35 years and he is particularly adept at dealing with that criticism. I have always described him as the football prime minister and the next England manager will be the football prime minister. He has outdone five other prime ministers because he is an outstanding leader and an outstanding person by all accounts,” Coffield said. He told BBC Radio 5 Live:.
But for him, this is the right time.
“I’m sure he was heavily criticised but he knew it was the right thing to do. He’s a very proud Englishman and it was his greatest honour to manage and play for his country. Whatever criticism he got, he rallied against it because he knew it was the right thing to do.
“We knew deep down that we trusted him as a person and a leader. No matter how high you hold your head, he can walk tall for the rest of his life.
“His way of dealing with things is with dignity. Bobby Robson was one of his heroes, and he wanted to deal with everything with dignity and even leave with dignity, and he did that.
“You can see that was enough on Sunday.
“If England can win a major tournament it is down to Gareth and Trevor Brooking who put the plans in place when it was clear they were not going to work.”
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