Opinion: Booed off and humiliated at Molineux...Is Gareth Southgate still the one?

Defeat in Hungary and a draw in Germany preceded a dour 0-0 with Italy and an embarrassing 4-0 home drubbing by Hungary at Molineux.

The Express & Star sports desk is split on whether the former Aston Villa captain is the right man to lead the nation forward.

Is Gareth Southgate still the one?

YES - Gareth has taken England to new heights, says Joseph Masi

Is this really the nation of football fans we have become?

Are we now going to ignore the record of whoever is England manager and have an angry debate on their future after every round of international games? That is what we are doing now and it’s crazy.

England managers have to be judged at major tournaments.

And Gareth Southgate’s record is excellent. He took us to our first World Cup semi-final for 28 years.

He followed it up by getting us to a first final in 55 years.

And yet play poorly in a couple of Nations League games that, let’s be honest nobody actually cares about, and he is vilified.

When he became England manager, Southgate changed the culture at St George’s Park.

Instead of Manchester United and Liverpool players squabbling, he made it a place players wanted to be.

He laid the foundations for success. And he then got us to a semi-final and then a final that we narrowly lost on penalties.

People need to remember how far we have come.

Glenn Hoddle was a failure. So was Kevin Keegan, Sven Goran-Eriksson, Steve McClaren, Fabio Capello, Roy Hodgson.

It’s Southgate who has got us competing again. And the 51-year-old has said many times he uses Nations League games to experiment for major tournaments.

That’s what he has done over the past four matches. And he will have learnt a lot from them.

The pressure is on him to have a successful World Cup.

But anyone who thinks he should lose his job is ignoring his record and forgetting how bang average we used to be. He has done so much for the national side. And he deserves to take us to the World Cup.

He’s gone from semi-final to final in his last two tournaments. Don’t bet against him taking another step forward at the World Cup.

NO! Safety-first Southgate stifles England’s flair, says Russell Youll

Goulashed! It was a headline writer’s dream and one that was too good to pass up, for this paper and others, after the shambles that unfolded at Molineux on Tuesday night.

It’s never good when an England boss is hit with foodstuff-based headlines – and it had been coming.

“You don’t know what you’re doing!” was probably unfair from the Molineux crowd at this point – but you can understand the frustration of those who saw the manager bring on repeat under-performer Mason Mount ahead of Phil Foden and then remove an attacker for Harry Maguire at 3-0 down.

For too long Southgate has been shielded from criticism after his teams have been exposed, simply on the basis that he reached a semi-final of the World Cup and final of the Euros.

But how did he get there?

England faced the assembled might of the likes of Tunisia, Panama, the Czechs and Ukraine in those tournaments. An ageing Croatia in the World Cup semis? After taking the lead, Southgate’s side sat back and paid the price.

Italy in the final of the Euros. A similar tale of taking the lead and failing to respond to the opposition’s tactical changes.

Frozen Southgate was a rabbit before Roberto Mancini’s headlights before a disastrous penalties choice.

Being out-managed once could be misfortune; twice is the beginnings of a pattern.

Tuesday was a watershed moment with Southgate under real scrutiny. Of course, the FA won’t act – it’s too close to the World Cup to change now.

But the fans can sense something is going badly wrong with Southgate’s England. He will always be safety-first – too fearful to allow the flair in his squad to flourish.

It does not bode well for Qatar.

Southgate’s not the one. In truth, he never has been.