Matt Maher: Night to remember... but for all the wrong reasons

Having expressed his excitement at playing in front of supporters again, the England boss was left wishing this was another match behind closed doors. By the time Zsolt Nagy lashed home Hungary’s third with 10 minutes remaining the only vibes from the stands were seriously negative.

Boos rained down from the South Bank, while chants of “You don’t know what you’re doing” hit their peak when Harry Maguire replaced Bukayo Saka off the bench.

One of the few positives for the England manager was when Daniel Gazdag then added a fourth, most of the crowd had left.

For Hungary, this was an historic night, their first win on English soil since the Magical Magyars won 6-3 at Wembley in 1953. It was a result almost as remarkable and the Three Lions heaviest home defeat since 1928 and their worst ever without scoring a goal

For England and Southgate, this was pure embarrassment. Their return to Wolverhampton after 66 years away has been a nightmare for the manager, no goals on Saturday against Italy followed by comfortably the worst defeat of his reign, all just five months and just two matches before the World Cup.

For all the complaints over the schedule, with England having played as many and in some cases matches since June 4 as they have in two of the last three World Cups, there remained the nagging sense that after nearly six years in post his methods might be getting a little stale, just five months out from Qatar. This was a result and performance to heighten those doubts and then some.

Just 11 months on from almost leading England to their second major championship, there were pockets of supporters inside Molineux calling for his head.

Granted, the starting line-up was inexperienced and struck the tone of a manager looking to freshen things up. Nine changes from the team which started against Italy, including relatively new blood in the shape of Marc Guehi, Jarrod Bowen and Conor Gallagher, the latter getting his first minutes of this international break.

Occasions like this are rare, just the ninth time England have played a home fixture away from Wembley since 2007 and though last Saturday might have been the first at Molineux since 1956, this was the one which really mattered, the real return to WV1 for the Three Lions. A pre-match blast of Jeff Beck brought a familiar response from a half-full South Bank, followed by England chants.

The words were rather more pointed when the teams emerged and the Hungary anthem began playing. “You racist b******s, you know what you are,” was directed by a portion of the home support toward a travelling contingent of which several were clad in black.

Then, during the England anthem, came a ludicrous rendition of No Surrender from a section of home support, all rather ruining the moment as the South Bank transformed into a huge cross of St George by placards held aloft.

The noise at kick-off was loud and initially looked to have provided England with the shot of energy Southgate craved. The hosts were bright on the ball with Reece James, this evening’s choice at left-back, surging forward and exchanging passes with Kane. His cross looked destined to deliver Bowen’s first international goal, only for Zsolt Nagy to appear and block the header.

England quickly lost momentum and with their first foray forward, Hungary scored, Dominik Szoboszlai’s free-kick sent into the path of Roland Sallai by a combination of Adam Lang and John Stones. The shot proved too powerful for Aaron Ramsdale. Molineux became much quieter.

Things almost got worse. Another Szoboszlai delivery, this time whipped in from the left wing, took a nick off those players massing at the near post and only the intervention of James at the far prevented England from falling further behind.

From the clearance the hosts broke rapidly but Bowen, racing with the ball down the right, delayed far so long he never even got his pass to Kane away – the skipper having burst through the middle in anticipation of international goal No.51.

That moment summed England up. Despite dominating possession and completing nearly four times as many passes as their hosts, most of their play was directionless. The biggest threat to visiting goalkeeper Denes Dibusz came from team-mate Willi Orban, who sent a Saka cross hurtling toward goal but also close enough for his countryman to make the save. Otherwise, Dibusz had a relaxing half and a decent portion of gold seats were visible well before the whistle went for the break. Many supporters who did stay watching booed the team off.

The second half brought a change in personnel and tactics, Sterling replacing Bowen and England switching to a back three. James, now pushing high on the right, almost found a lunging Kane with a low cross after Bellingham had also just missed picking out the skipper.

Yet carving out clear chances again proved beyond them and Hungary, having stayed patient and bided their time, found their second with 21 minutes to ago. Martin Adam, on the pitch mere seconds, overpowered a tumbling Kalvin Phillips before squaring for Sallai to stab home his second. Discontent inside Molineux grew louder.

Kane almost pulled one back with a deft header which hit the bar but when Nagy lashed home the third from the edge of the box the match descended into shambles.

Stones was unlucky to see red, gaining a second yellow when Gazdag ran into his arm and fell to the ground, the same player then adding insult to injury by scoring the fourth to cap a miserable night.