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England fans vent on talkSPORT O'Hara insists Southgate has 'lost the dressing room'

talksport.com, 14 June 2022, 22:44
Chants of 'sacked in the morning' and 'you don't know what you're doing' were belted at Gareth Southgate as England fell to a 4-0 home defeat against Hungary.

And talkSPORT's Jamie O'Hara also believes the England manager's time could be running out.

The Three Lions have scored just one goal and picked up only two points in the Nations League, a tournament that was originally seen as a good opportunity for England to prepare for the 2022 World Cup.

But rather than using their fixture at Molineux on Tuesday night to turn the mood around as Qatar approaches, they fell to yet another defeat to the Hungarians - the worst on home soil since 1928.

Southgate has led his side to a World Cup semi-final in 2018 and the Euro 2020 final last summer.

However, given there are just two more games before the World Cup, some England fans have now become concerned that the 51-year-old may not be the man to lead the country this winter after the alarming performances this month.

Following the final whistle in Wolverhampton and the unpleasant reception from the stands, England fans rung up talkSPORT's Sports Bar to vent their thoughts on the team's dire Nations League run.

And Southgate was at the centre of many of the callers' frustrations.

"I need to rant a minute, I need to get this off my chest," Dion, a Liverpool fan told talkSPORT's Jason Cundy and O'Hara.

"I'm fuming with that. Back in 2018 I thought Gareth Southgate was the major reason we got to the semi-final of the World Cup.

"I could see why he played the system he did and I literally think he helped maximise our potential."

He continued: "But since then, some of the players that have come through, the likes of Reece James, Trent [Alexander-Arnold], Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho, and loads more.

"Southgate's not maximising these players' potentials anymore. He hasn't adapted to it all in any way shape or form. The run to the Euros final was unbelievable, but it's clear we're just papering over the cracks.

"I do not care that the World Cup is only five months away. If England have any shred of hope of doing well, Southgate needs to go and he needs to go now."

Meanwhile, Cundy insisted England's Nation League run wasn't reflective of Southgate's tenure, and Spurs fan Tony agreed that calls for the manager's head were over the top.

"What so you have a bit of bad form and everything goes out the window?" Tony questioned.

"This is what's wrong with football, managers don't get long enough to prove themselves."

But O'Hara wasn't having any of Tony's point and the ex-Spurs star proceeded to highlight why he feels Southgate's position needs to be questioned.

"Hold on, this isn't about form." he said.

"We've had two major tournaments that we've flopped in at the last hurdle. Italy didn't even qualify for the World Cup, a massive opportunity lost, and Southgate got it wrong on that day.

"In the semi-final of the World Cup, we get knocked out from poor tactical decisions. This isn't a friendly, this isn't a Mickey Mouse cup, this is UEFA Nations League!

"It's a tournament. We just got beat 4-0. We're going to get relegated! We're going to get relegated! England. Going to get relegated."

He added: "Gareth Southgate is getting it wrong. In my opinion, after watching that, he's lost the dressing room."

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