After yet another uninspiring display at Euro 2024, footage has emerged of England fans throwing empty cups at Gareth Southgate following last night’s 0-0 draw with Slovenia.
As the videos below show, Southgate stepped away from the players to applaud the travelling support, but was met with a mixture of boos, jeers and some applause before few cups thrown his way.
England have moved into the last 16 and topped the group, believe it or not. However, our performances have been way off and Southgate’s tactics and reluctance to change a broken side/system have caused huge frustration, both online and in the stands over in Germany, with Anthony Gordon’s five-minute cameo a token gesture that felt too little too late.
On the boos and cups thrown in his direction, Southgate said: “I’d rather the fans direct it towards me rather than the players. I’m not going to back away from it, I get it”. I understand the narrative towards me but the fans need to stick with the team”.
After defending our performance and second half display, Southgate also defended his substitutions, saying: “The changes we made had a positive impact on the game tonight.”
That may be true, but giving himself a pat on the back for changes he made far too late is an odd take when most of the country were crying out for the likes of Anthony Gordon and Cole Palmer to start. Based on what we saw, we might just have created enough to win had they been in from the off.
I don’t condone hurling cups at the manager and understand why boos feel poorly timed when we’re still in it ahead of Sunday’s last 16 clash, but it’s hard to watch such a talented England side go to waste.
