Gareth is a reality fan – but is also camera shy
Fly-on-the-wall shows have no place with national squad
After his World Cup exploits, Gareth Southgate’s stock as England manager could not be higher.
Not that he is crowing about leading England to the semi- finals of a major tournament for the first time in 22 years.
And he certainly would not follow in Pep Guardiola’s example and allow cameras in to film every aspect of life as England manager.
The Manchester City manager has been the central figure in Amazon’s ‘All or Nothing’ documentary, a fly-on-the-wall view of City’s march to the Premier League title last season.
Southgate has been a keen viewer on life inside the Etihad Campus, trying to pick up any titbits. But the England manager has no plans to let the cameras into St George’s Park anytime soon.
If anything, that has already been done, thanks to the warts-and-all documentary that focused on the late Graham Taylor’s time in the job.
‘ The Impossible Job’ was compulsive TV viewing, if not for the right reasons from Taylor’s point of view as England failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup.
“There is not a chance I would do that,” says Southgate.
“I enjoyed the City documentary as a piece of television. Of course, you are always looking for a bit more tactical insight or some more training sessions.
“But it was well edited and it was interesting to watch. There was an insight into Pep’s personality, which I’ve seen a little bit of having met him.
“And, for a fan, you see some of the players’ personalities, which obviously we know. For them, it would be more of a discovery than it was for me.
“It would be difficult to do, especially in our environment.
“At a club, you are probably more comfortable. Players feel happy in their environment. But internationally, there is a little less comfort.
“It’s different from the day- to- day. Then to expect them to relax and not be inhibited in meetings is a really tough challenge.
“When a camera crew is with you for a year, I’m sure after a period of time that becomes background to you.
“But at international level, where you are together for a week and then apart again, you are building trust all the time.
“We were quite open during the World Cup and we got our messages out.
“We put up with Eddie’s camera ( England photographer Eddie Keogh) in our faces for most of the summer and that captured some lovely memories for us.
“But this is not something I would be encouraging from an England perspective.”
Having taken England to fourth place in the World Cup, Southgate must try to build on that as the platform for continued success rather than an isolated high spot.
But it means there is a feelgood factor around the team as the squad gathers for the first internationals of the new season.
It’s Spain at Wembley in the new Nations League on Saturday, followed by a friendly with Switzerland in Leicester three days later.
It may never be better than it was in Russia for Southgate, but he is convinced he can still get better in his role.
“I am confident we can improve because I have only managed 200 games,” he admits.
“Every game you manage and every training session you take and every interaction you have, you should learn and improve. That’s fundamental for any coach.
“In terms of numbers of matches, I am still relatively inexperienced. But I know that I have lived through as high pressure an environment as you are going to face.
“We came through as a team with as good a performance as we have had in 50 years.
“I know the things we had to contend with and all the complexity of managing in that spotlight so, of course, you gain confidence going through that.
“When I was a young manager at Middlesbrough, my first win was against Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea.
“We also beat Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal and Liverpool under Rafa Benitez.
“But you don’t necessarily know all the things you are doing are right because it’s a voyage into the unknown.
“The longer you manage, you realise your methods are working. That reassures you that you are doing the right things.
“There is still huge room for improvement for us as a team. That is a good place to be.
“We know we were close in the summer but we know we have work to do. It’s a really good challenge now for us to bridge the gap.
“How do we improve the things we need to improve upon, but also keep a lot of the good things that we did?”