THE GATE ESCAPE

Gareth had to break free as years of ridicule took toll

- JEREMY CROSS

GARETH SOUTHGATE had reached the end of his tether before Euro 2024 had even started.

Which meant that win or lose, he had decided to resign whatever happened on German soil.

In his own mind, he'd pictured the dream scenario of being able to lead England to their first trophy since 1966.

Then stick two massive fingers up to all those who never accepted him.

To tell them to put that in their pipes and smoke it.

It's a shame he fell short of being able to do this and having the loudest last laugh of all.

But Southgate showed obvious signs of being a different human being during the tournament. He let his guard down more than once.

He looked drained before the knockout stages started. He took one broadcast journalist to task in his pre-match press conference ahead of the semi-final against Holland.