"I understand the narrative towards me," Gareth Southgate said after seeing empty cups thrown in his direction by England fans in Cologne on Tuesday. "That’s better for the team than it being towards them, but it is creating an unusual environment to operate in. I’ve not seen any other team qualify and receive similar."
Southgate has been widely praised for the job he's done with the England squad over the past eight years. He built up a lot of credit by turning them into genuine major tournament contenders again and fixing the toxic dressing room culture that undermined the regimes of his predecessors Roy Hodgson, Fabio Capello and Sven-Goran Eriksson.
But after England's mind-numbing 0-0 draw against Slovenia, who currently sit 57th in the FIFA world rankings, Southgate has nothing left in the bank. Although that result took the Three Lions through to the Euro 2024 knockout stages as Group C winners, the mood in the stands at the final whistle was one of pure frustration and bewilderment.
Southgate has a wealth of talent at his disposal, and yet England have looked so average and devoid of ideas from minute one in Germany. It's no wonder that he has lost the faith of the supporters. The players have also let themselves down, but the buck stops with Southgate, and if he doesn't start taking some risks then his reign is destined to end in humiliating fashion - perhaps even as early as the next round.