Football Poets

Farewell Gareth Southgate

And so the nation bids farewell
To Gareth Southgate
The one man who immortalised
Waistcoats, beards
And smart designer shirts
On Sunday at least
Quite possibly Fred Perry,
Gucci, some may already know
Southgate, the man
Who gave credibility back to
The England job
The man who didn’t do the dirty
And betrayed us so brazenly
For the Saudi desert riches
Untold,
Yes dear Don Revie
For it was you
The accusing finger
Points at you
You were the treacherous one
Who upped sticks
After that illustrious stint
At Leeds
No. Gareth Southgate
You were the one
Who trusted your
Blossoming kids
Saw them ripen
Like fresh summer
Strawberries from
A groaning red punnet
At Wimbledon
Like Sir Bobby,
Terry, Ron Greenwood
Underrated so you believe
But Gareth Southgate
We’ll never forget
Although some would
Prefer to air brush you from
History, oh no, not us
You were the respectable one,
The quiet and modest gent
Who never looked flustered
Or ruffled, crumpled
Nor stressed or agitated
You guided us gently
Down the path of success
And yes, we’ll say it
With confidence
As you did so repeatedly
Triumphant moments
Without the signature of
Trophies or cups
But who cares?
Two Euro Finals in
Succession
Both lost admittedly
But the endeavour
Was there
Plastered all over Berlin
Strasses, posters,
Advertising hoardings
Like a St George’s homage
Gareth Southgate
You were the one who
Revived flagging
Team spirits
At St George’s Park
Who invented team bonding
Camaraderie and bonhomie
In equal measure
Who brought the nation
Together when all appeared
To be lost and we were
Crestfallen since none of us
Thought we’d ever climb
Out of the hole
That Capello and Sven
Might have left wide open
Gareth Southgate
One World Cup semi final,
A World Cup quarter final
And not quite over the line
Did you cross
This was your CV,
Your positive legacy
Of course
The England job
Was always likely to
Be the poisoned chalice
But Gareth,
You were all over this one
Through that infectious fist pump
When victory was ours, but
No Bank Holidays or open topped bus
Parades and festivities
But to misquote an old song
Maybe next time
The cynics might tell us
Perhaps it’ll never happen
Doomed in the dank dungeons
Of narrow defeats and buried
In the depths of wretched
Failure and close run things
But as you clear your desk today
At the FA, today
Gareth Southgate
It was much closer than you think
To coming home
Thankyou Gareth Southgate
We wish you well

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