Football, so they say, is a results business – except when it comes to Gareth Southgate, the England manager. In his case it is apparently about so many more things than winning. It is about the harmony he brings to the dressing room, his grown-up relationship with the players, the way he conducts his press conferences, and even what he wears (waistcoat, anyone?) as he stands on the touchline during international matches. In Gareth we trust is the unofficial mantra of Southgate’s true believers. It is seen as bad form to question the widespread sense that the national team, under his guidance, is destined to win this summer’s Euros in Germany.

It is a mystery why so many in football seem to think Southgate is the bees knees

Running alongside these fantasies are humdrum realities, such as last night’s friendly against Belgium at Wembley. There were mitigating factors, not least the long list of injuries that meant star players like Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka were missing. It was also just a friendly, and not necessarily a good guide to anything much. Even so, it was classic England under Southgate: cautious, lacking in ambition, until Belgium took the lead, forcing England to respond. Southgate’s teams are set up to watch and wait, and see what the opposition do, rather than go for the jugular. Belgium led the match 2-1 until the dying seconds of injury time when England equalised. Southgate celebrated the goal as if we had won the World Cup final. Perhaps he was worried about questions being raised about a second defeat after England’s loss to Brazil in the friendly at the weekend. If only. The depressing truth is that saint Gareth doesn’t exactly get a pummelling from the gathered and largely fawning football media. It is the fans who wonder whether he is up to the job and moan about his lack of footballing imagination and tactical nouse.

It feels churlish to mention that England under his tutelage have yet to win a trophy. So what, respond the Southgate fan club: England have not won anything since, well, everyone knows when, and in the past they have even failed to qualify for the big international tournaments. Southgate has changed all that, with England negotiating qualifying rounds for the big tournaments with relative ease. But what happens in the tournaments themselves? Southgate is English football’s nearly man: nearly winning against France in the 2022 World Cup quarter final; nearly winning against Italy in the final of the 2020 Euros; and nearly beating Croatia in the semi final of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Nearly isn’t good enough though, is it? It shouldn’t be, not with this bunch of players at his disposal. His failings in the big games, when it really matters, are obvious time and again. The last-minute equaliser against Belgium last night was an all too rare example of England coming from behind in a match. It is the individual brilliance of the players – in this case, Jude Bellingham, that always saves the day. The tragedy in all this is that England have a team of the super talents. Kane. Bellingham. Saka. Foden. Rice. Stones. Imagine what Pep Guardiola could do with this team.

We keep being told that England are justifiable favourites to triumph in the upcoming Euros. That football’s finally ‘coming home’. It has been suggested that the FA want Southgate to sign a new contract so he can stay on to manage England for the next World Cup, regardless of what happens in the summer. It’s his call, apparently. So much for it being a results business. There have even been reports that Manchester United want him as their next manager: this says more about the decision-making process at Manchester United than anything else.

It is a mystery why so many in football seem to think Southgate is the bees knees when it comes to managing the national team. It would be truly wonderful to be proved wrong, and for England to finally win an international tournament. I wouldn’t bet on it though, no matter what the Southgate propagandists say.