Sir Gareth Southgate could be turned from a distant dream to a reality in the New Year as he is just 9/4 with the bookies to receive a knighthood this year. This would be quite the achievement for Southgate who was attempting to turn around a dodgy England side at the start of the season with a brand new style of football.
Southgate has lead England to a remarkable year, kicking things off with a few decent wins in the build-up to the 2018 World Cup beating the Netherlands, Nigeria and Costa Rica before flying out to the World Cup in Russia. A dramatic last-minute win against Tunisia thanks to Harry Kane sent the country wild before a 6-1 win over Panama saw us into the knockout stages.
Remarkably, for the first time ever, England won a World Cup penalty shootout. They beat Colombia on penalties before Sweden were swept aside with ease at the quarter-final stage.
Unfortunately, the wonderful run ended at the semi-finals as Croatia were too strong for Southgate's men but the country was inspired and had fallen in love with international football once again.
England managed to get revenge on Croatia after a thrilling Nation’s League group stage, where they came from the brink of relegation to qualify for the four and relegate Croatia in the process.
Gareth has had an amazing year, as have England, but a knighthood does seem a bit extreme this time around. Let’s wait until you bring it home in 2019/20/22, hey Gareth.
