England players' comments away from cameras speak volumes about Gareth Southgate

In any profession, the chances of someone having a pop at their manager while still under his or her command are slim and none.

So when England players form an orderly Qatari queue to laud Gareth Southgate, it is hardly a seismic surprise. What else are they going to say? He can make or break his international career and all that goes with it.

But when the microphones and cameras are off, these England footballers say exactly the same thing as they do in public. Playing for Southgate, training under Southgate, being in camp with Southgate, is an absolute pleasure. Hard work, thorough, but a pleasure.

And let me tell you, that has not been the case with previous England managers.

In fact, remember 2002, after the World Cup quarter-final defeat to Brazil?

“We wanted Churchill and we got Iain Duncan-Smith,” said one player, apparently, of Sven Goran Eriksson. The player? Gareth Southgate.

Ironically, Southgate himself is probably more Duncan-Smith than Churchill.

But regardless of the outcome of Sunday’s game against Senegal, Southgate has proven there is the ideal identikit England manager. And it is him.

A year ago, Southgate signed a contract that runs until December 2024 but when he gets back from Qatar, the FA should think about offering him another one.

Defeat against Senegal would, understandably, be seen as failure at this tournament. But, make no mistake, Senegal will not hammer England. They might squeeze past them - these things can happen in knockout stages - because they are no mugs.

They are the reigning Africa Cup of Nations champions and they beat Mohamed Salah’s Egypt to qualify for Qatar 2022.

But even if England miss out, Southgate has shown he is the perfect national coach, even silencing the ‘handbrake off’ brigade with nine goals in three group games.

After six years - eight, if he sees out his contract - Southgate, 52, might feel he wants a change, might want to have a crack at the more lucrative world of Premier League management.

To be brutally honest, though, what job would be out there for him that he really fancies?

As brilliant a job as he has done with England, are, for example, one of the Big Six going to take him as their next manager? Possibly, but I am guessing not.

If Southgate wants no more of the unique pressure of what has long been known as The Impossible Job, then that would also be understandable but he never looks as though that pressure gets to him.

And he is clearly relishing bringing through a crop of young players who will ensure that England are seriously competitive at many tournaments to come.

Again, players always speak well of the gaffer but when you listened to Declan Rice waxing lyrical about Southgate on Thursday morning, you knew it was genuine.

There have been plenty of people who believe the England manager should be judged solely on a tournament-by-tournament basis and I have been one of them.

But this does not feel like Southgate’s job, it feels like his vocation, his calling.

That is why defeat in Sunday’s game in the Bedouin tent-inspired Al Bayt Stadium should be seen as a failure … but it should not be curtains for Southgate.

Cristiano Ronaldo's Qatar appeal

Heading back to base in the early hours of the morning after Portugal’s win over Uruguay, the Metro was packed with what, at first glance, appeared to be supporters of both nations.

But there was only one theme to the chanting. Cristiano Ronaldo.

Which tells you that either there are a lot of ‘fake fans’ at this tournament or Ronaldo really is some sort of global phenomenon.

Or, more likely, a combination of both.

World Cup booze business

Let's nail this Qatar booze business - a topic that has lasted longer than a hangover at this World Cup - once and for all.

If you want a pint during this tournament, you can get one.

Even if you are an England player, you don’t have to stick to milk shakes.

Unlike the England players, however, you will have to pay for a beer and it will cost you between £8 and £12, which is steep by European standards, even by London standards.

But if you decided to come to Qatar, you knew that anyway.

And the beer here might look cheap compared to the beer you will buy at World Cup 2016.

Because right now, a beer at, say, baseball’s Yankee Stadium in New York - one of the 16 host cities in four years time - is £15 a pint.

There are a lot of things about this World Cup to get bitter about but beer is not one of them.

Infantino rightly jeered

When Gianni Infantino’s face appeared on the big screens inside the Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium during England’s game against Wales, he was roundly jeered.

Good. He deserves all the jeers he gets.

But the fact is that Infantino has huge support throughout the 211 national associations that make up FIFA and will stand unopposed for re-election in March.

If England and other European nations believe his leadership is toxic, it is about time they came up with some sort of meaningful opposition to him.

Wales prove World Cup expansion is farce

ONE of the mantras coming out of the Welsh camp following their disappointing exit from Qatar 2022 was that to even be here was still a fantastic achievement that should be celebrated.

Which, to a large extent, was true.

And that's why the expansion to a 48-team tournament in 2026 is a farce, a joke.

Getting to the World Cup finals will no longer be an achievement of note.

For many, it should be a formality and for teams such as Wales, it will be nothing more than satisfactory if they make it.

Szczesny's Messi bet

Wojchiech Szczęsny must have thought he was on to a good thing when he wagered $100 with Lionel Messi that VAR would not award a penalty when his glove brushed the face of the GOAT during Poland’s 2-0 defeat to Argentina on Wednesday night.

But I am sure he would have paid a hundred bucks for the privilege of saving the great man’s spot-kick.

However, it is a good job the Polish keeper is no longer plying his trade in England because the Football Association’s bizarre disciplinary procedure would probably have banned him from the game for ten years.