Is Gareth Southgate the true heir to Blair?

It took a while, but at last the Euros have sucked me in.

I missed most of the Germany game, and my delight at the result was tempered by the prospect of an anti-climactic quarter-final defeat to Ukraine. But England’s stunning 4-0 win, half of which I saw, was so comprehensive that I began to wonder.

On Wednesday I went out to do the weekly supermarket shop at about 7.15pm, having my pick from deserted aisles. I still felt resistant to becoming too invested in the football, such have been the crushing disappointments of the past, so didn’t mind missing the first ten minutes of the match. And when Denmark scored soon after I got home, just as I was putting away a jar of preserved lemons, I feared that things were about to turn sour.

But of course, this team is different. Frailties of bygone times have been righted; legs seem not to tire as they did at past tournaments. If anything, England give the impression of growing stronger as matches progress. And even when they are not quite at their best, as they plainly were not against Denmark, they find a route to victory. It was an edge of the seat semi-final – in a good way, for once.

Yet as much as I enjoyed the excitement of the game itself, it is the manner in which this England side carries itself that has drawn me in. You see it on the field: players helping one another from the floor when things have gone awry; their celebrations as a collective when things have gone right. And in their post-match utterances the sense of resolve and of humility is palpable.

The players can take significant credit for this: other individuals in other eras (or even from the current one) might not have fitted into an ethos which combines personal responsibility with unity of purpose. But a team culture does not just materialise from nothing: it has to be nurtured by the individual who will ultimately take the rap if the team fails to live up to expectations. And that is why Gareth Southgate has rightly been so lauded in recent weeks: this is his team, doing his bidding.

Needless to say, Southgate himself would have none of it, which is what makes him so effective. He is resolute no matter whether he faces brickbats or plaudits. He takes the pressure off the players by his calmness, but he is the first to highlight their excellence.

There is, in fact, something parental about Southgate. Watching him give his team talk during the extra-time break on Wednesday, the players were like awed children, hanging on their father’s every word. He would explain his reasoning; protect his brood by making them feel informed and wanted.

And this is when it hit me: Gareth Southgate is the ultimate Centrist Dad, and the man who can finally reclaim the term from its besmirchment during the internal wrangling of the Labour Party.

His explanation ahead of the Euros as to why England players and coaching staff would continue to ‘take the knee’ not only positioned Southgate as a progressive, liberal thinker; it demonstrated his ability to tackle a potentially divisive question head-on and to come up with a compelling answer. He is gentle, yet firm; up front but never provocative; he understands that football is only a game, but that England’s success has wider social consequences.

Given the baggage of his own footballing history, it is inevitable that a narrative of redemption has grown up in recent weeks. Can Southgate, the man who so famously missed a penalty in ’96, finally bring football home?

But there’s more: that connection to England of the mid-90s, the era of an artistic, social and political renaissance, is a reminder in these often dark times that things can get better – and that the country, like the England football team, can overcome division and make common cause.

For all the stuttering talk of Keir Starmer leading a Labour revival, perhaps the real heir to Blair is not a politician at all, but a football manager who wears M&S suits and who has captured the heart of the nation. If England win tonight – actually, even if they don’t – let’s just put Southgate in charge of everything. Three lions on a shirt; one lion to lead us all.