Thank you Gareth Southgate for restoring pride in England, but it's now time for change - Stuart Rayner

If so, the former Middlesbrough player and manager should leave with the thanks of a nation, not any bitterness at his failure to deliver the major trophy England have not lifted since 1966.

Southgate has not been the perfect England manager, because no such person exists. Even Sir Alf Ramsey got sacked in the end.

He has been accused of being too loyal to key players despite ending Wayne Rooney's international career, and dispensing with Raheem Sterling, Kalvin Phillips, Marcus Rashford, Jack Grealish and Harry Maguire on the way to Sunday's final against Spain, which his team lost 2-1.

He is apparently not tactically savvy enough and constrains his players too much, as if reaching the semi-finals of a World Cup, the Nations League and consecutive European Championship finals happened both by not planning enough and planning far too much.

Sunday's events will continue the narrative that he struggles against the major nations, ignoring Germany in 2021, the Netherlands last week, and the fact that whatever their population size or heritage, the teams England faced late in major tournaments were there because they outperformed the "bigger names".

His critics say he is too slow to make substitutions but those he did make are why England were playing only their second European Championship final, both on his watch, and why they had a chance again tonight with Cole Palmer introduced to cancel out Nico Williams’ strike to start the second half, before Mikel Oyarzabal struck decisively with four minutes remaining.

To fully appreciate Southgate, you must understand what went before.

One European semi-final, in England, one World Cup win, in England, and one other semi-final does not tally with the high bar Southgate has always been measured against.

He started the job – on a temporary, trial basis – trying to clear up the mess of Iceland 2016, landed with the fallout from one of the most surprising defeats in European Championship history.

Under-21 manager Southgate did not replace Roy Hodgson, future Leeds United boss Sam Allardyce did, but his greed and thirst made a bad situation worse, sacked after one game and a newspaper sting.

To take the next World Cup semi-final to extra time against Croatia was no mean feat and not the norm for England football teams.

Italia 90 and Euro 96 were glorious exceptions but too often during Southgate's playing days and before wearing the Three Lions was seen as a chore, as supposedly golden generations failed to find a golden blend. Now playing for England seems to be something players genuinely look forward to.

Managing the England football team is notoriously difficult but managing its supporters – on social media, on the terraces, in press boxes and television studies – is akin to trying to rein in a kindergarten class half an hour after it was let loose in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.

As if having to reason with those who thought England's only flair was up their bottoms, having to dodge beer cups thrown at him earlier this month, having to shrug off the fan-like criticism of a potty-mouthed 63-year-old former England captain, he had to fend off questions about political critics slagging off his players for taking the knee one minute and jumping on the bandwagon in newly-bought England shirts as soon as silverware twinkled into view.

Southgate's level-headedness, the polar opposite of Kevin Keegan's excitable puppy act, has been his greatest strength and one of the biggest sticks used to beat him.

In public at least, he is boring – exactly what is needed to manage such an irrational and schizophrenic nation of supporters as ours.

There has been a decency too, most notably when defending his players for protesting against racism or homophobia and encouraging the social awareness of Rashford and Jordan Henderson. Eventually he seemed to tire of it, reluctant to keep getting dragged into someone else's culture war.

Tired must be how he feels today.

He has taken a battering during Euro 2024, admitting it hurt at times. Proud patriotism made him stick it out, but everyone has limits.

He briefly thought about walking away after 2021’s European Championship, then the politically-charged 2022 Qatar World Cup. As well as being another sign of his decency agreeing a contract until December so the Football Association have plenty of time to find a replacement it suggested the time is coming.

Better to go now having served his country so well than to linger too long, like Joachim Low with Germany and perhaps Didier Deschamps with France. Maybe even Ramsey.

England are blessed with a core of players at, not past, their peak, a layer beneath of youngsters bedded in and another seam ready to step up.

Maybe it is time for somebody else to take them on, for Southgate to finally get back to the club scene he left when Middlesbrough sacked him in 2009.

England are in a far better place than the dark days of late 2016 and easily their most successful and longest-serving manager bar Ramsey is the main reason why.

History was always likely to judge Southgate very generously but he deserves more than to be made to wait for it.

Regardless of whether this is the end or not, regardless of Sunday's defeat, thank you, Gareth.