Gareth Southgate, one of football's nice guys, faces up to his demons as the drop looms

Gareth Southgate turned up, that was the first surprise. Actually, he was even a little early for his engagement at an office within the drab boundaries of a charmless Middlesbrough business park.

He signed autographs and was polite and accommodating to just about all who crossed his path and, when he adjourned to have photographs taken on the banks of the Tees, he was obliging and helpful and nobly resisted the temptation to throw himself into the river below.