Gareth Southgate has the full support of the Football Association after chair Debbie Hewitt provided an impassioned defence of the "high IQ" and emotionally intelligent England manager.
England have made it to the World Cup semi-finals and Euro 2020 showpiece under Southgate, the latter of which the Three Lions' first final appearance at a major tournament in 55 years.
But pressure has mounted after a dismal start to their Nations League campaign in June, losing to Hungary twice either side of draws with Germany and Italy to leave England in danger of relegation.
The most recent 4-0 thrashing to Hungary was the first time England have lost a home match by four or more goals since March 1928, when they lost 5-1 to Scotland.
Hungary also became the first team to score four goals in an away match against England since the Hungarians themselves won 6-3 at Wembley in November 1953.
Frustrated supporters could be heard chanting "you don't know what you're doing" at Molineux towards Southgate, who later vowed to not out-stay his welcome in charge.
With the World Cup in Qatar just five months away, Hewitt was quick to outline her support for the 51-year-old despite ongoing questions over his tactics.
"My personal opinion on Gareth is that he is, by the facts on the pitch, the most successful England manager we've had for 55 years," Hewitt told reporters at a news conference.
"The bit people don't see as much is the Gareth at camp and the culture he's created.
"Certainly prior to Gareth being the manager of England, there was not the pride of wearing the England shirt. There were the club rivalries we'd read about. The players not getting on.
"He's changed that beyond recognition and I've seen that first hand.
"I'd also say that I don't just work in football, I work in business and I've worked with a lot of chief executives and Gareth's skills — his high IQ and high EQ — would make him a chief exec in any sphere.
"That resilience and accountability [are] the two qualities I admire most. There are no slopy shoulders, he doesn't huff, he's resilient and that's what you want in an England manager."
While offering her support publicly, Hewitt says the reaction of Southgate to private conversations expressing the FA's backing also highlighted his credible demeanour.
"Gareth's reaction, as in everything with that sort of conversation, was that it is his accountability, there's always something to learn," she continued.
"That's why it's refreshing working with somebody like that because that openness to learn is quite remarkable and quite unusual in any sphere."
Southgate took charge, initially as caretaker manager, in 2016 and impressed after Sam Allardyce's one-game tenure, with the former Middlesbrough manager earning the permanent job.
After England qualified for the World Cup in Qatar with victory over San Marino in November 2021, Southgate was handed a three-year extension, keeping him as Three Lions' manager until December 2024.
The World Cup will start just one year after he signed the long-term extension and debate has been sparked over whether conducting negotiations was sensible before the results and performances in that tournament are known, but Hewitt assures the correct decision was made.
"I don't think we would be discussing [the contract] had we not had the recent series of games. Clearly, we did that [agreed the new deal] with proper discussion and thought," she added.
"The fact that there's been a stumble does not make us automatically say 'should we have given him a contract?' It is a red herring.
"We have confidence in Gareth for all the reasons I described and I think that's the important thing. And it's particularly important going into the biggest tournament."
Malacia makes Man Utd comeback after 17 months out
Tyrell Malacia made his injury comeback after a 17-month spell on the sidelines, returning for Manchester United Under-21s against Huddersfield in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday.
The Netherlands international has not played since coming off the bench for his country against Croatia in the Nations League semi-final in June 2023.
Since that game, Malacia has had knee surgery twice in an attempt to solve an injury that had proved difficult to manage.
The 25-year-old made 39 appearances in all competitions for United after signing in the 2022-23 season, but has not featured for the first team since.
He played for 45 minutes in Huddersfield and was taken off at half-time, although it was a quiet night for him and he rarely got on the ball.
Malacia's return to competitive action coincided with the day that new head coach Ruben Amorim met some of United's senior players at the training ground.
Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Leny Yoro, Kobbie Mainoo and Toby Collyer were all among the players he saw while doing their individual injury rehab.
Malacia makes injury comeback for Under-21s after 17 months out
Tyrell Malacia made his injury comeback after a 17-month spell on the sidelines, returning for Manchester United Under-21s against Huddersfield in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday.
The Netherlands international has not played since coming off the bench for his country against Croatia in the Nations League semi-final in June 2023.
Since that game, Malacia has had knee surgery twice in an attempt to solve an injury that had proved difficult to manage.
The 25-year-old made 39 appearances in all competitions for United after signing in the 2022-23 season, but has not featured for the first team since.
He played for 45 minutes in Huddersfield and was taken off at half-time, although it was a quiet night for him and he rarely got on the ball.
Malacia's return to competitive action coincided with the day that new head coach Ruben Amorim met some of United's senior players at the training ground.
Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Leny Yoro, Kobbie Mainoo and Toby Collyer were all among the players he saw while doing their individual injury rehab.
Taylor pleased with Man City's physical test during Hammarby win
Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor was pleased with how his team stood up to the physical challenge of Hammarby in their 2-0 Champions League victory on Tuesday.
Laura Blindkilde Brown and Aoba Fujino were on target in the second half at the Joie Stadium, moving them three points clear at the top of Group D.
City's win extended their unbeaten start to the season, having won every game in all competitions following a 2-2 draw against Arsenal on opening day.
The hosts dominated for large parts of the encounter, ending with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.75 from their 16 shots, while also accumulating 73.6% possession.
But Taylor was happy with his side's display and explained the physical test against the Swedish champions was something his players will benefit from moving forward.
“Difficult game for us, physical challenge, a physical team in Hammarby. I think they outnumber us a little bit in terms of size, considering when you look at our midfield. But I thought the girls handled it really well," Taylor said after the game
“I thought we dominated the game. In the early parts we were just a little bit off in our final action. We just needed to speed up a little bit in terms of being on the end of it, and we spoke about that at half-time, and we score with Laura getting into that type of position we’d been talking about.
“[The physicality was something] we were prepared for, but dealing with it is a different thing. Having Bunny [Khadija Shaw] and Alanna [Kennedy] on the pitch, two of our more physical players, is really important, particularly for set-plays.
“At 1-0 we were defending a couple of scenarios like that, Yama [Ayaka Yamashita] making a really good save at one point. Then Aoba [Fujino] got the goal that maybe allowed us to change things up a little bit more, get some people off that we’d like to manage.
“I think the girls have dealt with it really well tonight. We expected it, we thought it would be difficult, and they rose to the challenge.”
Taylor had made changes to City's starting XI, with Lauren Hemp among the trio to drop out from the weekend and she did not feature in the squad.
Ahead of their weekend game against Chelsea, who are second in the Women's Super League, Taylor explained the reasoning behind Hemp's absence.
“We’ve just got an issue with Lauren that we just need to analyse a little bit further, that’s all," he said.
“It’s something that potentially happened in the Palace game [on 3 November]. She was able to play in the Tottenham game [last Friday] but wasn’t able to tonight, so we’ll just take a little bit longer to assess and find out more.
“Hopefully [she can play against Chelsea]. There’s an opportunity there, we’ll just have to take a moment tomorrow, have a good conversation and find out where we’re at with the medical staff.”
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