Gareth Southgate officially the most unpopular manager on social media during international break

Gareth Southgate was officially the most unpopular manager on social media during the international break despite the England manager taking the nation to their first European Championship final over the summer.
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Sixty-two per cent of all tweets mentioning the England boss were negative for the period of September 1-8 and for the same time period he was also the second most talked about international manager, only marginally behind France’s Didier Deschamps.

Whilst England managed seven points out of a possible nine, Southgate came under criticism for his reluctance to make substitutes and the social media unpopularity comes at a time when there is discussion as to whether he will extend his current contract...

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Admittedly, Wales’ Robert Page didn’t fare much better on social media with the caretaker manager’s honeymoon period appearing to be over.

England manager Gareth Southgate looks on during the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier between Poland and England. Picture by Michael Regan/Getty ImagesEngland manager Gareth Southgate looks on during the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier between Poland and England. Picture by Michael Regan/Getty Images
England manager Gareth Southgate looks on during the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier between Poland and England. Picture by Michael Regan/Getty Images

The analysis shows he was the second most unpopular manager during the international period with 61 per cent negative posts compared to 62 per cent for Southgate.

Wales’ failure to beat Estonia has hurt their qualification chances, however, the Republic of Ireland’s draws against Azerbaijan and Serbia have all but ended their hopes of heading to Qatar yet boss Stephen Kenny was only the joint-fourth most unpopular international manager alongside Spain’s Luis Enrique, with 59 per cent of all mentions containing negative sentiment.

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland’s chances of being in Qatar remain very much alive and manager Ian Baraclough has seen praise on social media as a result.

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Eighty-three per cent of all posts mentioning Baraclough on social media contained positive sentiment, making him the most popular international manager during the break.

Incidentally, the three closest managers to Baraclough in terms of popularity were all newly appointed as Germany’s Hansi Flick had a positivity rating of 72 per cent whilst the Netherland’s Louis Van Gaal saw 69 per cent of all mentions being positive, the same amount as Switzerland’s Murat Yakin.

You can find the full Most Talked About International Managers study at https://blog.betvictor.com/campaigns/most-talked-about-international-managers/.