Research School Network: Gareth Southgate: an implementation case study The delivery phase as part of a flexible implementation process

Football fans across the country are preparing to watch England v Slovakia on Sunday night. As the team initially touched down in Germany for the start of the tournament, the country’s support was behind them. Whilst some questioned the omissions of the likes of Maguire and Grealish, we were certain that Southgate had done enough to engage and unite his squad. As the media frenzy focused on the the marital woes of Kyle Walker, a sideshow the England team could do without, Southgate focused on the wellbeing of his players and the support that was needed.

As the first whistle was blown at Arena AufSchalke, there was an air of optimism that the training and feedback would help us to outdo our performance in 2020. Previous matches were studied to offer feedback to bring about the improvements in skills and techniques needed to secure glory.

However, the most recent match against Slovenia led to boos and empty cups being thrown at the England manager, and there is consensus that the Three Lions squad needs to perform better. We are reliant on Southgate’s monitoring of his team to enable him to drive the improvements that we are so desperate to see. We need Southgate to identify and act on barriers and enablers to drive ongoing improvement.

Recommendation 3 from the new EEF School’s Guide to Implementation outlines the need for a structured, but flexible, implementation process. Within the delivery stage the need to support and encourage staff during initial stages of implementation is highlighted. A key role for leaders at this stage is to support staff wellbeing, manage expectations and encourage buy in until positive signs of change emerge.

As delivery continues we need to monitor data to improve implementation. Data and experiences should be gathered while applying the new approach and this information used to improve its use over time. There is no doubt that Southgate and his team are awash with feedback from pundits, media outlets and every sofa expert but this is not about whether we like Southgate, this is about understanding how implementation can be improved. By reflecting on data and feedback, areas of strength and success can also be identified to generate enthusiasm and buy in even when match stats aren’t where we would like them to be. 

We know that there will always be setbacks and barriers, but addressing implementation barriers often lies within the organisation. There are people who can enable change, the likes of Guehi who is being heralded as England’s best performer in Germany so far, he is an ​‘early adopter’ that can be drawn upon to model good practice.

The very nature of implementing an approach, an in this case implementing a football strategy, is that it is challenging. New behaviours and structures are learned, old habits are set aside, creating feelings of uncertainty. This is not about monitoring to prove that maybe Southgate should have made different decisions when selecting his 26 player squad, this is about monitoring to improve.

Ultimately, you may be reading this after Sunday when our future prospects in the tournament will be sealed. We may be making decisions about whether we should sustain the approach in the next match or whether a process of de-implementation needs to occur leaving Southgate’s position somewhat fragile.

For now, we can only hope that the previous matches have been viewed as a process of ongoing learning to support improvement and careful monitoring will have supported the much needed improvements.