England fan who fell asleep during Euro 2024 bore draw aims dig at Gareth Southgate

An England fan fell asleep during England’s bore draw with Slovenia (Picture: Getty)

A fan who was so bored during England’s snoozefest against Slovenia that he managed to nod off, claims he would do a better job of managing the Three Lions than Gareth Southgate.

England made it safely through the last 16 prior to Tuesday’s bore draw in Cologne, but have done little to inspire confidence they are capable of going one better than three years ago as a consequence of three turgid performances.

The travelling fans let Southgate know exactly what they thought of him and the team following a 0-0 draw against a side ranked 57th in the world by pelting the beleaguered England boss with beer cups.

Freddie Hahn, 32, encapsulated the mood of the nation, meanwhile, after he was caught in the land of nod while the likes of Bukayo Saka, Harry Kane and Phil Foden struggled to create a chance of note.

‘It was a very dull game,’ he told The Sun. ‘There wasn’t much going on and I thought I was better off asleep.

‘There was a lot of booing at the end and that woke me up.

‘I was actually having a nice dream about England winning the tournament — but I woke up to the nightmare of England’s performance.

Gareth Southgate went to applaud fans after the final whistle (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

‘I’d been on the beers all day and just thought it’s better to close my eyes than see what was happening on the pitch.’

Hahn and Southgate, by a quirk of fate, attended the same school and although the dad of one stopped short of booing the England boss he is confident he would get more of a tune out of the Three Lions star studded squad.

He said: ‘We actually attended the same secondary school. I didn’t boo him when I woke up because he’s from the same place as me and I didn’t want to be too harsh on him.

‘But to be honest, I could probably do a better job than him.’

England are back in action against Slovakia on Sunday having benefited from a favourable draw that became even kinder after Georgia’s shock win over Portugal.

Fans hoping to see a different England this weekend should think again, however, with Southgate unlikely to err from the sort of tactics that have yielded tournament success in the past.

‘Our world is different at the moment and I feel that is probably because of me,’ said Southgate. ‘I have to help the players as much as I possibly can because we brought the joy back into playing for England and we have to be very careful of where we head with it.

‘Players have loved playing England the last six or seven years, we’ve got to keep that – we have to keep that. If we don’t, I understand the feeling towards me, but back the players, it’s crucial the fans back the players.’