In the new era under Gareth Southgate, and perhaps for the first time in the England team’s history, the manager has asked his players to address him by his first name rather than adhere to those old conventions of the game that dictate that the boss should always be known as “the boss”.

It is a small part of what Southgate hopes will be a different culture around the team which he feels is more suited to the mindset of the modern player, often a superstar brand in his own right, who has to be given the leeway to make decisions of his own. Southgate does not want to be the authoritarian figure, rather he feels that all successful teams are guided by their manager but led, on the pitch, by the players themselves.

If that sounds like it comes from the philosophy of the archetype of the modern teacher, then it is worth considering that Eddie Jones said exactly the same thing when he addressed the England football squad this week. The England rugby head coach, more of a demon headmaster at first glance, told England’s footballers that the best teams are capable of making decisions themselves.