Gareth Southgate must deliver the talk of his life and be crowned winner if he is to sit on the FA throne as England boss

IT is the most important speech of Gareth Southgate’s career.

The team talk. The Wembley dressing rooms. Ten minutes to kick-off.

Studs rattling nervously on the floor, the strained sounds of the Euro ’96 terrace anthem Three Lions playing up in the stands.

Now they are Southgate’s Three Lions.

Send them out against Malta with their veins popping through those white  shirts and they will be put four or five past this lot.

Blow it, and Wembley will become a very lonely place for the country’s interim coach.

Got to get this right, Gareth.

The first speech: the first since England moved from the West to the East dressing rooms at Wembley.

Those who have gone before him know how important it is to deliver a team talk that oozes confidence and self-belief.

Graham Taylor is one of them.

Taylor, who led England out at the old Wembley stadium for his first game against Hungary in 1990, said: “It is the moment of truth for any manager, especially at international level.

“You can do all the preparation, but what you say in those moments are the last thing a player can remember.

“I tried to keep it simple and I didn’t try to be too clever just because I had become the England manager.

“What you cannot escape is that your family, friends, along with everyone else you know in the game are either up in the stands or watching on television.

“That adds to the tension and the anxiety, but it is important not to let the players know that you are nervous as well.”

All eyes — all 23 named in Southgate’s first England squad — will be looking up at him just before 5pm tomorrow. For inspiration. For guidance. For motivation.

Remember, this is the first time England’s supporters have seen the players on home soil since the shameful 2-1 defeat against Iceland at Euro 2016.

The country is not in forgiving mood.

Even for another new England manager with another new set of ideas.

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At least we can be certain that they will be Southgate’s ideas.

Southgate is no shouter, no screamer. No ranter, no raver.

Those who have listened to his team talks speak of a measured, articulate and impressive public speaker.

Steve Harrison was first team coach at  Middlesbrough when Southgate succeeded Steve McClaren at the Riverside in 2006.

Then Southgate was 35, making the transition from team-mate to manager among a group of players including Mark Schwarzer, Mark Viduka and Ray Parlour.

Harrison revealed: “He is very studious, very serious in his approach and one of the game’s thinkers.

“What impressed me most about his team talks at half-time was his ability to allow the players to let off a bit of steam or to sound off.

“He would never interrupt. I don’t think he wanted to fan the flames, so he would let them get it out of their system.

“It is impressive. Then he would take the coaches away to the showers or somewhere to discuss how we would make changes or what he wanted to say.”

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Those mini-coaching conflabs were something Southgate developed after working under Terry Venables at Euro ’96.

Southgate was impressed by Venables when his respected assistant Don Howe offered a differing opinion during the half-time team talk in the quarter-final against Spain.

The pair retreated to an area by the vast Wembley baths and returned when Venables accepted that his coach had made the right call.

When Southgate became manager of Middlesbrough, he used similar methods.

With a dressing room full of senior players, he was also strong.

Parlour was still at Boro when Southgate addressed the players for the first time.

He recalled: “Gareth said ‘from now on I want you to call me “gaffer” or “boss”.

“I was in the crowd so I just shouted out ‘What about Big Nose? It all went quiet, everybody went quiet.

“He just went ‘You’re in the reserves today’.”

Two months later, Parlour was out on his ear.

If there is a man who commands a level of respect in the game for his conduct then it has to be Southgate.

He can carry out all the duties associated with being England manager with ease.

What counts among the players is his ability to change games.

Southgate has always been open to ideas, stretching his mind by pushing his coaches for more information, better information.

Tomorrow, when he steps off England’s team bus and turns left into the dressing rooms, he must be ready to talk a good game.

To deliver a speech succinctly. With authority. With conviction.

Do that and he can win over an England dressing room.