Rumours had been rife for several days that Southgate would be sacked if we failed to beat Derby at the Riverside ... following successive home defeats by West Brom, Leicester and Watford.
But when he took that stand AGAINST the home support ... saying "my players don't enjoy playing at the Riverside, they would rather play away from home" ... he made a rod for his own back.
The golden rule in football is simple - the fans pay the manager's wages and they have the right to form an opinion.
And they were almost unanimous in wanting Southgate out of the club.
Gibson wielded the axe hours after the Derby game, but he had made his mind up long before. He simply didn't make the announcement before the game because he knew how it would have added to the pressure on the players.
Ironically, Boro are sitting in fourth place in the Coca-Cola Championship table and only a point adrift of leaders West Brom.
However, the game was played in front of just 17,459 spectators, less than half the Riverside's official capacity and the lowest-ever attendance for a league game at the stadium.