Gareth Southgate (talking to the Mail): "(Chief executive) Keith (Lamb) was quite open in telling me he had interviewed Gordon Strachan in London for my job more than two weeks earlier, on the night before we beat Reading (October 3).
"Apparently, I was going to get the sack then but we'd played so well that Steve decided he couldn't do it.
"I found it bizarre that Keith should tell me all that. I didn't know whether I should applaud him for being so honest or get angry for taking the mickey.
"The whole thing was surreal.
"It was normal for me to go to see the chairman in the boardroom after a home game. And it was usually a happy experience if we'd won.
"I didn't have the slightest inkling I was in trouble. We'd won the game, I'd spoken to the media and had a celebration drink with my staff. After a difficult few weeks, there was a positive mood around the place.
"As I walked up to see Steve, I thought about asking him about signing a striker on loan.
"After the handshake, Steve always asks me what I want to drink. But this time there was no offer.
"He said there was something he needed to talk about. Even then, I didn't get it. He seemed serious but I thought it might be about someone else, not me.
"Then he told me straight that he'd been monitoring the team's results over the season and that poor results meant I was losing my job."