Nandos, James Bay and Ben Stokes – Inside Gareth Southgate’s bid to motivate England stars

How do you keep a squad of around 20 men entertained for two weeks? Bring in James Bay, of course.

England are stepping up their preparations for Euro 2024, which will get underway later this month when Scotland take on hosts Germany on June 14.

That includes the Three Lions playing two friendlies, the first being against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday night, and Iceland on Friday.

But when the players are not on the pitch or on the training field, how does Gareth Southgate keep them all in line?

According to the Telegraph, Southgate kickstarted his preparations on Friday night with a team-bonding session with some peri-peri chicken.

At Middlesbrough’s training resort, Rockcliffe Hall in Darlington, everyone in the squad except Jude Bellingham – still celebrating the Champions League with Real Madrid – was present for a night of music and takeaways.

Indie-pop star James Bay played a private gig for the 25-man squad while they had their meals delivered by Nandos for the evening, a popular food chain with footballers.

Hold Back The River singer Bay played a solo set with a guitar and an amplifier for the players, who will face Bosnia and Herzegovina nearby at St. James’ Park.

This is not the first time that Southgate has invited a popstar to play in front of his squad – in fact, it is becoming something of a tradition.

During Euro 2020, under Covid restrictions, Ed Sheeran was invited to perform while for the World Cup in Qatar, Robbie Williams trreated the players to a set.

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The legendary British musician even invited players to join him on stage as he went through his repertoire.

England cricket star Ben Stokes also made an appearance in Darlington to meet the players, taking some time out of his schedule with the national side before their own tournament in the United States at the T20 World Cup.

With the squad set to be away from their families and loved ones for a portion of time at Euro 2024, Southgate is keen to keep spirits high.

The England squad is already a close-knit team but keeping 20-plus blokes happy for nearly a month can be a daunting task.

Indeed, it has sometimes led to controversy before for previous coaches but Southgate has managed to keep his players away from the limelight for the wrong reasons.

England’s base for the European Championship will be in a remote town called Blankenhain, 90 minutes from Leipzig and renowned for its gorgeous countryside, also featuring two nearby golf courses.

The team will travel there after their friendly against Iceland at Wembley on Friday night, though Bellingham will likely meet them there as he has been given extra time off.

The midfielder helped Real Madrid to the Champions League title on Saturday night at Wembley while his international teammates were on their holidays.

Southgate is keen to give the 20-year-old some time off before the European Championship gets underway, having played 42 times in his debut campaign for Los Blancos.

“It’s not the most important thing (to be with the group), the most important thing is rest and recovery and we will benefit from that,” Southgate said.

“That is the constraint of international football, you have to work out the most important thing and for Jude and therefore the team it is psychologically switching off and recovering.”