Pressure from the media is a given in any high profile position wherever you are on the planet. Well, perhaps not in North Korea.The British media, particularly the tabloids, is renowned for being among the most ferocious in the world. Wrestling down any figure they take a dislike to with any manner of underhand tactics and typically pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable in pursuit of finding what it is they really want: the dirt.National teams should accept that unattainable expectations are just part of the gig, but with the British press, it's often more than that. The immediacy with which they leap to 'embarrassment' or 'cowardice' continually makes negative columns a far more personal issue. The suggestion we hear from the media so regularly is that the players do not care. And perhaps some don't: some might not be fussed about any of the 'Three Lions' nonsense, but we can be pretty damn sure that the majority were hurt by the defeat to Iceland just as much as anyone - probably more.For the players it is an issue of having their professionalism questioned. To suggest they don't care or don't try is quite a monumental accusation. Some of this is because the players aren't as good as the media themselves want to believe, while some is because of deeper-running issues throughout the game. It is evident an overhaul is needed from grassroots through to the top flight, but that sort of bigger picture is harder to slap into a headline.

When it comes to England managers, it gets even more personal. From Graham Taylor's humiliation across the papers in the 1990s to the attacks on Steve McClaren and Roy Hodgson more recently, few jobs in the world face the same level of mockery. Even some deceitful UK politicians don't garner the same ugly attention as the manager of the national team.

There are, of course, gargantuan questions to be asked of the England team, but it is not sound analysis that leads the way in the most-read publications. On the whole it is blighted by focus on the peripheral, the politics of the team and finding obscure reasons to harm a manager.

The downfall of Sam Allardyce was down to exceptional journalism, but the press' reaction to Gareth Southgate has shown the true colours beneath the surface. Determined to assassinate his character and delve for any tool which can be used to humiliate him, there is a particular hunger for a story that makes managing the national team as pressurised a job as there is in the entire country.

The media are not there to support the national team without question. Far from it - they are there to ask questions and hold power to account. Their approach, however, does make it significantly more challenging to manage the team. Some of the stories printed about Gareth Southgate just make you ask, 'who cares?!' rather than raising any genuine points of debate.

If the England football team is to become a realistic force in international football, it's not just the press that needs to change. Clearly there are other, arguably bigger, issues. But the pressure placed on the manager, and the insatiable need to paint the national team in a bad light doesn't help. It does much more harm than it does good.