Reporter notebook: Lee Carsley’s diplomacy in national anthem row boosts long-term England job prospects

The lamentable lambasting of Lee Carsley’s refusal to sing the British national anthem may well have, ironically, enhanced his chances of getting the England manager’s job long term.

Two national newspapers called for him to be sacked, saying that if he didn’t sing it, he had no right to hold the top coaching job in English football.

But the FA bosses that will decide who is the substantive successor to Gareth Southgate can only have been impressed with the humility and pragmatism that Carsley showed in the face of that manufactured media outrage, before he’d even taken charge of his first game in Dublin.

The impression I get is that FA technical director John McDermott and his boss – FA chief executive Mark Bullingham – would like to give Carsley the job.

McDermott and Carsley have worked closely together ever since the former was appointed by the governing body (firstly in an assistant capacity) in 2020, and it’s widely known that McDermott likes Carsley’s approach to playing football: which promotes technical excellence and is attacking, pacey, and possession-based.

But it is my understanding that Carsley’s audition for the top job will be analysed as much for how he handles himself off the pitch, as how his team performs on it.

The waters on which the Good Ship England sails are consistently choppy. And captain Carsley has negotiated a steady course so far.

Let’s be honest, Nations League Group B games against Ireland, Finland and Greece are eminently winnable for any England manager, with the current vast array of talent at their disposal. But the person in the top job has to also follow in the footsteps of one of the most impressive and eloquent ambassadors the FA has ever had in Southgate.

Carsley isn’t expected to be as proficient a politician as his predecessor. Few could be. In fact, the FA have told him to be himself in all aspects of the job. But it goes with the territory that the men’s England manager will be asked about all sorts of sensitive and controversial subjects – often without any substantial preparation for what challenging questions will be thrown their way.

Conversely, Carsley was prepared for the difficult questions about his heritage having played 40 times for Republic of Ireland. The fact that his first game in charge of the men’s England team was in Dublin meant those questions were unavoidable, but he, like all of the FA execs, would have been taken aback by the personal and vitriolic nature of the attack.

In response, Carsley was honest and blunt. He said he wasn’t upset by it all and that it hadn’t affected him. He said he never sang Ireland’s “The Soldier’s Song” when he was a player, and he wouldn’t be singing the British national anthem now, as England manager.

Clearly, his explanation didn’t wash with some, when he said he is always too focussed on the game to sing. Maybe he would’ve been better to meet the criticism head on, and say that as an Irishman, born in Birmingham, he has family allegiances to both nations, and so doesn’t feel comfortable singing either anthem.

But the FA are fully behind him in their support of Carsley’s right to choose and the controversy will certainly have no detrimental impact on the decision whether to appoint him, or a managerial alternative. And indeed, the fact that Carsley remained steadfast and unflappable in the face of criticism can only have enhanced his employability.

“I am really lucky with the people who are in charge and are my bosses,” Carsley told the newspapers. “They know what my strengths are and aren’t going to ask me to be anything I am not. My strength is coaching, being on the pitch. This (talking) isn’t my strength, what I am doing now.

“It’s something that I understand comes with the job, as I saw yesterday (with the anthem controversy). I have my own way of doing it.”

So, when will the FA make its decision about Carsley and whether he is the right man to step up?

Well, Southgate had four matches as interim manager (two wins and two draws) before he was given the big contract and that might be a significant pointer when it comes to Carsley.

McDermott and Bullingham aren’t in any rush, and they have the luxury of having someone in temporary charge who is (by his own admission) “a safe pair of hands”.

McDermott is constantly updating his shortlist, and scouring the football world for candidates. But you have to say that, as the man currently in possession, Carsley is in pole position. The England manager’s job is probably his to lose.