The Football Association (FA) has officially announced that Lee Carsley will be the England national team’s interim manager going forward. Carsley, 50, has been involved in England’s youth setup since 2020. He initially managed the U20s at this time, but has since taken over the U21s in the last three years.
England has needed a new boss after Gareth Southgate decided to step down from the role in July. The now former Three Lions manager reached the last two Euro finals, but failed to collect the trophy in both tournaments.
Carsley will now take over the helm on a temporary basis while the governing body continues their managerial search. The FA needed to make a decision as England has two UEFA Nations League fixtures scheduled in September. Carsley will now be on the sidelines for England’s games against the Republic of Ireland and Finland during this time.
Nevertheless, the former midfielder is likely to be in charge of the Three Lions for the remainder of 2024. The FA has stated that Carsley will remain in the role “throughout the autumn.” England is also set to face Greece twice, and Finland and the Republic of Ireland once again before winter kicks in.
The decision certainly makes sense for the Three Lions in the short term. First of all, Carsley is obviously familiar with many of the England national team players. Secondly, the team’s upcoming fixtures in the Nations League are also not exactly the most important games to be won. The competition was created as a way to avoid playing meaningless international friendlies.
FA chief Mark Bullingham touched on this first point when announcing the move. “Lee is a fantastic coach who is well known to the majority of our current senior squad, having worked with most at international or club level,” stated Bullingham.
“He offers us a very strong interim solution and we are confident he will perform well in the UEFA Nations League games ahead. We are grateful to Lee for stepping up to manage the team while we continue with our recruitment process.”
Bullingham recently asked the FA’s board to vote on whether or not he can target a foreign coach to permanently succeed Southgate. While there were some hesitations by select members, the board agreed to the proposal. The CEO’s decision to call for the vote suggests that he has an idea of who he wants to target.
Interestingly enough, Carsley reportedly rejected the chance to manage the Republic of Ireland back in March. The former player previously earned 40 caps with the Boys in Green. While addressing the media after becoming the England interim coach, Carsley claimed that the talks were only casual.
“I went to speak to them. Really informal, enjoyable, for around an hour. It went no further,” said the coach. The Republic of Ireland eventually hired Heimir Hallgrímsson just last month. Carsley’s first match as England coach will now come away to the Republic of Ireland and he could face them once again in mid-November.
Along with having a familiarity with the England senior players, Carsley has also proven to be a solid manager. The coach led his previous squad to the European U21 Championship title after topping Spain in July of 2023. It was the team’s first trophy in the competition in nearly 40 years. The England U21s were led by Newcastle star Anthony Gordon, who collected the Player of the Tournament award.
PHOTOS: IMAGO.
