Lee Carsley says he wants to have “no regrets” about his time as England interim manager, but stopped short of insisting that he should take the job permanently. The 50-year-old reiterated his desire to leave the team in the best position to win rather than securing himself the job, and said he believes they could be in “a better place”.
Carsley said the next permanent manager does not need to be English, as the Football Association should not put themselves “in a corner”. He acknowledged he is a candidate but that he will not be consulted in the process.
The interim manager gave several seemingly contradictory statements over this international break, which featured a defeat to Greece and a win away to Finland. That culminated in Carsley stating that the England job should go to a “world-class” manager who has won trophies, which his CV would not yet match, only to later state he “definitely” wasn’t ruling himself out of the job.
When asked for clarity, he protested: “I’m being clear, I’m being clear. I know I’m boring you with my answers but I spent that much time when I was caretaker manager at my other roles constantly saying, ‘I don’t want the job, I don’t want the job, you need to get someone’, and I didn’t enjoy it then, so I was adamant, like I said the other night, to try things, to finish with no regrets, to try and put us in a position where we can keep winning.”
Carsley said he “definitely” shouldn’t be consulted over who gets the job. “Obviously this is a far bigger profile so it’s not something I’m involved with.” But he then added: “Do I want to be considered for the job? Well, I’m doing the job so I imagine I am being considered… the remit hasn’t changed.”
When asked whether the manager has to be English, Carsley responded: “No, definitely not. It’s important that the best candidate gets the job. We’ve seen in the past that we’ve had different nationalities coach the teams, so the best candidate should get the job. We’d be putting ourselves in a corner if we didn’t, and we didn’t open our minds a bit.
“I think it’s important that any job that’s available, you know, everyone that’s at that level should apply for it.”
Carsley reiterated that he is just happy to help, and spoke about “hopefully” going back to his under-21 role if he is not appointed, with technical director John McDermott set to make the final decision.
He said he believes the squad could be in “a better place”.
“I mean they were in a great place when we came in, I spoke about it in the first press conference that generally the jobs I’ve got as a caretaker manager where you’re going the wrong way quickly, this definitely wasn’t the case. We spoke about it in the past, the job that Gareth [Southgate] and Steve [Holland] done, to get us so close so many times was a testament to them but it’s important we try to move it forward, I don’t think it’s a case of me coming in and carrying on what they’ve done, I don’t think that would have done anyone any good.
“I really enjoy my job, the under-21s, I work for, like I say, a great organisation, it’ll be down to John and my bosses to choose what I do, I’m happy to do whatever I’m asked to do I’ll do.
“I’m trying my best. I don’t think it’s for me to say whether that’s good enough or not, I think the players are enjoying playing, which is important, but I’m really lucky in the fact I’ve really got a good job myself as well.
“It’s the responsibility I’ve got is a massive plus, is a pat on the back, I’m sure like yourselves, I work for an organisation where I can tell that I’m rated, I’m different. It’s a big thing knowing that I’m trusted, I’m different and you’ll have seen the other night.
“I don’t want to be the same as every other coach, I’m trying to be – not trying to be different, but I’ve got a way that I think we should play, and I think we’ve got the players to play that, which is different.
“Like I said before, I’m not in my comfort zone, I’m well out of it, but nothing ever changes if I’m in my comfort zone, and I’m really aware of that.”
Carsley said the part of the job he is most enjoying is working with talented young players, and was then asked what has been the biggest challenge.
He laughed about the media commitments, asking: “Apart from this bit?”