Lee Carsley ‘absolutely not’ ruling himself out of England job over confusion – The Irish News

Lee Carsley rejected suggestions he had effectively ruled himself out of the permanent England post, saying he is still on track to become the world-class coach the job needs.

Gareth Southgate’s temporary successor bounced back from Thursday’s embarrassing 2-1 home defeat to Greece with a 3-1 away win against Finland in the Nations League on Sunday.

England were not entirely convincing in Helsinki, where interim boss Carsley would give further confusing answers about his interest in taking on the role permanently.

On Thursday the 50-year-old said he will “hopefully” return to his Under-21 role after the November games, before confirming on Saturday he had not formally signed up to replace Southgate.

As if that wasn’t enough, after the win over Finland, Carsley told ITV that “this job deserves a world-class coach who has won trophies and done it – and I’m still on my way to doing that”.

Carsley was peppered with questions at the post-match press conference seeking clarification on his position, including whether he felt it was too early for him to become senior team boss.

“Absolutely not,” Carsley said. “I tried to make it as clear as possible. My assignment concerned three camps.

“The point I was trying to make is that it’s one of the best jobs in the world.

“I’m not part of the process, but it deserves a top coach. With the players we have available, we have a real chance of winning. That was the point I was making.”

Many seized on Carsley’s comments about him still being on track to become a world-class coach when he was effectively ruling himself out of the England job.

When asked directly whether that was the wrong assessment of those comments, he said: “Yes, certainly. Like I said, it’s important that I do my best.

“It is a privilege to be able to do this work. I feel very confident, it’s a great job and you know, whoever gets it will fully deserve it.

Carsley stressed he is trying to keep an “open mind” on matters beyond his stint in charge of three camps, having learned from previous roles.

“I am absolutely reluctant (to say whether I want the job) because in the past when I have been in this caretaker/interim role, I have gone so far down the ‘I don’t want the job’ (route) that I have didn’t actually get the work done,” he said.

“One of the things I talked about when I was asked to take charge temporarily is that it’s important that I keep an open mind because then I’m not reckless with my decisions.

“I think carefully about how the team should play and which team to choose. That is a challenge because selection of squads is very difficult.”

“The number of players we have to leave and what we have available to us, and I still have a camp to do. It’s just a shame that we can’t play against Greece next week.”

Next month’s visit to Athens will be key in the fight to return to the top level of the Nations League as it showed the courage to bounce back from Thursday’s defeat.

Jack Grealish’s first-half strike put England ahead in Finland, where Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick and a finish close to Declan Rice’s post meant Arttu Hoskonen’s late header was just a consolation goal.

“In the end we won the game and scored three good goals,” Carsley said. “It was a shame that we couldn’t keep a clean sheet.

“I don’t know the players that well yet in terms of how the team responds to defeat and setbacks, so I was very happy with the way they responded.”

As for Finland, the wait for a first-ever win against England continues after a night in which the hosts – winless in the group – made life difficult for the Euro 2024 runners-up.

Head coach Markku Kanerva said: “Compared to the first game at Wembley, a much better game from us and we were able to create some good scoring chances – 13 tries and we managed to score one goal.

“We stayed in the game until they scored from a free kick.

“Of course the English have the quality in certain situations, but I am quite proud of the fighting spirit that my players showed tonight considering what kind of players England has.”