Lee Carsley said he would be happy to return to his old job as England Under-21s manager after a chastening 2-1 defeat to Greece at Wembley Stadium.
Carsley is in interim charge of the England senior team and last night oversaw a defeat that would appear to dent his chances of being appointed to the job permanently.
Carsley initially insisted that he was relaxed about whether he gets the top job or returns to his old role, before clarifying that he was not ruling himself out of “one of the best jobs in the world”.
Speaking post-match, Carsley was asked whether he feared this defeat would impact his chances of being Gareth Southgate’s permanent replacement and initially appeared to distance himself from the role.
“I was quite surprised after the last camp in terms of (reading that) the job is mine and it is mine to lose and all the rest of it,” Carsley said. “My remit has been clear. I’m doing three camps. There’s three games left and then hopefully I’ll be going back to the Under-21s. It has had almost no impact.”
When asked to clarify whether this meant that he did not in fact want the permanent England senior job, Carsley appeared to row back, or at least to say that he is still open-minded on it.
“I said at the start I wouldn’t rule myself in or out, that’s still the case,” Carsley said. “I’m more than comfortable in my position, where I am. The remit was clear. I’m comfortable and confident with that. After the first camp I didn’t get too excited or believe too much. I’m very aware that this job is one of the best jobs in the world. You’ve actually got a chance of winning. Obviously I’m talking about that after a loss, but a major competition. That’s still the case.”
Asked again to make clear whether he wanted the job, he said that “nothing’s changed” and that his remit from the Football Association had been “to do the three camps and then to hand over” — a reference to the international breaks in September, October and November.
When asked one more time about his word “hopefully”, which appeared to suggest that he would rather manage the Under-21s than the seniors, Carsley did not give a definitive answer, but said that both jobs were good and worth doing.
“Nothing’s changed in what I said in the first press conference,” he said. “It’s a fantastic job. I’m lucky I’ve got a good job as it is in the Under-21s. But after the first camp when we won two games and had two good performances nothing changed.
“It’s important that I give it everything I’ve got for the next three games. I’m really happy and comfortable with the communication I have with my bosses. Nothing’s changed in that respect.”
(Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images)
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