It’s the biggest job in English football, but the one you’d have to be a bit mad to take. Gareth Southgate raised expectations to a level he eventually found untenable, with two Euros finals and a World Cup semi-final not enough to sate an increasingly vocal portion of the Three Lions fanbase and a voracious media.
Southgate’s departure this summer has opened up a vacancy that still remains open; had the FA been able to appoint a suitable successor already, they would surely have done so by now.
Or… would they? Or might there in fact be a bit of a ‘let’s see what happens with the caretaker and see if he does well enough to give it to him full-time’?
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That was what happened with Southgate, who was thrust into the role shortly after Sam Allardyce was ousted from the job in some disgrace. Southgate’s results and impressive press conferences led to his interim status being upgraded to a permanent role that he ended up staying in for nearly eight years.
For Carsley to even be considered is a testament to how well Southgate handled that step up. International management is a strange and unique beast, after all. England have made concerted efforts over the past two decades to simulate the pressure and rigours of summer tournaments as much as possible at youth level to prepare their players for what they are walking into – and that experience is arguably just as important to the coaches.
When you look around England, the paucity of standout candidates for the national team job is striking, and it’s not only down to the international dominance of Premier League dugouts.
It’s not that chances haven’t been given to English managers: Graham Potter, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Scott Parker and Dean Smith have all come and gone over the past few years, leaving just three Englishmen currently in charge of top-flight clubs: Sean Dyche, Eddie Howe and Gary O’Neil.
The issue is that although youth production has considerably improved, there are still simply not enough English coaches coming through the system. One 2007 report found that England only had about a tenth as many coaches holding UEFA B, A and Pro badges as Italy or Spain.
Fast forward 10 years, and the picture was barely any better: England reportedly had fewer UEFA A badge holders than Austria, Poland or Turkey. The cream should rise to the top, but there is barely enough milk in the English coaching pail for that to be worth very much.
You might argue that Carsley is not experienced enough in management to get the role, but the alternatives are barely any more proven by trophies and tournament football. The three Englishmen have barely more than a Champions League group stage exit and a Europa League qualification play-off defeat between them at senior level.
So you can understand why the FA might be interested in going the route that delivered their best sustained period of tournament progress in their history, and which Spain took en route to Euro 2024 victory under Luis de la Fuente this summer. Carsley won the under-21 Euros just last summer with a side that featured current senior stars Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill, Angel Gomes, Morgan Gibbs-White and Anthony Gordon, along with potential future long-term prospects like Jarrad Branthwaite, Noni Madueke and Harvey Elliott.
‘He knows the players’ does not mean much at club level, where your daily acquaintance with the players quickly renders it moot; but it goes a lot further in international football, where every game carries a heavier weight of national attention and expectation and chances to get to know the players are far more limited.
There is sense, then, in at least giving it a go and see where it takes them. England’s relegation to the second tier of the Nations League may not be the ideal proving ground – playing against the other European big boys would paint a more accurate picture of Carsley’s pedigree – but as the old cliche goes, you can only play what’s in front of you. As with Southgate, they could be a means of giving Carsley a soft launch into the role.
What the FA will be learning over this couple of weeks is how Carsley has gone down with the players. This clutch of players has played under some of the best minds in world football management at club level, and will be able to make apt comparisons. You would think and hope that the senior pros in the squad would be quietly and discreetly consulted as to what they make to Carsley as a long-term proposition.
Carsley may not be glamorous, but the FA should resist the urge to even consider that as a factor. What matters is whether or not he is right – and this caretaker spell gives him the chance to make that case for himself.
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