Lee Carsley reportedly doesn’t want to be the permanent successor to Gareth Southgate as England manager.
The former Everton and Birmingham City midfielder is on secondment from his role as under-21’s boss to take interim charge of the senior national team while the Football Association look for a new head coach.
Despite minimal experience as a first-team manager, Carsley is considered one of the favourites to get the job by the bookmakers. He guided the Three Lions to victory in his first two games against the Republic of Ireland and Finland, before losing to Greece on Thursday.
The 50-year-old, whose spell is due to end after the November internationals, has “left members of the England set-up convinced” that he doesn’t want to take the reins “long term”, according to The Telegraph.
Read – ‘Dream’ England manager identified as FA put off interviews
The report adds that “there is a growing belief he wants to continue working on his craft at this stage of his coaching career”.
Carsley has not public declared an ambition to become England manager, while the FA have provided no updates on their search for one.
Update: Carsley has confirmed in a radio interview with talkSPORT that he “didn’t formally apply” for the England job.
Following the defeat to Greece, the ex-Ireland international said: “Hopefully I’ll be going back to the Under-21s”.
Expanding on that comment, Carsley explained: “Hopefully is a word and a phrase I use quite a bit. There’s obviously no guarantees in life, including tomorrow.
“It’s a job, the Under-21s, that I’m really proud of and massively invested in. But I know there’s no guarantees. But the plan is to give this job for three camps the best I can do along with the rest of the staff and hopefully we can be in a good position.”
He added: “I wanted to give this job my best shot for three camps. I didn’t want to have any regrets. I think it’s important that we do try something different at times and I think I’ll be a better coach for that, but I think we’ll be a bit more conventional tomorrow night.”
The Telegraph have also reported that Pep Guardiola is the FA’s “dream long-term” appointment and may be willing to hold out for the Manchester City boss, whose contract runs out next summer.
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe, Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter have also been linked with the vacant post.
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See Also – The favourites to become the next England manager
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