Carsley on losing focus amid constant talks of permanent job for England keep making its way around mainstream media.
Carsley explains why he is so reluctant to say whether or not he wants the England manager job permanently.
The acting manager has served in a similar temporary capacity at Coventry, Brentford, and Birmingham, and he acknowledges that he was preoccupied with long-term career plans at those teams and neglected to focus on his current duties.
Carsley’s remarks came during his country’s 3-1 Nations League victory over Finland in Helsinki. They were a type of response to last Thursday’s wild 2-1 Wembley loss to Greece.
“I’m definitely reluctant. In the past I have done this caretaker or interim role. I have gone so far down the ‘I don’t want the job [or otherwise]’, I’ve actually not done the job,” Carsley said. “It’s important that I keep an open mind because in that case I’m not being reckless with my decisions [in terms of the team]. I’m thinking thoroughly about how the team should play, the squad I should pick, which is a challenge.”
After the third and final round of Nations League group ties in November, Carsley is anticipated to resume his position as manager of the England Under-21 team. In recent days, serious questions have surfaced regarding his desire to hold the primary position indefinitely. In actuality, Carsley didn’t say much on Sunday to express how he really felt; instead, his attempts to stay on course saw him err on the side of either extreme.
“People are always going to try and put their chips on one side,” Carsley told ITV. “I’m in the middle. My bosses have made it totally clear what they need from me. This job deserves a world-class coach that has won trophies and been there and done it and I’m still on the path to doing that.”
Carsley would not seem to be a world-class coach just yet. He was asked to elaborate on what he meant by this. Did he think he might be too young for the permanent position?
“Definitely not,” he said. “I tried to make it as clear as I could. My remit was for three camps [as the interim]. The point I was trying to make is it is one of the top jobs in the world. I’m not a part of the process [to make the appointment] but it deserves a top coach.”
Carsley made it clear that the constant talk about what might happen was not wearing him down. “No, no. I can definitely understand why you [in the media] would be frustrated by it. Definitely I can understand that because, like everyone, clarity is what everyone’s looking for in this process.”