England interim manager Lee Carsley preparing 'dossier' handover ahead of Thomas Tuchel takeover

football Monday 18 November 2024 09:34, UK

Outgoing England interim boss Lee Carsley will prepare a "dossier" handover for new manager Thomas Tuchel ahead of his appointment on January 1.

Carsley led England back to the top tier of the Nations League at the first time of asking after his six-game spell in charge ended with a 5-0 win over the Republic of Ireland, to edge Greece into second place in their group.

Eight players have made their Three Lions debuts since he took over from Gareth Southgate on a temporary basis in July, while 37 different players have been called up during his time in charge.

The 50-year-old will return to his regular job as U21 manager at the end of this year, but will first prepare a sizeable handover for his permanent successor - who he plans to meet ahead of time to fill him in on his new job.

"I'm trying to put together a debrief over the three camps with the other staff," he said.

"I'll put together a document and meet him, and put together what we've found. Our jobs as U21 staff is to support the senior manager, find out what he needs and how we can help.

"I'm really comfortable with that role and I'm looking forward to meeting him in the next few weeks."

Carsley admitted his main emotion at the end of his spell in charge was "relief" after the Three Lions secured promotion from Nations League Group B2.

"I wanted the England team to be exciting to watch, be attacking," he told ITV. "I see them day in, day out on the training ground and now people have seen it.

"It's given the staff and myself the confidence we can do the job. You always doubt yourself, whether you could do it or not.

"There's a lot of England managers sat in the house picking the team and to have the responsibility to do that and the trust from my bosses has been a massive boost of confidence."

Speaking about the game, Carsley added: "I think it was a good performance.

"The way we started the game we played with real intent and it was frustrating to come off 0-0 at half-time, but I believed that we'd score goals if we just kept doing what we spoke about and it was great we got our rewards in the end.

"It was a great evening for a lot of the players. The main thing was getting promotion, what we set out to do, so it was pleasing in that respect."

Roy Keane on ITV Sport:

"If you listen to some of his [Thomas Tuchel] media stuff, I think that seems to suit him. I think he likes the idea of maybe getting in for a couple of years and that's his target - knockout football.

"I think it kind of suits his personality. England have got some brilliant, talented players. It's his job just to try and bring it all together. But the next World Cup will be different, because of the conditions and the heat.

"For a lot of these brilliant young players, they've got to stay grounded. There's pitfalls ahead for some of them, but if they've got good people around them, stay grounded, keep working hard, then they'll have an impact at the World Cup."

Sky Sports' Ron Walker at Wembley Stadium:

"Lee Carsley often looks uncomfortable in the spotlight. He didn't crave it as a player, and he doesn't as a manager.

"It made it all the more notable when he stuck his chest out after leading England back to the top level of the Nations League.

"He had no problem openly expressing his belief he has shown he can do the job full-time. After some clumsy early mis-steps about and inconsistent answers about whether he would want the job, Carsley has smartly positioned himself as a potential Thomas Tuchel successor, given the new boss' short contract.

"He has learned quickly from those self-made problems and others on the pitch too, after the debacle of the Greece game last month, which he admits still stings.

"For the November camp, there were more experimental line-ups - and the best result, plus the biggest victory, of his short tenure followed.

"Whether he was ever truly in the mix to succeed Gareth Southgate, only he and the FA board know.

"But he has, overall, done himself little harm with a group of players who clearly are happy to work for him. Though there must be a note of caution with the huge helping hand the Republic of Ireland gave England to return to League A, clearly the FA have liked what they've seen.

"Mark Bullingham's glowing quotes about his tenure, and the 'important role' he will continue to play in the England set-up, hint the potential to revisit his position after the World Cup is something both sides are already considering."

Former England international Jay Bothroyd praised Lee Carsley for the impact he has had as interim manager, highlighting the amount of youth players he has included in his squads during the Nations League campaign.

For 51 minutes, everything was going to plan for Heimer Hallgrimsson and the Republic of Ireland, whose side have only taken points off Finland since he became manager in July.

They were frustrating England, who had yet to have a shot on target, and looked devoid of ideas about how to play through his compact, disciplined low block.

But disaster struck after Liam Scales' red card and the penalty he gave away in the same movement; Ireland found themselves a man down, but their heads dropped too as they capitulated to ship three goals in five minutes, and another two before full-time.

"I'm lost for words. Six minutes of madness," he told reporters. "It was a shock, conceding a penalty, conceding a goal, losing a player. We lost our heads at that moment, leading into the second and third goals.

"It's easy to sit and criticise on the sideline. After the first half, coming in, it's a game like we wanted it to be. We defended compact, they didn't find ways to play through us.

"Conceding so early in the second half, losing a player, conceding another two, it's easy to criticise - it's normal, but excuses when you lose 5-0 are pathetic. It's embarrassing."

Hallgrimsson also had cause to complain about a penalty he felt should have been given before half-time, with the scores 0-0, when Marc Guehi appeared to pull back Evan Ferguson in the England penalty area.

"I thought it was a penalty, I don't remember what the ref said why he didn't give it but it would have changed the momentum in the game. I don't want to make excuses," he added.

"The first half was good, let's take that as a positive, building this team forward. We need to play teams like England, who have better players than us. The first half gave us an idea how we can play against teams like them."