Singing the national anthem before games always fired us up and felt patriotic… I don’t understand Lee Carsley’s decision, writes former England star
- Lee Carsley will not sing God Save The King before kick-off in Dublin
- England’s interim manager revealed he struggled to focus on the national anthems
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If you are English and proud of your country you sing the national anthem whether you are in the zone or not. That is all I can say.
It gets you excited. For me, playing with Terry Butcher, Des Walker, Bryan Robson and all the boys, when we sang God Save the Queen, we wanted it even more.
I don’t get where Lee Carsley is coming from, but you have to respect it. If that’s what makes him work, I’m not saying it’s bad.
Everyone makes their own decisions, but I’m not like that. Every time I put on the white shirt to represent the Three Lions – and he’s leading the country as manager – I sang with pride, no matter what. Everyone did.
It felt natural to sing because you felt so patriotic.
England manager Lee Carsley will not sing the national anthem before his first match as manager
Carsley, who leads his team against the Republic of Ireland, said he struggled with national anthems
But former Three Lions World Cup semi-finalist Mark Wright has criticised Carsley’s stance
You have to accept the point of view of others, but ideally it would be better if everyone showed their feelings to the country, including the manager.
I believe so.
It is a sensitive subject in this day and age. We are all built differently.
Perhaps Lee does not want to show disrespect to the Irish team he once played for.
He took a stand because he thought he wouldn’t get a chance as a player in the England team. In life you have to respect other people’s decisions.
I don’t think this means he is less motivated to win the match.
But I think deep down all England supporters want an England manager who sings the national anthem as proudly as his players, just as Gareth Southgate did when he led the country to the semi-finals and final.