The FA cannot hang on Pep Guardiola’s decision, they should end this absurd trial and give Lee Carsley the job, writes OLIVER HOLT
The FA’s approach to Pep Guardiola becoming the next England manager should come as no surprise. They would have been remiss if they had not tried, no matter how unlikely the prospect seemed and no matter how much money they had to pay.
Who wouldn’t want a genius to lead England to the 2026 World Cup? Who wouldn’t want the preeminent coach of his generation to lead an excellent crop of players who have come close in three of the last four major tournaments and should be contenders again in North America?
The news, which emerged on Monday afternoon after the England side flew back from Sunday’s 3-1 win over Finland in Helsinki, sheds new light on interim manager Lee Carsley’s anguished deflection every time he is asked if he wants the job full-time.
Carsley can hardly say he wants the job full-time when he knows the FA are looking for a candidate with Guardiola’s stellar record. And because he is a loyal man, he cannot betray the FA’s trust by breaching a trust. Suddenly it makes sense why he talks in riddles.
If there is one thing that is worrying about Guardiola’s pursuit it is the way Carsley has been left in the wind and the FA appear to have given up on the idea of running a coaching trail through St George’s Park to the top. the top job in the country.
Unless the FA had a clear indication that Pep Guardiola wanted the England job this summer, they should have given Lee Carsley the full-time job immediately.
Carsley has met all the criteria for the FA to promote from within, but they are hesitant
It is their indecision to blame, not his. They need to end the circus and give him the job
They made sure that the appointment of Gareth Southgate’s successor became a saga and Carsley was to blame in this whole story. Does he want it? Doesn’t he want it? A decision about who leads a football team has turned into a version of The process.
It didn’t have to be this way. It was never supposed to be this way, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that this isn’t a matter of Carsley’s indecisiveness. The FA’s indecision is to blame for this. Carsley is their guy, he got through their system and they left him hanging.
The FA should have stopped this before it started. Unless they had a clear indication that Guardiola wants the England job in the summer when his contract at Manchester City expires, they should have given Carsley the job full-time as soon as Southgate resigned after the Euros.
The same applies now. If Guardiola has not responded to their approach, the FA must stop betting on him taking over, stop dithering and hand the job to Carsley.
As for the reports that he doesn’t want the job, I wouldn’t want the job either if I had been strung along by the FA as he has and I knew Guardiola was the preferred option.
The governing body could resolve that tomorrow by telling him they believe he is the man to take England forward and giving him a contract to prove it. I suspect his reservations about the post might then disappear.
It will never be easy to follow Southgate, who took England to two finals and a semi-final in the last four major tournaments and was an excellent and skilled communicator with the media.
But Carsley has already begun to fulfill his mission by overseeing a gentle evolution among the seniors. His decision to place the unknown Angel Gomes at the heart of the team has been a success. He has rehabilitated Jack Grealish and placed his faith in the sublime abilities of Trent Alexander-Arnold. All have rewarded him with the quality of their performances.
Spain has been richly rewarded for its confidence in youth coach Luis de la Fuente
Carsley has already left his mark on the side, an example of this is the rehabilitation of Jack Grealish
He must undergo a test that no competitor like Eddie Howe should have had to endure
The FA talk about their ‘pathway’ and they talk about the importance of the progression of English coaches through the system at St George’s Park and the example that will set if those coaches are successful.
And when they are presented with a coach like Carsley, who met all the criteria they could wish for by leading England’s Under-21s to victory at the European Championship last year, who should have been the golden child of the process, it hits home. the FA are losing their nerve.
They will never have a better opportunity to promote from within and establish the kind of succession followed so fruitfully by Argentina with Lionel Scaloni and by Spain with Luis de la Fuente.
But either the FA got scared or they got greedy. Perhaps they initially feared the public reaction to giving the job to someone like Carsley, whose appointment will have no impact on social media.
Or maybe they really believe they can get Guardiola. Or maybe they thought they could sign Jurgen Klopp. Or maybe it’s Thomas Tuchel they want. Or maybe they think it’s a good idea to dig up Jose Mourinho’s career.
Roy Keane, with a twinkle in his eye, did his bit last weekend by telling the FA to bring in Guardiola. Straws among England fans around the world noted during an appearance on Italian television that he refused to take the England job.
Carsley’s reservations would probably disappear if the FA supported him and placed their trust in him
Appointing him would send the right message to the younger England coaches down the road
Whatever the explanation, the way Carsley is being left in the lead while the FA’s top executives leave him dangling is an increasingly unappealing, unedifying and uncomfortable spectacle.
If the FA really had confidence in what they are doing at St George’s Park, if they wanted to put their money where their mouth is and get a reward back for the tens of millions they poured into the National Football Centre, if they wanted to send a reward If they want to send the right message to aspiring English coaches: if they want to reward a coach who has actually won a trophy with an English team, they would drop the increasingly absurd legal case against Lee Carsley and give him the full-time job tomorrow.
When sport is really a matter of life and death
The ParkRun at Tokoinranta follows a beautiful route around two bays on the edge of Helsinki’s city center. A hundred people turned up for the run on Saturday morning, including some England fans in town for the match against Finland the next day.
Towards the end of the run I found myself (somewhat out of breath) talking to Jimi, a student at the University of Helsinki. Jimi talked about the small town of 5,000 people where he came from and how he loved it there.
And he spoke of the country’s great tradition of middle-distance running, which now seems lost. And he talked about how, since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, young men like him across Finland have been required to brush up on their national service training so they can be better equipped to face the threat from their bellicose neighbor.
One of the reasons he did that morning, he said, was to stay in shape so he would be ready when the time came for him to fight. Sports are often talked about as something that offers a break from reality, but when Vladimir Putin lives next door, it’s harder to find a break.
Keeping Ten Hag only postpones the inevitable
Manchester United play Brentford at Old Trafford on Saturday and there is already talk that it is a match that Erik ten Hag should not lose if he wants to avoid the sack.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his lieutenants at Ineos had the opportunity to put Ten Hag and the club out of their misery at the start of the international break, but chose not to take it.
Manchester United has been declining for a long time under Erik ten Hag. They are simply delaying the inevitable by not putting him out of his misery
Well before the end of last season, it became increasingly clear that the club was declining under the Dutchman.
Delaying his replacement is pointless and costly. All that’s happening now is that he’s limping along play by play, with the pressure on him and his players relentless.
All United have done is delay the inevitable.