Lee Carsley’s days as England manager are numbered after ‘stumbling at first hurdle’

Some tiny little (Englander) minds have been blown by Lee Carsley’s decision not to sing the national anthem during his England tenure. He must be sacked immediately, apparently, which has sadly forced Mediawatch to emerge from its customary weekend slumber. Which is definitely the worst element of all this.

Sing when you’re winning
Lee Carsley has confirmed that, just as when he played 40 times for the Republic of Ireland as a player and led England Under-21s as manager, he will not sing the national anthem before matches while he is England’s interim manager.

This has cut Jason Burt of The Daily Telegraph very deep indeed. Carsley’s decision means ‘he can’t expect to manage England’, apparently.

All of this when Burt wrote a massive piece waxing lyrical about Carsley earlier this week – ‘Lee Carsley is not sexiest name but new England manager is ahead of his time’ – which means this isn’t even just a bad-faith opportunistic personal attack. He actually thinks this sh*t matters, which is if anything worse.

Going from being ahead of his time to unfit to manage England in the space of two days is very impressive. Someone at the FA get Frank Lampard on the phone, will they? He might be a crap manager but at least he will sing the national anthem – which is apparently very much the real quiz.

Lee Carsley has stumbled at the first, and somewhat unexpected, hurdle as England’s proposed new manager.

The first hurdle would be the Republic of Ireland in Dublin.

It kind of comes with the territory in a position which – rightly or wrongly – feels like it is up there with Prime Minister when it terms to national importance.

Wrongly, obviously.

Why? It is what is expected of a leader. An anthem is seen as a demonstration of unity, loyalty and belonging. It can instill pride and it can mark respect. Carsley may see it as a distraction. But he is the England manager.

Barf. The next line literally mentions Fabio Capello and Sven Goran Eriksson, the two foreigners who have managed England’s men. Capello didn’t bother and Sven gave it a go. Not very well, but he tried. Which is more than we can say for the despicable Carsley.

There is, however, no mention of England Women manager Sarina Wiegman, who comes from the Netherlands and does not sing God Save the King, nor did she belt out God Save the Queen on her way to making the Lionesses European champions. That job presumably doesn’t ‘feel like it is up there with Prime Minister’, or, perhaps, that winning is ultimately what matters rather than singing. Unless it’s Sweet Caroline.

If only Burt and friends had watched one single England U21 match – he and the other angry journalists would have been aware of his non-newsworthy national anthem stance a while ago.

Instead Carsley has found a rather silly way to trip himself up.

Carsley’s thoughtfully explained and consistent stance is definitely what’s silly here, yes.

Instead, he has made a story where there did not need to be one.

Classic sh*thouse media trick, this. A p*ss-poor, cake-and-eat-it attempt at distancing themselves from their own ridiculousness. Alas, comes the lament, the England manager must be held to account for leaving me with no alternative but to display my entire arse on the back page of what used to be an actual newspaper.

The television cameras will train on him by the side of the pitch at the Aviva Stadium as the anthems are struck up. If he does not sing he will be criticised. If he does sing he will have buckled and realised he got it wrong.

There is absolutely no danger of Carsley ‘buckling’ under the pressure of some angry old men and any more ‘criticism’ will be batted off and back on Mediawatch’s lap on Monday morning. So… thanks, we guess?

Being naïve is never a good look and not least because it raises the question over whether Carsley is capable of making the step up to the job when it should not even be an issue. And all this even before a ball is kicked.

Better being naïve in the eyes of the man behind this think piece – and others on the same intellectual level – than looking extremely silly to everyone with at least half a brain.

Powell to the people
Burt is not the only one whose head is completely and utterly gone. At least Burt accepted that Carsley will be able to stew and will still lead England out on Saturday. Jeff Powell of the Daily Mail thinks he should have been sacked on the spot by the press officer during the press conference. How lovely it is to have an old Mediawatch favourite back in these pages. We hear from him so rarely on football these days, but it’s always worth it when we do.

Lee Carsley should be sacked by the FA today. His refusal to sing the national anthem is a betrayal and he’s not fit to be England manager

Traitor! To the Tower with him!

Now it is up to the Football Association to take theirs. Sack him. Ideally, right now. Just before kick-off if needs be.

Call him interim, temporary, stand-in or caretaker manager, this is no job for an Englishman who refuses to pay even so much as lip service to our realm.

We are getting very close to Ian Wright’s ‘England snubbers must explain to the parents of deceased soldiers’ territory.

Carsley was born, bred and lives in and around Birmingham. This is more of a betrayal than when England turned to foreign managers.

Not the main point, sure, but what a stunning ‘in and around’ that is, by the way.

We all know how that misadventure turned out under Sven Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello: Still not so much as a silver tea-pot since 1966 and all that World Cup jazz.

That’s right, blame the foreigners for England’s lack of success since winning the World Cup 58 years ago. Powell will have spat his tea all over his Union Jack wallpaper on Friday night, just as he did when Eriksson was appointed in 2001.

The failure to win anything with ‘The Golden Generation’ is obviously the Swede’s fault. It’s not as if the same players failed to qualify for the very next major tournament following his exit…under an English manager, who at the very least sang the national anthem with pride. Thank the lord and Tommy Robinson.

Powell says we never expected Capello or Eriksson to attempt God Save the Queen but the ‘closet Irishman’ who will intentionally mastermind a 4-0 defeat for England on Saturday must. This is despite representing the Three Lions’ opponents 40 times and not singing their national anthem once.

It was on this hallowed Irish turf when it was called Lansdowne Road that Carsley won plenty of his 40 caps for the boys in green. Without scoring a single goal from midfield, by the way.

Ouch. That has got to sting.

Better to put a stop before it starts. Could England really spring a new boss onto the Dublin bench overnight? Why not? For the clubs this is an international break from Premier League action. So how about asking a very English contender for this job, Newcastle United’s Eddie Howe, to pop over and get a feel for it this weekend?

A little extreme, maybe. But better surely to at least have someone calling the shots who is in a valid position to exhort the troops to greater effort in the country’s cause.

No, Jeff, that is not extreme at all. Not in the slightest, mate. Actually, better yet, why don’t we resurrect Sir Alf Ramsey instead?

Whatever has been said about Southgate failing to get over the line in major tournaments – some of it by myself – his patriotism has never been called to question.

He dressed like an English gentleman. Conducted himself in the manner an English gentleman should. Took both victory and defeat like a sporting English gentleman. Gave every last ounce of himself to the national cause and when it proved to be not quite enough, he took his leave like an English gentleman.

If only everyone else could be an incredibly English gentlemen like Southgate and our Jeff here.

So listen to this from Carsley upon his ‘interim’ appointment: ‘Being head coach of England is a major achievement but I’m definitely proud of my (Irish) heritage.’

Well, thanks a lot for that Lee. Who went on to enthuse about his recent summer break with the family in… Cork.

It somehow gets worse. Mediawatch is actually with you on this one, Mr Powell. We can not begin to fathom holidaying in Ireland over the summer. That is a million miles worse than failing to score an international goal from midfield.

Unfortunately, we remain a country – sorry, ‘realm’ – that focuses on the most trivial stuff over anything that actually matters.

Mediawatch hopes Lee Carsley doubles down and sings the Irish national anthem. Jeff and Jason would f**king implode.

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