'Safe pair of hands' or 'elite level'? Lee Carsley should be taken seriously as England managerial candidate amid search for Gareth Southgate's successor
Getty The former journeyman midfielder has already taken the Under-21s to glory while playing the type of exciting football the country craves
Not all heroes wear capes. And not all football managers who triumph at international tournaments have glistening CVs at the highest level.
Lionel Scaloni had only been an assistant coach at Sevilla and Argentina's Under-20s manager for the briefest of periods when he was named Lionel Messi's international manager. Many Argentines, including Diego Maradona, were highly unimpressed with the appointment. But he won the World Cup in 2022 and two Copa America titles either side of that triumph in Qatar.
There was a similar level of bemusement when Luis de la Fuente was given the top job by Spain after a decade of working within the federation, coaching its youth teams. Within six months he had won the Nations League, and then guided La Roja to European Championship glory a year later.
If Lee Carsley's stint as interim England manager is made permanent, there are likely to be howls of derision all the way from Sunderland to Southampton. But it might just lead to this particular pattern repeating itself, and to the Three Lions finally winning a major tournament.
