Tom Clark: Hiring Lee Carsley the right thing to do for Three Lions and the future of English coaching

The September international break is almost universally seen as an unwanted one. Just as fans are getting back into their club football routine, along come some mainly meaningless internationals.

However, for one man in particular, this international break was far from meaningless.

Interim England head coach Lee Carsley started one of the most public job interviews possible with six games over 71 days to make his case for removing the interim title.

Appointing Carsley on a full-time basis is the obvious and right thing for the Football Association to do for three clear reasons.

Firstly, it would be the culmination of over a decade of planning on the coaching pathway that St George’s Park was partly built for. On the playing side, English players have progressed through the ranks at the national football centre and turned the Lionesses into champions and the men’s team into serial contenders. 

Producing an England manager from the system would fulfil a key aim of the project, which Gareth Southgate’s appointment didn’t quite achieve seeing as his managerial career outdated St George’s Park.

Carsley getting the job will show other managers the pathway is open and progress is on merit, not reputation, whereas overlooking a successful and popular coach is putting up a nearly unbreakable glass ceiling.

Secondly, Carsley’s path from youth teams to the main job is a proven one in other countries such as Spain, Germany and France. In the last 26 years, Luis de la Fuente, Joachim Low and Aime Jacquet all had roles in their national set-ups before graduating to the top position and success soon followed.

And finally, the international game is now so far removed from club football that there is no guarantee of success by bringing in a big name from the Premier League or beyond. Carsley has proved himself in the international world, albeit with the Under 21s, and deserves a crack.

Although I firmly believe Carsley should get the gig, there will always be a few question marks over a man who does not have a glittering top-flight CV or success with a senior international team.

The main one is that if Pep Guardiola were to leave Manchester City at the end of the season and is interested in the England job, he would be hard to turn down.

The opportunity to hire the best of a generation does not come around often. Would his minute attention to detail and drilling of players translate to minimal coaching time? Potentially, but nobody can be sure.

From an FA perspective having a coach with the profile of Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp, if the German showed an interest, would be a huge coup in the lead-up to what will be a World Cup of enormous marketing potential in the USA. But that should not be a factor in finding the right person for the job.

One difficulty facing Carsley will face is persuading the hiring committee that the current set of fixtures does not offer a huge challenge or an insight into how his side will fare against bigger nations in the knockout stages. But swatting aside defensive teams with low blocks has not always been England’s strength, so disposing of Ireland and Finland with ease while playing entertaining football seems to have already got fans onside.

Where I do believe the FA have been cute is that by using the term ‘interim’ they are introducing Carsley to the wider nation where he is relatively unknown. Getting supporters used to his name and enjoying the football is an excellent way to transition him into the role permanently.

Despite the obvious temptation of holding out for Guardiola the FA should stick to their guns and hire Carsley. There is no guarantee the Catalan will become available next summer, and despite his success in club football, there would be just ten matches in five international breaks for Guardiola to take England from bridesmaid to bride. That's a big ask. 

Giving Carsley double that number of matches and training camps looks a bold but wise move, and one the FA are hopefully brave enough to take.