Lee Carsley: Does Not Sing Anthems.

Lee Carsley the current interim manager of England was not singing "God Save The Queen". As the anthem rang out at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Mr. Carlsley sat in the dugout tightlipped and emotionless. England and Ireland have a history which has been acrimonious for the most part. So as the English anthem was played the Irish section of the crowd booed.

Many loyal England fans would have been aghast as to why Carsley didn't sing the anthem. Asked why he didn't sing the anthem, Mr. Carsley said it was the same when he managed the England Under 21s team. It was the same when he played for the Republic of Ireland (ROI), he has never sung anthems. Some might interpret Mr. Carsley's lack of singing "God Save The King" because of his Irish grandmother. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Mr. Carsley says he respects both anthems and knows how much they mean to English or Irish people. Carsley is 50 and hails from Birmingham.

Mr. Carlsley said his mind is focused on the game ahead hence he does not sing national anthems. Lee Carsley reminds me a little of Liverpool's new manager Arne Slot. The Dutch coach who has replaced Jurgen Klopp is also bald like Carsley with an expressionless face. Both men do not react emotionally and their faces give nothing away. Until that is their team scores and only then do they become animated. Gareth Southgate the former England manager didn't give a lot away either. He often sat in the dugout with an emotionless face. Only reacted when England had put one, two, or three, away (maybe more) against opposition teams.

Southgate quit as England manager after England's loss to Spain in the final of Euro 2024. England under Southgate was largely successful and twice he has taken England to the finals of a Euro tournament. The first was when England played Italy in England at Wembley. Italy won that game and the second was when England played Spain. Southgate was criticised for not playing Newcastle's Anthony Gordon more. Preferring to play Jude Bellingham, Bokayo Saka, and Harry Kane. Southgate was attacked for not including Manchester City's Jack Grealish. Grealish's playing style has been compared to Christiano Ronaldo.

Anthony Gordon and Jack Grealish started for England alongside Saka and Kane. Carsley's choice to start both players was rewarded. Gordon ran his legs off for England coming near to scoring. Jack Grealish did not disappoint either. He scored a sublime goal that would have made his hero Ronaldo cheer. You could see the joy on Grealish's face as he jumped up into the air clutching the England badge on his shirt, with pride!

Lee Carsley is not the only England man in the team with Irish connections. Jack Grealish and Declan Rice have connections to Ireland. However, they play for England and we are better off for their decision. Declan was the other England man on the score sheet who got the second goal. How ironic that in Dublin two England players with Irish roots should have been the ones that allowed England to beat Ireland 2-0. Many Irish in the crowd would have viewed England players with Irish connections as traitorous. There was a banner held aloft by Irish fans. This banner had pictures of Grealish and Rice on it. The wording on the banner read: "The snakes have returned", that says it all.

Harry Kane has Irish connections playing in the Bundes League in Germany. Defender Harry Maguire also has Irish connections. So England players or at least some of them have a touch of the Blarney. Irish players who were half-English or had English surnames opted to play for Ireland.

England's next game in the European Nations League is against Finland. If Lee Carsley with England keeps getting the right results Carsley may go from being interim manager to permanent manager. It happened to Gareth Southgate so why not Lee Carsley? The answer to that question regarding Carsley is England results and time will tell.