Lee Carsley plunges England future into further doubt with bizarre press conference

Confusion reigns as interim manager delivers conflicting messages as to whether he wants England job permanently following win in Finland

Lee Carsley refused to provide clarity over his England future, despite claiming the permanent manager should be a “world-class coach who has won trophies” and admitting that is not yet him.
England got back to winning ways by beating Finland in Helsinki, but Carsley placed further doubt over whether he wants the job permanently when his initial spell as interim head coach ends after the Nations League games in November.
Telegraph Sport exclusively reported on Saturday that sources in and around the England set-up are convinced he does not want the permanent job, preferring to continue working on his craft at this stage of his coaching career.
Carsley appeared to confirm that when he told ITV: “This job deserves a world-class coach who has won trophies and I am still on the path to that.”
But Carsley then claimed he had “definitely” not publicly ruled himself out of the running with his comments to ITV and said: “Like I say, it’s important that I do the best that I can. It’s a privilege to do this job. I feel well trusted, it’s a great job and, you know, whoever gets it will be fully deserving.
“I tried to make it as clear as I could. My remit was for three camps. The point I was trying to make is it is one of the top jobs in the world. I’m not part of the process, but it deserves a top coach. The players we have available, we’ve got a real chance of winning. That was the point I was making.
“This is a world-class job, one that is up there with the best jobs in football and whoever gets it is going to be of a high level. It’s a privilege to do this job. I’m really well trusted. That’s why it was so tough to lose the other night (against Greece).”
Asked if he wants to be part of the FA’s process to appoint a full-time manager once his interim period ends, Carsley said: “I speak to [FA technical director] John McDermott every day, we spend a lot of time together. I definitely don’t think it’s something I should be involved with.
“My role is quite clear. I have got two titles at the minute, interim senior manager and Under-21 head coach. I’m really lucky with the support that I get at the FA from all of the people that work above me. I’m very lucky with the bosses that I have got. I feel well supported and privileged to be in this position to be able to coach the senior team.”
Carsley again refused to directly answer whether or not he wants the permanent job and, asked why he would not, replied: “I’m definitely reluctant (to publicly say either way) because in the past when I have done this caretaker or interim role, I have gone so far down the ‘I don’t want the job’, I’ve actually not done the job.
“It was one of the things I spoke about when I was asked to take temporary charge, it’s important that I keep an open mind because in that case then I’m not being reckless with my decisions.
“I’m thinking thoroughly about how the team should play, the squad I should pick which is a challenge. Squad selection is very difficult with the number of players you have to leave out and what we have available for us. I have another camp to do that now.
“I can definitely understand why you would be frustrated by it (the lack of clarity). Definitely, I can understand that because clarity is what everyone’s looking for in this process.
“My remit was really clear in terms of the three camps. I’m not someone that’s constantly saying to John [McDermott] ‘can I have an update? Can I have an update?’
“Because the job is difficult enough as it is currently, so, yeah, I’m quite comfortable in that respect. But, yeah, I can understand why you would be frustrated.”