Soccer

Lee Carsley reported to have turned down Ireland job as FAI insist no offers made

Reports in British media tip former Irish midfielder to succeed Gareth Southgate as England manager

Lee Carsley is being tipped as a possible successor to Gareth Southgate as England senior manager. The former Ireland international is presently England U21 coach. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA Wire
Lee Carsley is being tipped as a possible successor to Gareth Southgate as England senior manager. The former Ireland international is presently England U21 coach. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA Wire
Gavin Cummiskey
Fri Jan 26 2024 - 19:13

The FAI are adamant nobody has been offered the Republic of Ireland manager’s job despite reports in the British media stating that Lee Carsley rejected a four-year contract.

Currently employed as the England under-21 coach, 49-year-old Carsley was sounded out in early 2023 only to distance himself from the position late last year.

However, betting was temporarily suspended on him this week after Packie Bonner joined FAI director of football Marc Canham and chief executive Jonathan Hill in London to interview candidates to succeed Stephen Kenny.

The FAI board meets on Tuesday when it was anticipated that Canham and Hill would present one name for ratification ahead of the Nations League draw in Paris on February 8th.

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Carsley, capped 40 times for Ireland, is believed to have engaged in discussions with the FAI but there has been no formal approach to the English FA, where he is on a rolling contract. Seemingly, the former Everton midfielder could replace Gareth Southgate as England manager after Euro 2024.

Kenny’s contract was not extended after a disastrous European Championships qualification campaign saw Ireland finish fourth behind France, the Netherlands and Greece, losing all six matches home and away against those sides. A back door to this summer’s Euros, via a playoff in March, was denied by similarly poor results during the 2022 Nations League.

The FAI are seeking to modernise the position, rebranding it as a “head coach” who reports directly to Canham.

Carsley fits the bill. He guided England to the under-21 European title last summer and despite brief forays into club management, with caretaker stints at Coventry City, Brentford and Birmingham City between 2013 and 2017, his coaching expertise and knowledge of the Irish system were identified as a boon.

The FAI are believed to be offering €640,000 a year while the estimated average salary of an EFL Championship manager is €1 million. Carsley’s reported rejection of the Ireland job does not appear to be financially motivated. Despite carrying a debt of €50.9 million into 2023, the association intends to pay the new manager without external assistance

If the Carsley ship has sailed away from Irish waters, the focus will switch to Neil Lennon and Anthony Barry.

Lennon, a former Northern Ireland international, had his odds slashed on Friday and is currently the bookmaker’s favourite. He boasts a respectable record in club football, having steered Glasgow Celtic to five of a possible seven league titles, in two stints as manager. Barry, a highly rated young coach who assisted Kenny’s Ireland throughout 2021, currently works with Thomas Tuchel at Bayern Munich and Roberto Martínez in the Portugal national squad.

Roy Keane has also expressed an interest despite not coaching since a six-month stint at Nottingham Forrest in 2019. His last managerial role, at Ipswich Town, ended in 2011.

“That does appeal to me,” Keane told the Stick to Football YouTube show. “I did enjoy the dynamics when I was coaching with the Irish team [under Martin O’Neill]. That could be an option.”

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Gavin Cummiskey

Gavin Cummiskey

Gavin Cummiskey is The Irish Times' Soccer Correspondent