Lee Carsley cools his interest in Republic of Ireland job

STAYING PUT?: Lee Carsley has cooled his interest in becoming the Ireland manager.

The FAI’s search for a new men’s team manager will likely extend into next month after Lee Carsley cooled his interest in the vacancy.

Plans to present a preferred candidate to the FAI board next Tuesday to be anointed were hurtled into a tailspin when attempts to lure the former Ireland midfielder from his England U21 post hit the rocks this week.

The FAI delegation of Director of Football Marc Canham, chief executive Jonathan Hill and board member Packie Bonner spent the early part of the week at English’s FA headquarters in St George’s Park speaking to candidates on their shortlist.

Carsley and Neil Lennon topped that list but it’s understood the former has shied away from the chance of taking on the job following negotiations.

Reports in the UK media that he flatly rejected a four-year deal have been disputed by FAI sources but the candidature of Lennon is being seriously considered as the headhunting exercise takes an unforeseen turn.

It has also raised the possibility of the subcommittee reassessing options previously excluded during the pruning such as Chris Hughton and Roy Keane.

Hill had expressed his desire to have Stephen Kenny’s successor in-situ for the Uefa Nations League draw on Thursday week, February 8, the ceremony in Paris mapping out Ireland’s competitive schedule in League B between September and November.

The chief executive’s rationale centred on the newcomer requiring time to assemble his backroom team with a view to the four friendlies organised as preparation.

The first double-header is on March 23 and 26 against Belgium and Switzerland respectively, with another two games against yet-to-be-confirmed opponents pencilled in for June.

Carsley had been the prime contender for the job in the kingmakers’ mind since it became apparent that Kenny’s reign was on borrowed time last year.

His track record, from his caretaker roles at Coventry City, Brentford and Birmingham City, to his stellar feat of leading England to their first U21 Euro gold for 38 years last summer elevated him to number one target.

Given the youthful profile of the current Ireland squad, he was deemed ideal to spearhead the road to resurrecting the team’s status in not just the Nations League and next year’s World Cup qualifiers but the Euro 2028 series Ireland will co-host the final of.

Hill has acknowledged a four-year contract cycle would be appropriate for the project.

That the Birmingham-born UEFA Pro License holder insisted on a rolling 12-month contract with flexibility to speak with certain other parties indicated a homecoming was likely but for some unspecified reason talks failed to reach a satisfactory outcome.

Finance has been floated as one show-stopper; the €600,000-per-year role far inferior in salary to some of the clubs jobs he’s been linked with and would continue to be.

Suggestions that a pathway to the England senior job are acting as a pull factor are wide of the mark.

Gareth Southgate, who was promoted himself from the U21 post, is out of contract in December and anything less than a march to the Euros final in Germany this summer may hasten his exit.