Lee Carsley to manage at Lansdowne Road against Ireland

CARETAKER: England U21 manager Lee Carsley during the international friendly match between England U20's and Republic of Ireland U21's at Gradski Stadion in Zagreb, Croatia. Photo by Vid Ponikvar/Sportsfile

Lee Carsley is set for a return to Lansdowne Road next month as interim manager of England against the country he won 40 caps for.

The English FA’s ongoing search for Gareth Southgate’s successor will not be completed for their opening Uefa Nations League games, forcing the powerbrokers to appoint a stopgap.

Promoting the U21 boss is customary for the FA, as was the case at the beginning of Southgate’s tenure, and Euro-winning boss Carsley is to step in.

Having been relegated to League B of the Nations League, they open their campaign against Ireland this day next month, on Saturday, September 7, followed by the visit of Finland to Wembley three days later.

Applications for the England managerial vacancy closed on August 2 and the selection timescale overlaps with the proposed squad announcement date of August 29.

The candidature of Carsley has been widely raised, notably by Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott last week, but it is unclear whether he has designs on migrating into such a high-profile post at this juncture.

He’s had caretaker spells at Brentford and Birmingham City before moving up the ladder within the English FA, snapping the 38-year wait for the U21 Euro trophy. The September matches of his current batch are to be taken by his assistant Ashley Cole while he holds the senior fort.

The 50-year-old was interviewed for the Ireland job last November. Despite remaining in contact with the FAI’s headhunters until February, he shied away from the proposition. The Birmingham-born midfielder was part of Ireland’s 2002 World Cup squad after initially declaring for the U21s through his grandmother from Dunmanway, Co Cork.

Ireland will be managed for their home double-header against England and Greece by Heimir Hallgrímsson, finally appointed in July eight months on from the departure of Stephen Kenny.

It’s understood the Icelander has assembled his backroom team, including the retention of John O’Shea as assistant, but the FAI are finalising contractual details of the entire staff before publicly announcing the list.