Kilbane: 'I wish Carsley was in the other dugout but I think Ireland missed the boat'

Those familiar with the 50-year-old as a player and coach outline the qualities Southgate’s successor brings to the job

England interim manager Lee Carsley and coach Ashley Cole during a training session at St George's Park, Burton upon Trent. Picture: Nick Potts/PA Wire. 

If there was a precise moment when Kevin Kilbane knew his old friend was destined for the top, it came in 2016. Lee Carsley had been travelling from his home in the Midlands to stay at his former Everton and Republic of Ireland teammate’s house in Manchester after being named as Manchester City’s under-18 coach a few months earlier.

“It was probably the best youth team I’ve ever seen,” Kilbane says. “I used to go and watch them on a Saturday morning and I could see the relationship he had with players like Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho and Brahim Díaz.