'Who knows?': Lee Carsley leaves door open to future Ireland role

The former Ireland international, now the England U21 manager, held 'informal' talks with the FAI about succeeding Stephen Kenny

Lee Carsley's England U21s take on Ireland at Turner's Cross on Tuesday. Pic: Paul Phelan/Sportsfile

In other circumstances, he might have been exhausted from the most politically divisive international window in Irish football history, so little wonder England U21 manager Lee Carsley looked relaxed and comfortable with his lot in Cork on Monday night. 

The former Republic of Ireland midfielder is back on Irish soil with his English starlets ahead of their clash with Ireland at a sold-out Turner’s Cross on Tuesday night.

However Carsley could have been in charge of the Republic of Ireland for the Nations League window and those controversial fixtures against Israel. The former Everton and Birmingham City playmaker held ‘informal’ talks with the FAI over the position before he ultimately took interim charge of the England senior side, with his first game coming against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium.

The 52-year-old, whose grandmother is from Dunmanway in Cork, had led the young Lions to back-to-back European championship triumphs in 2023 and 2025 either side of that short spell in charge of the seniors and while he admits he is still happy in his current role, he hasn’t ruled out the possibility of taking charge of Ireland one day.

“Who knows?” he responded when asked if he would speak to the FAI again in the future. “We had a chat; we had a conversation and that's what it was. It was literally very informal. It definitely wasn't something I turned down or was offered. It was literally an informal conversation at the time. We'd just come off the back of winning the Euros.

“I was already planning and plotting on potentially doing it again, so it really went no further than that.

“I've got enough on my plate with the job that I've got. The focus is really on the game.

“What I try not to do is worry too much about myself and what my plans are. I think if you look too far ahead in football management, it's got a habit of tripping you up.” 

Unsurprisingly, Carsley refused to be drawn on the septic relations between Ireland and their most recent Nations League opponents on Sunday night, insisting his focus was exclusively on his current job with the England U21s.

But how did he think the Irish players handled the fixtures?

“I wouldn't be able to say. It's not for me to say. I've not really looked at it too much, to be honest. I've got enough on what I'm doing here. My focus has really been on the 21s. It would be unfair for me to comment. I know there's been a lot of talk about it. Obviously, it's been on the news, it's been headlines. But in terms of myself, this camp has been three games in 15 days, so my focus has been totally on the 21s.”

Carsley’s England are already guaranteed to top the group for qualification for the U21 Euros in Albania and Serbia in 2027. Ireland, on the other hand, need to win tonight or match Slovakia’s result in Andorra in order to seal second place and with it a playoff place to reach the finals.

And while Carsley admits he would like to see Ireland finish as runner-up to England, his side won’t be taking it easy on them and he won’t be making significant changes to his first 11.

“I think it would be great to see Ireland qualify for Euros,” said Carsley. “It's something that we don't take for granted. It's not easy, it's not straightforward. If you look on the UEFA website and you look at the groups, there's some shocks of teams that won't have qualified or were finished in the play-off.

“It's good that we've got it done with a game to go. It's good that there's something on the game. We're definitely going into it highly motivated.

“There was no thoughts in my mind that we'd make wholesale changes or send people home. We're approaching this game like we have to win it.

“I really liked the staff that met us at the stadium. It must be the Cork City staff that look after the stadium. Really friendly, couldn't do enough for us.

“I don't expect it to be like that tomorrow night, but Cork is such a friendly place. I've got a lot of good memories from my younger days of coming over to Cork and spending the holidays here. I'm looking forward to the game now.”