Tuchel and Pep now ahead of Carsley in England manager running…
Gareth Southgate stepped down as England manager after eight years in July. A second defeat in a European Championship final quite understandably proved too much for a man who has done so much to transform the national team but couldn’t quite get them over the line to end all those countless years of hurt.
Farewell, Gareth, but time waits for no man. Southgate is long gone but the question remains: who replaces him? The FA have appointed Under-21 boss Lee Carsley as interim head coach while they complete their deliberations and settle on a final choice, and his candidacy looks rather less assured after that mess against Greece, a mess that could only ever be partially patched up against Finland.
The odds certainly suggest everything is back up in the air again.
8=) Michael Carrick
It’s definitely possible to imagine a time where Michael Carrick looks like a compelling contender for the England manager’s job. That time, sadly, is not this time.
8=) Carlo Ancelotti
We raise a quizzical eyebrow. Seems vanishingly unlikely but sorely tempting.
8=) Steve Holland
Just because one Continuity Candidate has made a big hariy b*llocks of it doesn’t mean the whole idea is necessarily terrible, does it? Kind of think that maybe it does, to be honest. Not really sure Southgate’s Sidekick is anyone’s idea of the right answer here.
7) Frank Lampard
“I think he’s [Lampard] been a bit unlucky in his managerial career in some ways,” said Gary Lineker of his fellow BBC man Frank Lampard during Euro 2024.
“He gets it tactically and he’s Frank Lampard. I think this is Gareth Southgate’s last tournament whatever, whether we win it or not. But I wouldn’t disregard Frank. I think players would respect him immensely. If you’re going to go English. Who else? Eddie Howe?”
We would cheerfully and entirely disregard Frank, who might genuinely have given up on this coaching lark now. And also yes, if you’re going to go English then probably Eddie Howe, sure.
6) Kieran McKenna
Not sure this one’s really a goer for all manner of reasons, but we suppose if Ipswich have a really eye-catching season and Carsley struggles to properly prove himself then it’s just about possible to imagine a scenario in which the stars suitably align.
5) Graham Potter
Plenty of reports suggesting he’s been ‘holding out’ for the England job having turned down several approaches to get back into club management.
His reputation is undoubtedly tarnished from the Chelsea unpleasantness, but let’s not entirely forget what he started at Brighton. Consistently got them punching above their weight and is a brilliant tactician, while the xG issues that have plagued his teams should be less of an issue with this England side.
He’d be making the move from day-to-day coaching very young, though, although having been out of that particular game for as long as he now has perhaps that’s not the issue it might otherwise have been. Probably still just about in the position where his availability is a blessing rather than something to be held against him. He is “ready to return” and just waiting for the right role.
4) Lee Carsley
The Under-21 boss (and thus continuity Southgate candidate in terms of CV if not necessarily style) hardened to a pretty overwhelming odds-on favourite for something more permanent after starting his interim reign with a pair of comfy wins over Ireland and Finland. The only apparent negative was some national anthem nonsense which most normal people could quite easily overcome.
But what seemed a straightforward run of Nations League fixtures to complete a Southgate 2016-like ascent to the full-time post was slightly undermined by an awful defeat at home to Greece, the laughable tactics which led to it and some more awkward post-match stuff from a manager unable to navigate that part of the job quite as well as his predecessor.
Carsley certainly released the handbrake against Greece at Wembley but to a chorus of ‘no, not like that’ from baffled supporters. A bit of experimentation is fine but he messed up royally and what seemed a likely permanent appointment some time next year is now remarkably uncertain.
He could still turn it around or even simply be the beneficiary if no other suitable candidate emerges. Maybe just don’t do the whole ‘chuck on all the best players, practice some vague concept of shape for 20 minutes and tell them to express themselves’ shtick again.
MORE REACTION TO ENGLAND 1 GREECE 2 FROM F365
👉 False nines and false back fours – rating England’s players in that honking 2-1 defeat to Greece
👉 Carsley succumbs to England clamour in shambolic Greece defeat that ends managerial hopes
👉 Carsley ‘arrogance’ and ‘useless’ Foden blasted but outcast should tell England to ‘get f**ked’
3) Eddie Howe
After 2022/23, having steered Newcastle into the Champions League, it would have been almost impossible to see Howe walking out on that for England. But the rather more difficult – for club and manager – 2023/24 season really did make it more rather than less likely that Howe does now in fact end up with the national team, particularly if the St James’ Park civil war continues to rumble.
It’s easy enough to see how people could be won over by the concept of Eddie Howe, England manager; he would appear to sit pretty handily being viewed as enough of a Southgate-like figure for the former manager’s supporters to fall in behind while boasting a superior club-level CV and arguably more appealing brand of football.
And the Newcastle job no longer looks quite the guaranteed route to enormous success it did a year or so ago. England, on the other hand…
2) Pep Guardiola
England’s dream choice. Fair enough, you’d have to say. He’s quite good. Might just decide he’s done all that can be done at Manchester City – and Txiki Begiristain’s imminent departure does make his Etihad status all the more uncertain with that expiring contract – but Guardiola will have a desk full of extremely lucrative offers and might even decide on another sabbatical rather than jumping straight into work as and when he does leave. Can easily see why England would desperately want to make this happen, harder to see why Pep would.
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1) Thomas Tuchel
An available Champions League and Bundesliga-winning German coach once seemed a slightly more realistic yet still entirely improbable appointment for England but Jurgen Klopp sold out for Big Red Bull. So Tuchel appears to have picked up that baton and run with it.
He is the current best-price favourite in a suddenly volatile market after the Greece game and the obvious advantage Tuchel holds – if indeed he even wants the job – is a lack of a need to negotiate any sort of compensation with a disgruntled club.
The obvious asterisk is the absence of any sort of international managerial experience, while the hope might be that Tuchel’s tendency to clash with boardroom executives can be offset without the pressure of transfers and the rest of the day-to-day stuff. It’s even really known whether he wants England or is waiting for Spurs or Manchester United’s situations to become clearer.
