Lee Carsley signs off with pride after Ireland win

England’s interim head coach Lee Carsley spoke of his pride after leading the Three Lions back into the UEFA Nations League A, after his six games in charge ended with a 5-0 victory over Republic of Ireland.

Carsley oversaw all six games of the 2024 edition of the competition, starting and finishing with victories over the Republic of Ireland, which saw them seal top spot in their group and secure an instant return to the top tier following their relegation in 2023.

And he will now return to his role as head coach of the men’s under-21s, who will be heading to Slovakia next summer to defend their UEFA U21 EURO title, which he oversaw in 2023.

It took a stunning second-half performance at Wembley to overcome the Irish, as goals from Harry Kane, Anthony Gordon, Conor Gallagher, Jarrod Bowen and Taylor Harwood-Bellis in the space of 26 minutes ensured a winning finale for Carsley.

"I believed that we'd score goals if we kept doing what we spoke about and it's great we got our reward in the end," said Carsley after the game.

"It was a great evening for a lot of the players. The main thing was getting promotion so it's pleasing in that respect."

Carsley was pleased with the manner of the goals too, starting with an exquisite pass from Kane to set up Jude Bellingham in the area when he was felled for a penalty, before Bowen scored with his first touch after being introduced as a second-half substitute.

"It was a great pass [Kane’s], from a team point of view it was an all-round excellent move to win the ball back so quickly and obviously Harry's quality to play that pass.

"And I said to him [Bowen] when he went on, 'Just shoot it every time you get the ball.' He's got such quality.

“I think he can be sometimes a bit unselfish. He's got to make sure he gets his goals, assists and what he deserves."

After achieving what he set out to do following his appointment in the aftermath of this summer’s EURO 2024 campaign, Carsley allowed himself a chance to reflect on the last few months and look ahead to what he believes is an exciting future.

"I suppose relief,” he said. “We wanted the England team to be exciting to watch, be attacking. I see them day in and day out in the training ground and now people have seen it.

"I don't think it's a gamble with some of these players, they're excellent players and the mentality is what stands out for them. Any challenge you put in front of them, they want to overcome.

"Like I've said in the past, especially with the U21 players, they have a history of winning and expect to win when they turn up for England."

With incoming head coach Thomas Tuchel set to start his role on 1 January 2025, Carsley now heads back to the MU21s with the added experience, knowledge and confidence of operating at senior level.

And he feels taking on an international head coach position in the future is something he now feels comfortable with.

"I think it's given the staff and myself the confidence that we can do the job,” he added.

“You always doubt yourself whether you can do it or not. We often speak about a lot of England managers sat in the house picking the team and to have the responsibility to do that, the trust from my bosses has been a massive confidence.

"The main thing is what we've done, and we've got promotion."