Lee Carsley throws England future into doubt with strange press conference

Lee Carsley refused to give any clarity on his England future, despite insisting the permanent manager would need to be a “world-class manager who has won trophies” and admitted he is not yet that.

England returned to winning ways by beating Finland in Helsinki, but Carsley cast further doubt over whether he wants the job permanently when his initial spell as interim manager ends after the Nations League games in November.

Telegraph Sports exclusively reported on Saturday that sources in and around England are convinced he does not want the permanent job, preferring to continue working at his craft at this stage of his coaching career.

Carsley appeared to confirm this when he told ITV: “This job deserves a world-class manager who has won trophies and I’m still on the way to that.”

But Carsley insisted he had “definitely” not publicly ruled himself out of the race with his comments to ITV, saying: “As I say, it’s important that I do the best I can. It’s a privilege to do this job. I feel really of trust, it’s a big job and, you know, whoever gets it will be deserving.

“I tried to make it as clear as I could. My mission was for three camps. The point I was trying to make is that it’s one of the best jobs in the world. I’m not part of the process, but he deserves a top-notch coach .The players we have available, we have a real chance of winning. That was the point I was making.

“This is a world-class job, one that is up there with the best jobs in football and whoever gets it will be of a high standard. It is a privilege to do this job. I am very confident. That’s why it was so hard to lose the other night (against Greece).

Asked if he wants to be part of the FA’s process to appoint a full-time manager after his interim spell ends, Carsley said: “I speak to (FA technical director) John McDermott every day, we spend a lot of time together I definitely don’t think it’s something I should be involved with.

“My role is quite clear. I have two titles at the minute, caretaker manager and under-21 head coach. I am very lucky with the support I get at the FA from all the people who work above me. I’m very lucky with the bosses I have. I feel well supported and privileged to be in this position to be able to coach the senior team.”

Carsley again declined to directly answer whether or not he wants the permanent job, and when asked why he wouldn’t, he replied: “I’m definitely reluctant (to say publicly in any way) because in the past when I’ve done this janitor or temp role., I’ve gone so far down the “I don’t want the job” I haven’t actually done the job.

“It was one of the things I talked about when I was asked to take over temporarily, it’s important that I keep an open mind because in this case I’m not reckless with my decisions.

“I’m thinking deeply about how the team should play, the team I should choose, which is a challenge. Squad selection is very difficult with the number of players you have to leave out and what we have available. Now I have another camp to do.

“I can definitely understand why you would be frustrated (by the lack of clarity). I can definitely understand because clarity is what everyone is looking for in this process.

“My mission was very clear regarding the three fields. I’m not somebody who’s constantly saying to John (McDermott) ‘Can I have an update? Can I have an update?’

“Because the job is hard enough as it is right now, so yeah, I’m pretty comfortable in that sense. But yeah, I can understand why you’d get frustrated.”

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.