Carsley and the anthem: nothing to see here?

Before the opening match of his spell in interim charge of coaching the England men’s senior team, a 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland, the only foot Lee Carsley put wrong was the one which led him right instead of left upon exiting the tunnel at the Aviva Stadium. The bench was, he joked afterwards, one he had spent a lot of time sitting on throughout his international playing career as he blamed his minor faux pax on muscle memory rather than pre-match nerves. This followed a press conference on Friday in which he had responded to a question about whether he, a Birmingham boy who had played for Ireland but was now in charge of England, would sing along to the British national anthem before kick-off by saying he would not.
Explaining that his reluctance to sing God Save the King was not born of any particular reluctance to tug the forelock he has not had in well over 30 years, in deference to a man who – through an accident of birth – gets to live in his pick of opulent palaces and wear a golden hat, Carsley pointed out that singing the anthem is not something he had ever done as a player for Ireland or a coach of the England Under-21s and he wasn’t about to start now. “I was always really focused on the game and my first actions of the game,” he explained. “I really found that in that period I was wary about my mind wandering off. I fully respect both anthems and understand how much they mean to both countries. It’s something I am really respectful of.”
Stupid question asked and answered, nothing to see here. Or so you’d think. The following morning, Carsley woke up to front- and back-page headlines in the right-wing press that more or less accused him of treachery and called for him to be imprisoned in the Tower of London (or at the very least to be sacked from a job that isn’t actually his). Because while fully respecting anthems is all well and good, saying so doesn’t amount to a hill of beans unless you’re seen to be actually belting them out for the benefit of a few pompous Little Englander types, who have presumably lost their minds or been ordered to write this in order to further fuel the toxic resentment and division on which their publications can often thrive.
In news that is unlikely to faze Carsley but almost certain to prompt collective groans of pleasure and quill-sharpening from his far more patriotic detractors in the press box, we are likely to have more of this nonsense before the year is out. The final match of what is widely understood to be a six-game audition for England gig is the return match against the Republic at Wembley. Scheduled to take place on 17 November, it will be played a week after Remembrance Sunday, at the height of poppy season and all the stone-hatchet-mad, football-related insanity that comes with it. If indeed he still wants the Impossible Job on the back of a Nations League campaign that seems destined to be bookended by the faux-hysterical, carefully confected outrage, then it would seem little short of scandalous not to give it to him.
Join Scott Murray from 7.45pm BST for hot clockwatch coverage of all the latest Nations League action, including Montenegro 1-0 Wales.
“When the paper is black, it’s hard to join the dots up. But now I’ve gone back over everything, it’s white and I can piece it all together” – former Ipswich and Spurs player Jason Dozzell opens up on expectations after becoming the youngest goalscorer in England’s top flight and finding clarity after his mental health spiralled, in this interview with Nick Ames.
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