England’s night of firsts reveals true value of Lee Carsley’s tenure

Sir Alf Ramsey remains the only England manger to win a World Cup, a status he may retain for another few decades, but Lee Carsley can bow out as the interim with a unique distinction of his own. Carsley is the only England manager to win promotion. And if that reflects both the newness of the Nations League and the reality that, in an otherwise successful reign, Gareth Southgate contrived to get relegated, Carsley has at least spared Thomas Tuchel a play-off in his first fixtures and can step down with an 83 per cent win rate. This was the most emphatic. The former Republic of Ireland midfielder oversaw England’s biggest victory over the country he represented 40 times.

Ireland were beaten in the space of eight minutes, when their earlier obduracy became irrelevant as they were reduced to 10 men and conceded three times. Uninspired before the break, Carsley’s team then showed a ruthlessness to capitalise as Ireland capitulated. “I wanted the England team to be exciting to watch and be attacking,” he said. So a November of 3-0 and 5-0 wins, even as the number of withdrawals entered double figures, ranks as a personal triumph.

For Harry Kane, it has been an international break with a difference but it brought a successful end. Dropped for the Greece game, crowded out and frustrated in a first half when he got a booking for wrestling with Jayson Molumbuy, he fashioned the opener with a wonderful pass and scored it from the penalty spot. This, he may have pointed out to the players who stayed away, is the reward for reporting for England duty.

Yet Kane’s 69th international goal was the anomaly. A night of firsts extended beyond a promotion. Not since 1930 had four players delivered their maiden international goal for England in the same game but Carsley has a policy of affording opportunities and a quartet had a strike to savour. “It was a great, great evening for a lot,” he said.

For Anthony Gordon, Conor Gallagher, Jarrod Bowen and Taylor Harwood-Bellis, they represented wonderful moments. Each is a grafter who has had to work his way up to the top. Gallagher and Harwood-Bellis have had a host of loan spells. Bowen began in non-league. Gordon, not too long ago, could not get in the Preston side. Arguably, none was destined to score for England. Now each has. In Bowen’s case, it was a goal with his first touch. For Harwood-Bellis, it was a debut strike, albeit one that may not have delighted all of his family: not when Roy Keane will become his father-in-law.

And there was a certain cruelty for Ireland. They made overtures to Carsley to manage them before eventually settling on Heimir Hallgrimsson, the former dentist who had them expertly drilled before the break. In Dublin in September, Ireland conceded to two who could have lined up in their colours, in Declan Rice, who briefly played for them, and Jack Grealish, who might have done. In the rematch, the scorers included two more of Irish heritage, in Kane and Gallagher. Some of Ireland’s greatest days have come courtesy of their diaspora. For once, they could lament it.

But for 50 minutes, Hallgrimsson’s gameplan was working: Ireland fielded four centre-backs, with Nathan Collins an ersatz midfielder. England lacked a clear-cut opening. But if Kane does not possess the defence-stretching pace of Ollie Watkins, who displaced him against Greece, he can provide a defence-splitting pass. The striker who doubles up as playmaker offers another dimension. He found Jude Bellingham. He was caught by Liam Scales who, already cautioned, was duly dismissed. Kane converted the penalty.

Ireland could rue a couple of first-half appeals which were rejected but also Scales’s needless first-half booking, for delaying a free kick. They fell apart without him.

The second was a goal made in Newcastle, albeit aided by Burnley’s past and present. With three Newcastle players starting for England, for the first time since 1997, Tino Livramento crossed and Gordon volleyed in; only, however, after a moment of confusion between the Collins and Josh Cullen meant the ball bounced off the Clarets midfielder.

Then Gallagher stole in to tap in after Marc Guehi flicked on Noni Madueke’s corner. The Chelsea winger, another beneficiary of the Carsley era, had been England’s brightest player in a dull start.

They turned a win into a rout as Bellingham recorded two assists in four minutes. Bowen, only called up to the squad when eight others withdrew on Monday, swept in a shot after a well-worked free kick. Harwood-Bellis, the eighth and last debutant of Carsley’s six games, headed in the Real Madrid midfielder’s cross.

And so England returned to the top tier of the Nations League. It may represent a relatively minor prize, given that 2024 took them to the brink of an elusive major trophy, but it was the task that Carsley was set. “The main thing was getting promoted,” he said. He has done it with some newer faces. He can step down now, giving Tuchel a debrief, with his interim tenure giving that rare thing for an England manager: a happy end.