Lee Carsley: The man behind the England manager, by those who know him best

Lee Carsley was preparing to play for Everton’s reserves on a Monday night in 2004 when he received a troubled call from Kevin Kilbane. His teammate had learned that his newborn daughter had Down’s syndome, the same condition as Carsley’s son Connor, and immediately reached out to his friend.

“Once he’d heard the news, he couldn’t play that evening. He left the field at half-time and drove to the hospital to see me,” Kilbane said. “We sat outside, we talked and we cried. It was such an emotional moment for both of us. He communicated with me in a way that I needed because he had experienced what I was going through as a father. He was there for me and he’s always been there for me and that’s why I love him so much.”

Carsley has said the arrival of Connor, the second of his three children, in 1999 made him “a lot more aware of the bigger picture, the bigger world”. In rushing to support Kilbane, he demonstrated a degree of compassion that should not be taken for granted at the highest level of football, where players’ personal difficulties can often be brushed aside in favour of getting on with it.

Kilbane’s story goes a long way to explaining why Carsley — England’s interim manager, who will lead the Three Lions for the third time against Greece at Wembley tonight - is not just an impressive tactician, but a seemingly universally well-liked character as well.

‘A thinker and a doer’

Carsley led England’s Under-21s to the European Championship in 2023, doing what Gareth Southgate’s seniors and the Lionesses could not by beating a highly-fancied Spain side in the final.

His side played attractive, attacking football and there was evidence of his fluid approach in his first England games in charge, last month’s wins over the Republic of Ireland and Finland.

The 50-year-old, however, remains the least-known and lowest-profile incumbent ever to hold the country’s most high-profile managerial position, at least in the modern era.

As a player, Carsley was a tough-tackling midfielder, who began his career at Derby and had spells with Blackburn, Coventry (twice), Everton and Birmingham. His remit was to cover ground, win possession and recycle the ball to a more creative teammate, and he was tireless and committed. Off the field, Carsley has always been as much of a thinker as a doer — softly spoken and never showy, but confident in his opinions.

“Calm, professional, engaging, honest, direct, dry sense of humour,” says Brentford director of football Phil Giles — who hired Carsley as the club’s development coach and, briefly, interim manager — when asked to describe him.

David Moyes, who managed Carsley at Everton from 2002 to 2008, remembers a quiet but consistent character, with a keen sense of fun. “Lee was very laidback. He was funny behind the scenes, everybody liked him a lot,” says Moyes. “He was quite quiet, didn’t overstep his mark but always available and ready. He was a really steady boy. I was with him at a UEFA conference recently. He wouldn’t be the showman but in private he is very good company.”

As Carsley grew in seniority, he began to mentor younger players, demonstrating the qualities that would later make him a successful youth coach with Brentford, Man City and England’s development squads. “Lee was thoughtful and he helped to marshall the other players with his leadership ability,” says James Beattie, a former Everton teammate. “He definitely had the football intelligence and leadership qualities [to be a manager].”

Mikel Arteta, now Arsenal boss, joined Everton from Real Sociedad aged 23 in 2005 and remembers working with Carsley fondly. “He was a joy as a person, as a professional, someone that makes your profession and your life enjoyable,” he says.

Glue in a divided camp

Several former teammates recall Carsley’s ability to bring people together, a quality that is likely to be useful in the England job. “Lee’s leadership shone, as well as his ability to unite the team in work ethic and commitment,” says Beattie.

Carsley was approached to play for England Bs and the U21s when he was a 21-year-old at Derby but opted to represent Ireland, qualifying through his grandmother. He would win 40 senior caps and appeared briefly at the 2002 World Cup.

Ireland forward David Connolly, formerly of Wimbledon and West Ham United, remembers Carsley as the glue in a camp that could occasionally be divided by cliques, not least between the Irish-born players and those, who like Connolly and Carsley, qualified via the ‘Granny Rule’.

“You have a lot of different personalities coming and going, maybe 30 or 40 players over a couple of years, and he was able to be well-liked by everyone, which is not always the case,” says Connolly. “He was a very positive person, a bubbly character but deadly serious when it came down to it.”

His surprising ascent

Carsley’s progression to the biggest managerial job in the country — albeit as interim — has nonetheless surprised some of his former colleagues.

He began taking his coaching badges at Everton but Moyes says Carsley did not immediately stand out as a player with a future in the dugout. “It’s surprised me a little bit [to find him as England manager],” he says. “But I’m really pleased with the way he’s done it.”

Similarly, Arteta had little sense of Carsley’s path. “I didn’t know [he would become a manager],” the Spaniard says. “[But] I had a sense that if I was going to be part of a team, I would like to have someone like Lee next to me. He takes [management] with such leadership, and in such a natural and organic way.”

Connolly recalls that Carsley is also a keen networker, always looking to expand his contacts book. “A few years ago, Lee asked me would I introduce him to John McDermott, when John was [academy director] at Tottenham,” Connolly says. “Lee knew what he wanted to do, and along the way you pick up mentors. That’s what he’s done with John, for example. Now Lee’s in interim charge [of England] and John’s technical director.”

The path to the top

Carsley spent three years with the U21s before being asked to take on the interim role when Southgate resigned. He has been with the FA on and off since 2015, stepping away from the national set-up the following year for a season in charge of Man City’s U18s - a squad including Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho.

“I was always trying to pick his brains on the best young players in England,” says Moyes. “He was always very good with that because he had great knowledge of the younger players.”

In September 2015, while on the FA’s books, he took charge of Brentford as an interim manager for 10 games and also had brief spells as caretaker of Coventry and Birmingham.

“You could see right away that the players bought into what he wanted to do with them and he handled the step-up right away,” says Giles, the Bees’ director of football. “He wrote down his tactical principles while he was head coach and left it with us when he handed the role onto Dean Smith, to ensure a smooth transition. I probably still have it somewhere.”

The FA is continuing the search for a permanent successor to Southgate but Carsley will do his chances of landing the job permanently no harm if England beat Greece and Finland with impressive performances this week.

For all the talk of the likes of Thomas Tuchel or even Pep Guardiola, there is a case that Carsley’s low-key background only strengthens his case, particularly as Southgate was promoted from the U21s job in 2016.

Moyes says: “I look at the manager of Spain who’s just won the Euros [Luis de la Fuente]. He came through all the Spanish youth teams and Gareth did a similar route as well. So I think maybe the pathway for an international manager might now be coming through a junior team and taking the boys on to another level with the senior team. Obviously Cars will have to do that now and prove it. But I have to say he’s made a brilliant start.”