Lee Carsley’s England lock horns against
Heimir Hallgilsson’s Republic of Ireland in
UEFA Nations League.
It occurred in the League B Group 2 where
Finland and Greece are also competing to be promoted to the elite event in the continent.
Not being able to establish a senior team that would replicate the 2022 women or mirror the 2023 under 21 squad, filled with legends such as Carsley, Gareth Southgate’s England journey ended on a painful note of another second place finish at Euro 2024.
Some were surprised to see England in the final place, those have watched extremely languid and careless side of Southgate during the whole tournament, but once again the shot for international glory was missed, thanks to Luis de la Fuente’s indomitable Spain Side.
Sidelining for a temporary or permanent successor, after seven and a half years at the FA, Southgate occupied the managerial seat for Carsley who has been hired for the interim as the governing body assesses its options; Pep Guardiola has been mentioned in this regard.
Indeed, Southgate had been given a temporary contract before persuading the FA that he should be given a permanent position while Carsley was bound to receive numerous queries asking whether he wants to be the permanent manager of the team other than the autumn term after naming his first young squad.
To mention one, returning to the first tier of the Nations League – which England was humiliated to be relegated to in 2022-23 – would be the perfect beginning to such a mission, and more so as the Three Lions are also set to host Finland at Wembley three days after the Dublin showdown.
Carsley’s ascendancy to the throne has likewise dominated preparations for a second managerial baptism set to happen at the Aviva Stadium wherein Ireland have taken their time and hired Hallgrimsson, a former Iceland and Jamaica head coach, to rekindle the feeling of pride among the
hosts.
The 57-year-old has been named as a permanent replacement for Stephen Kenny who was far from successful in his bid to qualify Ireland for their first major tournament since the Euro 2016, winning only 11 out of the 40 games that he played for the Boys in Green.
After John O’Shea’s rather up and down interim spell in the beginning of the year in which Ireland defeated Hungary but lost to Switzerland and Portugal, and stood their ground against Belgium, Hallgrimsson was only appointed after a short stint as Jamaica’s manager in which he watched the Reggae Boy’s dismal Copa America performance.
Serving as an assistant to Lars Lagerback’s
Iceland during Euro 2016, where the Nordic nation cruelly beat one of the worst English team ever, Hallgrimsson takes charge of an Irish team that has won just two of its last 10 fixtures, failing to score in three of the past four.
At least he will get a game against a team from the Republic’s group in his Ireland debut – Greece visit the Aviva Stadium on September 10 – but the Boys in Green have not beaten England since the 1988 Euros, drawing their subsequent six encounters before suffering a 2020 friendly thrashing.