Lee Carsley has said he is unfazed by the reaction to him not singing the national anthem ahead of England’s 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland.
Carsley confirmed his intent not to sing ‘God Save the King’ before his first game as interim manager of England, as he oversaw an impressive win in Dublin over the country he represented 40 times as a player.
The 50-year-old’s decision has caused a stir in some sections of the media but Birmingham-born Carsley has said his preparations were not impacted by the outside noise.
“It has definitely not affected my day or preparation,” Carsley said after the Nations League win.
“I found out about it this morning. I fully respect people’s opinions. It’s something that I’ve never done but I fully respect both national anthems.
“Today would be probably one of the proudest days of my career to lead an England team out in Dublin. You definitely couldn’t have written it.
Carsley respects ‘everyone’s opinion’ on anthem debate
“I don’t feel hard done by or aggrieved. I respect everyone’s opinion.
“I’ve played in teams out there where players are belting the anthem out next to me but also I’ve played in teams where players don’t sing, or coaches. I don’t think it makes me or anyone that doesn’t any less committed.
“Like I say, I was looking forward so much to today and it’s the proudest day of my football career. You couldn’t have written it, really.
“I saw the draw a while back and I thought to myself: ‘that’s going to be a really good game’. Then if you fast forward and two weeks ago, it sinks in that ‘OK, yeah, I am going to take over the team – the first game’s in Dublin’.
“I knew it was going to be a good experience but a bit of a test also.”
