It came as no real surprise when Gareth Southgate hung up his waistcoat and called time on his 8-year tenure as England boss, following the Three Lions’ defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 Final in July. It didn’t take long for the rumour mill to whir into action on who would replace him.
Eddie Howe and Graham Potter were the early market leaders amongst the bookmaking brigade. However, the England Under-21 boss and former Irish international Lee Carsley was given the role on an interim basis for now. Memorably, the FA appointed Southgate in a similar fashion, and we all know how that ended.
The Carsley era begins in earnest this Saturday evening when England takes on Ireland in Dublin in a UEFA Nations League encounter. With Carsley having played 40 times in the green of Ireland, we can expect an electric atmosphere at the Aviva Stadium. Will he prove to be an instant hit or is the honeymoon period going to be over before it’s even begun? Here, we look at how other recent England managers fared in their opening matches in the Three Lions’ hot seat.
Gareth Southgate – From Zero To Hero
Despite Gareth Southgate saying during the summer of 2016 that he wasn’t keen on becoming the new England manager when he was offered the position on a caretaker basis in September of the same year following the Sam Allardyce scandal, he duly obliged and took charge. The first game of Southgate’s ‘interim’ spell was a home World Cup qualifier against the 176th FIFA world-ranked minnows from Malta at Wembley on October 8th 2016.
Surprisingly for some readers, all these years later, Gareth Southgate’s pre-match mantra before the Malta game was that he wanted his England side to be brave and to break out of the shackles that had restricted them previously. It took England 29 minutes to break the deadlock and for Southgate to start breathing a little easier.
Daniel Sturridge headed home from a Jordan Henderson cross to open the scoring, and Dele Alli bundled home a second for the Three Lions before the break. Malta’s keeper, Andrew Hogg, played a blinder in the second half, keeping out efforts from Wayne Rooney and Jesse Lingard, and the scoreline remained 2-0 at the final whistle. Gareth Southgate’s interim period would prove a positive one and he was appointed full-time in November 2016.
Sam Allardyce – Short And Not Very Sweet
Following England’s shock exit during the ‘Last 16’ stage of Euro 2016 in France at Iceland’s hands, Roy Hodgson resigned. Instead of continuing with the theme of managers who had previous experience in charge of European club sides, Sam Allardyce was handed the reins. The then-Sunderland boss had never won a major trophy but had famously succeeded in getting Bolton and West Ham promoted to the Premier League. Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn said:
“His [Allardyce] excellent managerial credentials, including his ability to realise the potential of players and teams, develop a strong team ethos and embrace modern methods that enhance performance, made him the outstanding choice”.
Adam Lallana Is Big Sam’s Saviour
The Allardyce era coincided with England kicking off their FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign. First was a trip to Trnava on September 4th, 2016, to take on a Slovakian side that included the likes of Martin Skrtel. England had failed to break Slovakia down during a goalless group encounter at the Euros earlier that summer, and again, they struggled to find a way through Jan Kozak’s well-organised outfit, even when the hosts were reduced to 10 men after 57 minutes. England’s (and Allardyce’s) saviour came in the shape of Liverpool’s Adam Lallana, who squeezed home an effort deep into injury time.
It was Lallana’s first goal for England and came in his 27th appearance for his country. Following inappropriate comments made in an undercover report, Sam Allardyce left his England role just 23 days after the Slovakia win. He had managed the national side for just 67 days and one match, the shortest reign ever, albeit the only one with a 100% winning record.
Roy Hodgson – Experience Counts For Everything
Stuart Pearce’s caretaker reign lasted just one match, with England appointing the vastly experienced and well-travelled Roy Hodgson in readiness for Euro 2012 on May 1st. Hodgson had managed club sides and national teams in seven countries before arriving in the England hot seat. Prominent spells with Premier League clubs Blackburn, Fulham and Liverpool meant the Croydon-born 64-year-old was an established figure in the English game to players and fans alike.
Hodgson’s first game in charge of the national team came on May 29th 2012, as he took a second-string England side to Oslo to take on Norway in the first of two pre-Euros friendlies. England hadn’t lost on the road since they suffered a 4-1 defeat to Germany at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Man Utd’s Ashley Young helped settle any nerves Hodgson felt, slotting home after just 9 minutes. It was the only time the net bulged in a rather low-key encounter, with England clinching a victory over the Norwegians for the first time in 32 years.
At Euro 2012, Hodgson’s England followed up an opening draw with France, winning over Sweden and Ukraine, and topping their group. They didn’t progress any further after being knocked out at the Quarter-Final stage on penalties by Italy. Hodgson was at the English helm for two further major tournaments (World Cup 2014 and Euro 2016), but the Three Lions would exit earlier than expected at both, falling at the group hurdle in 2014 and the last 16 in 2016.
Stuart Pearce – The Caretaker Fails To Clean Up
With Fabio Capello resigning abruptly from the England post in February 2012, after his captain, John Terry, had been stripped of the captaincy, the FA turned to a well-loved Englishman, who had always worn his heart on his sleeve, to help steady the ship. Stuart Pearce, aka ‘Psycho’, had played 78 games at left-back for England over a 12-year stint between 1987 and 1999. As Capello’s assistant, Pearce had also bossed England’s Under-21s for five years and was preparing to lead the Great Britain squad at the forthcoming London Olympics.
Pearce’s first game in charge of the full England team came on February 29th 2012, at Wembley, where the Netherlands were the visitors. Bert van Marwijk’s Dutch stepped up their effort after a goalless first half and rapidly went 2-0 up with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar firing in a second, just a minute after Arjen Robben’s 57th-minute opener. The quickfire double-hit silenced the Wembley crowd.
The England players maintained their composure and fired back late with a double salvo. Gary Cahill, who had only signed for Chelsea during the 2012 January transfer window, pulled a goal back in the 85th minute. Five minutes later, Ashley Young grabbed an equaliser. However, in a dramatic, heartbreaking twist, Arjen Robben notched his second of the game in the dying embers of injury time. After an unbeaten 2011 campaign, it was a bitter pill to swallow for England. It sped up the FA’s search for a full-time replacement manager and would prove to be Stuart Pearce’s only game in charge of England’s senior team.
Lee Carsley Hopes To Follow The Positive Footsteps
If we take a further thumb through the footballing history books, we discover that Stuart Pearce is only one of three England managers to have tasted defeat in their opening matches in charge. The other unfortunates, Peter Taylor (2000) and Howard Wilkinson (1999), were also just at the helm for caretaker spells and like Stuart Pearce, were relieved of their duties following losses on their England managerial debuts.
Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello, the only non-English managers who have led the Three Lions, recorded victories in their first games in charge despite having the media and fans spotlight fully focused on them. Even those managers with some less impressive England reign managed to start with a bang. Kevin Keegan’s England beat Poland 3-1 in a European Championship qualifier at Wembley in March 1999, and Steve McClaren’s Three Lions rolled over Greece 4-0 in a friendly at Old Trafford in August 2006.
However, you must go way back to the first England manager’s reign for the biggest margin victory on debut. Walter Winterbottom, who also holds the record for the longest time in charge (139 games over 16 years), guided his England side to a 7-2 romp against Ireland in Belfast in September 1946. What would Lee Carsley give for a similar scoreline this Saturday?
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