Lee Carsley told singing national anthem in future England games ‘is a must’

Lee Carsley did not sing God Save The King before England’s win over the Republic of Ireland on Saturday (Getty)

Former Premier League manager Harry Redknapp believes Lee Carsley singing the national anthem ‘is a must’ for future England games.

Carsley said ahead of England’s 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland on Saturday that he would not join his players and staff in singing God Save The King as he took charge of his first game after replacing Gareth Southgate as manager.

The 50-year-old, who played 40 times for the Republic of Ireland, has never sung national anthems as a player or as England Under-21 manager.

However, Redknapp, who was in strong contention to become England manager in 2012, believes Carsley needs to change his stance if he wants to remain in charge.

‘As a proud Englishman and a patriot, I do think singing the national anthem is important. I always love to see players and managers belting it out, whatever the sport,’ Redknapp told The Sun.

‘It doesn’t matter where you’re from, for me if you’re in charge of an English team, you should sing it. In 99 per cent of circumstances, at least.

‘I accept that on this occasion Lee did have a problem and was maybe stuck in the middle of things.

‘Not just as a former Republic of Ireland player, but because there was maybe even more emotion than usual on this one after the trouble there’s been in the past.

‘But while that made it understandable this time, when it comes to a ‘regular’ game, against, say, Spain, France or whoever, it’s a must.

‘As England manager, singing the anthem is a must – whoever you are and wherever you’re from.’

Speaking about his decision not to sing the national anthem, Carsley said: ‘This is something that I always struggled with when I was playing for Ireland.

‘The gap between your warm-up, your coming on to the pitch and the delay with the anthems. So it’s something that I have never done.

‘I was always really focussed on the game and my first actions of the game. I really found that in that period I was wary about my mind wandering off. I was really focused on the football and I have taken that into coaching.

‘We had the national anthem with the Under-21s also and I am in a zone at that point. I am thinking about how the opposition are going to set up and our first actions within the game.

‘I fully respect both anthems and understand how much they mean to both countries. It’s something I am really respectful of.’

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