England interim boss Lee Carsley has been branded an 'embarrassment' after he sparked fury by not singing God Save the King during the Three Lions' match with Ireland.

His first match as manager of the team started controversially at the Aviva Stadium in tonight's Nations League opener.

Carsley, who was born in Birmingham but represented the Republic of Ireland 40 times at senior international level, had warned before the match that he would not sing God Save the King.


But England fans were all the same alarmed to see their national team's manager, who had been England U21's manager since 2021, stand awkwardly with his lips firmly sealed while all the players sang.

Fans took to social media to slam Carsely's decision to not sing the national anthem, asking 'Who the f*** does he think he is? while others said he 'should be ashamed of himself' after the 'massive error of judgment'.

Carsley was also embarrassed before kickoff after he sat in the Irish dugout by accident and had to be helped by staff to the right one, with some social media users commenting 'old habits die hard'.

However, once play got underway the fixture went well for England as the team scored in the 11th minute with Declan Rice smashing into the top corner, followed by a Jack Grealish goal in the 26th minute.

Ireland failed to score and England held on to win the match with a 2-0 victory.

The fixture is a good start for Carsely and is expected to be the start of a six-game trial which could lead to him being permanently promoted from his role as Under-21 head coach.

The 50-year-old insisted he would be too focused on the game ahead, and on Saturday afternoon, he was true to his word, staring straight ahead as the anthem was loudly booed by the home supporters.

'This (singing the anthem) is something that I always struggled with when I was playing for Ireland,' Carsley said on Friday.

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

'I was always really focused on the game and my first actions of the game. I found that in that period I was wary about my mind wandering off.

'I was 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 is 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.'

But despite Carsley's arguments, England fans were quick to share their outrage at his actions on social media following the strange sight of their manager not singing the national anthem.

One wrote: 'Genuinely embarrassing from Lee Carsley. A quick way to make the fans dislike you.'