Gary Lineker reveals he ‘heard rumours’ about England’s search for a new manager and explains why ‘defeatist’ interim manager Lee Carsley is now ‘protecting himself’

Gary Lineker has put forward his theory on Lee Carsley’s bizarre comments about whether he wants the full-time job in England or not.

The Three Lions’ interim boss raised eyebrows when he mentioned he would “hopefully” return to his role as Under-21s coach following his side’s shock defeat to Greece last week.

After the victory over Finland on Sunday, he said it would be a “wrong assessment” to suggest he had ruled himself out of contention, but called on the FA to appoint a “world class” manager to replace Gareth Southgate.

His words have left fans confused as to whether he wants the role full-time with just two games left in his initially scheduled interim period.

Meanwhile, Lineker suggested on his The Rest Is Football Podcast that Carsley could be aware of what his future holds – something he cannot make public.

Gary Lineker suggested he heard ‘rumours’ about England manager search

The Three Lions’ top role is currently held by Lee Carsley, who raised eyebrows with his comments about the permanent job

Interim manager Carsley has led England in their last four matches with three wins and one defeat

“I wonder – I’ve heard rumors and stuff – if he knows anything about what’s going on in terms of them looking for a new manager,” Lineker said. “I think they sounded out the coaches.

“That’s the rumours, that’s what we hear – and I wonder if he thinks he’s not going to make it, so maybe he’s protecting himself and wants to get his other job back.

‘I don’t know, because it seems a bit defeatist. “They need a winning coach”, I mean, look at the two teams that just won international tournaments. Spain didn’t have a guy who had won trophies before, certainly not in league football. Lee Carlsey has won a World Cup (he won the European Championship with England Under-21s)!

“So he won a trophy, but he’s talking about club teams. I wonder if they’re canvassing people and he found out and just doesn’t believe he’ll get the job.

Carsley has won three of his interim games in charge, claiming two victories over Ireland and Finland, whilst also overseeing the defeat of Greece during the current international break.

He was also backed by some of his players to get the permanent job, with Jack Grealish saying of the Greece game: ‘Before people were clamoring for all the attacking players to play and it didn’t work. I don’t understand, this can happen in games. I love coming here, a top-level coach and I love playing for him.

Thomas Tuchel (photo) is a name that continues to be linked to the vacant position

Thomas Tuchel, Pep Guardiola and Eddie Howe remain the favorites to land the full-time role, but it is unclear whether any discussions have taken place.

The expectation is that the new coach will be in office until March, for the fourth international break of the season.