Lee Carsley has 'lost the entire nation' before his team kick a ball insists Jamie O'Hara... as fans give mixed reaction to the England interim manager's admission that he WON'T sing the national anth

Jamie O'Hara has claimed England interim manager Lee Carsley has 'lost the entire' nation' over his refusal to sing the national anthem.

The talkSPORT presenter made the bold claim ahead of Carsley's debut in the dugout for the Three Lions' Nations League clash with the Republic of Ireland.

Carsley, who was born in Birmingham but represented the Republic of Ireland at senior international level, confirmed on Friday that he will not sing the anthem.

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

'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 really found that in that period I was wary about my mind wandering off.'

Interim head coach Lee Carsley (middle) has admitted he won't sing the England national anthem

Presenter Jamie O'Hara has stated that Carsley has 'lost the entire nation' before his team kick a ball

Carsley, who was born in Birmingham represented the Republic of Ireland at senior international level

Carsley's decision has seemed to left the nation divided, with many Three Lions fans voicing their disgust over the admission, whilst others justified his reasoning.

talkSPORT presenter O'Hara took to the social media platform X to voice his opinion.

Poll Is Lee Carsley wrong for refusing to sing England's national anthem? Yes, he should be sacked No, it doesn't matter Is Lee Carsley wrong for refusing to sing England's national anthem? Yes, he should be sacked 1817 votes

No, it doesn't matter 1171 votes Now share your opinion

Revealing that he wasn't too pleased with Carsley's decision as he wrote: 'What’s people take on Carsley not wanting to sing the national anthem?

'That to me is ok cya later then, you’ve just lost the entire nation before you’ve even kicked a ball, thanks for coming Lee'.

Another England fan had the same take on the matter as their post read 'Sven Goran-Eriksson sung the national anthem and he wasn’t even from our country.

'I don’t care if Lee Carsley played for Ireland, but if there’s a political reason you he won’t sing the national anthem then he should quit.'

Whilst another added 'Lee Carsley .. an English born, England manager - refusing to sing the National Anthem. Oh dear, not a great start'.

Others were quick to defend his decision however, with football commentator Ian Darke writing: 'Lee Carsley is hired to manage England’s football team with smart selections, tactics and a dash of adventure.

'He is not entered in "The Masked Singer". Nobody should care whether he belts out the national anthem if he gets a tune out of some gifted players.'

A second post shared on X read: 'I don’t care if Lee Carsley sings the National Anthem or not as long as he gets a tune out of the England players.

'Carsley, checks notes, a former international, didn’t sing GSTK with #ENG U21s and he certainly got a tune out of them. Great to watch - and European champions. '

A third X user added: 'Lee Carsley never has never sung the national anthem because he feels too focused on the game. He hasn't changed since becoming a coach.

'Plenty players don't sing it. If we hire Klopp, would you expect him to sing it? I don't even know if Southgate sang it - honestly, who cares?'

Carsley (second from left) admitted he has struggled to sing anthems before matches

Carsley has enjoyed major success with England's youth setup, with the 50-year-old leading the England Under-21s to European glory last year.

He has been part of the ­Football Association’s coaching staff since 2015 and if his audition goes well against the Republic of Ireland and Finland this week he may just claim the coveted prize of being named as England's next permanent manager.

Carsley continued to explain his reasoning for not singing the anthem

'I was really focused on the football and I have taken that into coaching,' he said.

'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.'

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