Lee Carsley and the national anthem: nothing to see here. Or so you’d think

Before the opening match of his spell in interim charge of coaching the England men’s senior team, a 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland, the only foot Lee Carsley put wrong was the one which led him right instead of left upon exiting the tunnel at the Aviva Stadium. The bench was, he joked afterwards, one he had spent a lot of time sitting on throughout his international playing career as he blamed his minor faux pax on muscle memory rather than pre-match nerves. This followed a press conference on Friday in which he had responded to a question about whether he, a Birmingham boy who had played for Ireland but was now in charge of England, would sing along to the British national anthem before kick-off by saying he would not.

Explaining that his reluctance to sing God Save the King was not born of any particular reluctance to tug the forelock he has not had in well over 30 years, in deference to a man who – through an accident of birth – gets to live in his pick of opulent palaces and wear a golden hat, Carsley pointed out that singing the anthem is not something he had ever done as a player for Ireland or a coach of the England Under-21s and he wasn’t about to start now. “I was always really focused on the game and my first actions of the game,” he explained. “I really found that in that period I was wary about my mind wandering off. I fully respect both anthems and understand how much they mean to both countries. It’s something I am really respectful of.”

Stupid question asked and answered, nothing to see here. Or so you’d think. The following morning, Carsley woke up to front- and back-page headlines in the right-wing press that more or less accused him of treachery and called for him to be imprisoned in the Tower of London (or at the very least to be sacked from a job that isn’t actually his). Because while fully respecting anthems is all well and good, saying so doesn’t amount to a hill of beans unless you’re seen to be actually belting them out for the benefit of a few pompous Little Englander types, who have presumably lost their minds or been ordered to write this in order to further fuel the toxic resentment and division on which their publications can often thrive.

In news that is unlikely to faze Carsley but almost certain to prompt collective groans of pleasure and quill-sharpening from his far more patriotic detractors in the press box, we are likely to have more of this nonsense before the year is out. The final match of what is widely understood to be a six-game audition for England gig is the return match against the Republic at Wembley. Scheduled to take place on 17 November, it will be played a week after Remembrance Sunday, at the height of poppy season and all the stone-hatchet-mad, football-related insanity that comes with it. If indeed he still wants the Impossible Job on the back of a Nations League campaign that seems destined to be bookended by the faux-hysterical, carefully confected outrage, then it would seem little short of scandalous not to give it to him.

Join Scott Murray from 7.45pm BST for hot clockwatch coverage of all the latest Nations League action, including Montenegro 1-0 Wales.

“When the paper is black, it’s hard to join the dots up. But now I’ve gone back over everything, it’s white and I can piece it all together” – former Ipswich and Spurs player Jason Dozzell opens up on expectations after becoming the youngest goalscorer in England’s top flight and finding clarity after his mental health spiralled, in this interview with Nick Ames.

The Tuesday 3 September Los Angeles Times crossword clue for 32 down was ‘__ vase’. Big?” – Kevin Smiley.

As much as I enjoyed the weekend’s international action, nothing eclipsed the Italian lower-leagues match between Pontassieve and Subbiano, who escaped with a 0-0 draw after their coach came on the pitch and took out the opposition’s striker as he led a counterattack. Impressively, Subbiano followed this up with a statement, declaring: ‘Certain incidents should never happen, and we surely are the first ones to be upset.’ It doesn’t always pan out so well when this kind of thing happens” – Ashley Marsh.

Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s letter o’ the day winner is … Ashley Marsh, who wins a 7” vinyl copy of Manchester United Calypso, a soulful classic reissued by Be With Records. If you’re not a winner, visit their online store to pre-order your own. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.

Ron Yeats, the former Liverpool ­captain who helped to rebuild the club’s fortunes under Bill Shankly in the 1960s, has died aged 86.

England captain Harry Kane will be presented with a gold cap to mark his 100th appearance before Tuesday’s Nations League match against Finland.

There’s no let-up from Spain, who swept to a 4-1 victory in Switzerland despite playing with 10 men for 70 minutes. “If there’s one thing I like to boast about, it’s the pride I’ve always felt for this team,” boasted coach Luis de la Fuente.

Scotland’s descent under Steve Clarke has continued with another last-gasp Nations League defeat, this time 2-1 in Portugal after Cristiano Ronaldo popped up with goal No 901 to complete their comeback. “There are a lot of positives if you ignore the results but we’re professionals, so it’s disappointing,” cooed Clarke. “This is a level where the lessons are harsh – I talked to the players about not being too harsh on themselves.”

Caoimhín Kelleher can see the writing on the wall at Liverpool after Giorgi Mamardashvili’s signing. “I made it clear in the last few years, I want to go be a No 1 and play week in, week out,” he sighed. “The club made the decision to get another goalkeeper. From the outside looking in, it looks like they have made a decision to go in another direction.”

Shock news at Chelsea, where it appears that Todd Boehly has lost faith in his working relationship with Clearlake Capital.

In Women’s Big Cup, Manchester City will face Paris FC while Arsenal must take on BK Häcken for places in the group stage. Celtic, meanwhile, have been handed a tie against Vorskla Poltava of Ukraine.

A tearful Alex Morgan has signed off from her career aged 35, taking a standing ovation after a 13-minute farewell for San Diego. “I did everything I ever wanted to do and more,” she said. “With this decision, I feel so at peace because I am ready to start my family and I am ready to hang up the boots and allow the next generation to flourish and just relish in the spotlight. It’s a good feeling.”

And Real Madrid’s Rodrygo is a bit miffed after failing to make the longlist for this year’s Ballon d’Or. “I was upset, I think I deserved it,” he sniffed. “I don’t want to belittle the players who are there, I think they deserved it also. But I think I had a place in the 30. It was a surprise but there is not much I can do.”

Fun and games in the Isthmian League Premier Division. Already possessing a major case of the hump with his side 2-0 down at home to Billericay, Folkestone’s Tom Derry wasn’t in the mood for a surprisingly skilful piece of piggy-in-the-middle-housery between goalkeeper Sam Donkin and defender Matt Johnson, the cheeky duo lobbing the ball back-and-forth over his head as he tried to retrieve it during a break in play to treat a knacked player. There was only one way to end such antics, of course: get a rage on, lift one from the playground playbook and welly the goalkeeper to the floor. The sitcom script continued with Derry attempting to pick the writhing keeper off the deck, hoofing the ball into orbit and being sent off by a pedantic referee. Classic stuff.

Lee Carsley may be happy to don the tracksuit and lay out cones in training but the new interim boss is discovering that the England job is about more than coaching, writes David Hytner.

We’re less than two weeks away from the start of the new WSL season so time for our club-by-club previews. First up … Arsenal.

Two new teams, London City Lionesses and Newcastle, met on the opening weekend of the Women’s Championship. Tom Garry was there to see the start of a “beautiful” journey.

How women’s football is changing the beautiful game. By Miranda Sawyer.

And as we all wish away the final days of the Nations League, Tom Lamont fills the break in top-flight play to tell us how to become the best Fantasy Premier manager in the world.

Plenty of icons on show here in a Düsseldorf group-stage scene from Euro 1988, including the Tango Europa which Ruud Gullit heads over from close range. In the end it didn’t matter. Although England skipper Bryan Robson – seen watching pensively as the ball clears the crossbar – dinked a chip over Rod Hull-lookalike Hans van Breukelen to make it 1-1, Marco van Basten destroyed England with a brilliant hat-trick. The Dutch striker turned Tony Adams inside out for the first, shot across Peter Shilton for the second and volleyed home – no, not that one – for his third after a corner. Not exactly an ideal way for Shilton to celebrate his 100th cap as the 3-1 loss condemned Bobby Robson’s men to an early exit. Rather forgotten is that England, through Gary Lineker and Glenn Hoddle, twice hit the woodwork at 0-0. Having lost their opener to the Soviet Union – the team they defeated in the final – the Dutch could have been in perilous position had those first-half chances gone in.