Carsley favours an experienced hand at the tiller

Positioning is everything in the modern-day mixed zone and as Lee Carsley arrived into the one at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium the pecking order was clear. First up for the midfielder would be a gang of autograph-seeking ball-boys who clearly had connections in these parts. Next up would be an English journalist wanting to talk about Everton. And only then would the travelling press corps get the chance to mull over why calamity had struck the Irish team again just when you most expected it.

The kids proved a doddle for Carsley who barely had to stop moving as he signed the outstretched match programmes but the reporter proved harder going. Steadily, Carsley became more animated and as the Irish gathered in the hope of hearing the conversation end it became apparent the questions he was reacting to were not the product of exactly painstaking research.

"I'm not really that surprised, no," replied Carsley with a hint of exasperation when asked if he was taken aback to be playing so much for his club this year. "I played every game last season."

"And what explains your unexpectedly good form this season?" continued his inquisitor undeterred. "God knows . . . but we were coming off the back of a great season last season. You know, we're a good team. You don't sound impressed man, but it's true, we are a good team. We are, I'm telling ya."

Carsley's next task was a painfully familiar one . . . to explain why the Irish team had again shown some of the key characteristics of a poor one. The 33-year-old struggled to pinpoint the problems but readily conceded there are some sizeable ones for the next manager to sort out.

"I feel as if that match basically summed up our campaign, to be honest," he said. "At times we were very good, at times we were very poor. And I'm not sure why that is. I don't know if it's concentration but a lot of it is down to basic errors and that's something that we've got to learn from."

Like Kevin Kilbane, he confirmed that he intends to stay on for the next campaign and the feeling is there will not be any retirements between now and next autumn. "I think it's important that we keep playing," he said. "A lot of the lads are retiring young and it's important to keep as many senior players around as long as we can because we've got some good young players coming through but they're going to need help."

The big question, of course, is who gets handed the task of overseeing their development and half a dozen of the squad's senior players - including Carsley, Robbie Keane and Shay Given - met John Delaney on Friday night to provide a sense of what they feel the FAI should be looking for in the new man. It was, by all accounts, a positive meeting for all concerned.

"It was okay, yeah," said Carsley in a distinctly upbeat way. "It was good that we were asked our opinions. There was nothing really to it to be honest, just a general chat about what was going on. Obviously there's a lot of names being bandied around left right and centre. I think they wanted to hear our opinions on the different managers that we've worked with and what kind of manager the country needs to keep improving. There are so many names out there, there are so many good managers and it's imperative that we get the right one."

Players may differ in their personal preferences but Carsley is convinced previous experience of international management would be a major asset for Steve Staunton's successor.

"We should have a manager who has got international experience. We've seen in the past it's not necessarily a good thing, somebody coming in who is not really experienced. Playing international football and playing at club level is totally different. It's probably the same for managers so I think it's a good thing if, on a manager's CV, they've got international experience."

When particular names are mentioned Carsley kicks to touch and jokes that he would pick David Moyes but he accepts the task for whoever is appointed will be a big one.

"I think it's massive. There is a lot of negativity around the country at the moment about the football team. We've got to get the supporters back on side and obviously that comes down to performances. Now that's got a lot to do with the players.

"Ultimately Stan got the sack but it's down to the players. Stan wasn't there today, Stan didn't make any mistakes and yet we threw away another two points. But you'd hope a new manager will be able to change things. We've got to get a bit of toughness back about us. We've got to be able to grind out results . . . go away to Slovakia and hang on (for the win), take a draw or whatever in the Czech Republic. Be hard to beat again."