In Helsinki's Olympic Stadium on Sunday night, Lee Carsley further muddied the waters over whether he wants the England job on a permanent basis.
Speaking after England's 3-1 win over Finland in the Nations League, which steadied the ship following Carsley's tactical disaster-class in the home defeat to Greece, the interim head coach initially appeared to rule himself out of contention in an interview with ITV.
“This job deserves a world-class coach who's won trophies, and I'm still on the path to doing that,” Carsley told the broadcaster.
Minutes later, however, in his post-match press conference, Carsley said it would “definitely” be wrong to say he was ruling himself out of the running and insisted he is keeping “an open mind”.
Carsley's latest flip-flop capped an England camp dogged by chaos and confusion, both on the pitch in the embarrassing 2-1 defeat by Greece at Wembley and in the head coach's contradictory communications over his position.
England may be able to muddle through their Nations League campaign without clarity but long-term the team and the country need more convincing answers.
Hopefully Carsley has been more forthright about his desires in conversations with his Football Association (FA) bosses than he has in public, but the governing body is understood not yet to have interviewed any candidates for the job, which may indicate that Carsley remains the preferred choice, in spite of his apparent unease.
Gareth Southgate was similarly reluctant to step up from the Under-21s in 2016 but was eventually persuaded by the FA to take on the impossible job, so Carsley should not be discounted entirely, even after reports emerged between last week's matches claiming he did not want the position.
Southgate, however, was a far more established name and coach than the former Everton midfielder and took over an England team at one of their lowest ebbs following their humiliation at Euro 2016 and Sam Allardyce's disgraced exit.
There are obvious benefits to Carsley following the path travelled by Southgate and ensuring a smooth succession plan, particularly as the coaches of the current European (Spain's Luis de la Fuente) and world (Argentina's Lionel Scaloni) champions came through their respective FA's youth set-ups before getting the top job.
It would be strange, though, if the FA were working overtime to persuade a reluctant and arguably under-qualified candidate to take on the job, when the England position can rarely have been more attractive to ambitious coaches. England should go to the next World Cup among the favourites, with a remarkable talent pool available to their manager.
This month's camp has also raised doubts about Carsley's readiness for such a demanding role, both in his confused, deer-in-the-headlights response to grillings about his future and his set-up against the Greeks.
Carsley's experiment with five forwards but no recognised striker on Thursday was in some respects admirable but suggested the 50-year-old may be easily swayed by public opinion, at the expense of the team.
As for the alternatives, Pep Guardiola appears to be the dream target for the FA, although luring the Manchester City head coach feels fanciful.
The FA's budget for a new manager is understood to be roughly £5million a year, somewhere around a quarter or a third of what Guardiola earns at City.
If the Catalan, who has expressed an interest in international management and is unlikely to consider the Spain job for political reasons, would be willing to take a huge pay cut, there are at least reasons to think this could be his last season at City, with his contract up in the summer and director of football Txiki Begiristain, a key ally, standing down at the end of the season.
But Guardiola, who took a year-long sabbatical after leaving Barcelona, is in his ninth season at City and has frequently spoken about the toll on his players of such a gruelling schedule and the need for more time off; is he projecting?
Pep Guardiola appears to be the dream target for the FA as next England manager
It remains to be seen if the FA could persuade him to take on such a demanding role even if he did decide to call time on the Premier League champions.
Thomas Tuchel, who is out of work after leaving Bayern Munich at the end of last season, has also been mooted as a contender. Tuchel is German but, crucially, an Anglophile, who led Chelsea to the Champions League in 2021 and still has a house in London, where he enjoys living.
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe and out-of-work former Brighton and Chelsea coach Graham Potter have been the most frequently mentioned English candidates, though Howe has played down his interest in the position and Potter is thought to prefer a return to club management.
Carsley, meanwhile, will take charge of a third Nations League double-header next month, against the Republic of Ireland and Greece, after which he has said he expects to return to his job with the U21s.
It says a lot about an increasingly confusing process, however, that even after this month's strange England camp, the interim still feels like the frontrunner for the job.
