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Thomas Tuchel has told Sky News he will “start learning” the national anthem following questions over whether he will sing it before England games.

The 51-year-old German, who has been officially unveiled as the Three Lions’ new head coach, told a news conference he had not yet made up his mind over the issue.

However, speaking afterwards with Sky News sports correspondent Rob Harris, Tuchel said: “I will absolutely start learning it.

“I experienced it three times here at Wembley in the cup finals two or three times – it was very moving. I don’t want to offend people.”

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Tuchel’s answer on singing anthem

He added: “I will now get a feeling for it, what people think, and what the atmosphere is for that, and take my decision but it will not change my approach on how much I will work in my dream to make it happen.”

It comes following a row over current interim manager Lee Carsley, who represented Ireland as a player, after he announced he would not sing God Save The King before Three Lions matches.

Following questions from journalists at an earlier news conference, Tuchel said: “I will take a little bit of time for this decision.”

Lyrics to the national anthem

God save our gracious King

Long live our noble King

God save the King

Send him victorious

Happy and glorious

Long to reign over us

God save the King

The Football Association revealed during the briefing on Wednesday that it had considered around 10 candidates for the role, which Tuchel will take up in 2025.

The governing body’s chief executive Mark Bullingham said: “We interviewed approximately 10 people, we interviewed some English candidates within that. You wouldn’t expect me to divulge any more than that.”

When asked if any of them turned down the opportunity, Mr Bullingham replied: “Clearly some were more up for the role than others. But we were absolutely delighted to end up with Thomas.”

Mr Bullingham added: “We believe he gives us the best chance of winning the World Cup so we believe we got the best candidate for the job.”

Newly appointed England head coach Thomas Tuchel during a press conference at Wembley Stadium.
Pic: PA
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Thomas Tuchel was all smiles at the news conference. Pic: PA

Before taking the England job, Tuchel had been strongly linked with Manchester United, whose manager Erik ten Hag is under pressure.

Asked about those reports and why he chose England specifically, Tuchel said: “The idea and the way Mark (Bullingham) and John (McDermott, the FA’s technical director) presented it was very fast, very exciting, very confidential and trustful.

“It was very straightforward. This was a decision for this job and not a decision against anyone else.

“I will not comment on any other clubs.”

Tuchel launches charm offensive – but performances on the pitch will matter most


Rob Harris

Rob Harris

Sports correspondent

@RobHarris

Facing hostility and hysteria comes with the territory – even for English managers of England.

So all Thomas Tuchel could attempt was a charm offensive at his Wembley unveiling – flaunting the shirt on the pitch.

There was the prepared and much-repeated line about dreaming of putting a second star on the shirt by winning the 2026 World Cup.

And talking up his affection for England and football here.

The German claimed to have been spared sight of the Daily Mail back page headline that greeted his appointment as a “dark day for England” – harking back to Sven-Goran Eriksson’s appointment in 2000 being decried as “selling our birthright”.

Unlike Eriksson and Fabio Capello before him, this third foreign manager of the Three Lions has actually coached here.

Tuchel won’t want to dwell on how short that spell was – lasting just 15 months at Chelsea — but instead on the turnaround and rapid success.

Although it is the lesser-regarded Club World Cup on his CV, winning any form of senior World Cup has not been achieved by an England manager since Sir Alf Ramsey in 1966.

But the mission to end 58 years of hurt is not just about tactically transforming the team.

It is about a connection with the fans where symbolism can become a fixation – and the team can be used to gauge the parading of patriotism.
“I will absolutely start learning it [the national anthem],” Tuchel told Sky News, remembering it being played at Wembley cup finals when he was in charge at Chelsea.

“It was very moving, but I haven’t taken my decision yet if I will sing it or not. I have a bit of time for that.

“And even with the decision, I do not want to offend people. I’ll get a feeling for it, what people think and what the atmosphere is for that.”

Even the fear of offending shows how much of this job can be treading on eggshells – where oddities, absurdities and controversies can distract from the main job.

Tuchel said he was convinced to take the job because it was about football “not sport politics”.

That could be wishful thinking after Gareth Southgate had to navigate everything from Brexit to human rights – while still leading England to back-to-back European Championship finals.

Ultimately for Tuchel it is about how to get the team over the line to land silverware.

“We believe that we have everything that it takes,” Tuchel said. “But it is on us now to find the right ingredients and to build the right group with the right mindset to make it happen.”

And Tuchel has demonstrated the mindset and determination to rise from coaching in the lower leagues in Germany to one of the biggest jobs in world football.

He talked a good game today. From March, on the pitch, he will have to start delivering.

In an earlier video message to fans, Tuchel said he was aiming for a “second star” on England’s shirt – which can only be achieved by winning the World Cup.

Speaking from Wembley Stadium, the former Chelsea boss said: “I’m quite a bit nervous, this is my first message as England head coach.

“There is a reason to be a bit nervous, I think it is a good thing. I can promise I am very excited and very honoured.

“We will do everything to qualify for the World Cup and then try to get the second star on our shirt.”

Read more:
What we know about England’s new manager
As it happened: Tuchel news conference live
Tuchel signs England manager deal

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New England boss shares message with fans

Tuchel also said he hoped to win over sceptical fans who believe the Three Lions should only be managed by an Englishman.

He said: “I will do everything to show respect to this role and to this country… no matter what [my] national passport says I am.”

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German fans react to Tuchel appointment

Tuchel said he believed the England men’s team had the “ingredients” to win their first major tournament since the 1966 World Cup.

He also declined to say if Harry Kane, who he managed at Bayern Munich, will remain England captain, saying it was “too early to answer these kinds of questions”.

Tuchel’s contract lasts for 18 months and was signed last Tuesday, the FA also revealed.

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Police search for missing sisters last seen three days ago near Aberdeen river

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Police search for missing sisters last seen three days ago near Aberdeen river

Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.

Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.

The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.

Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
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Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland

Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
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Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland

Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.

Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”

Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.

The Huszti sisters. Pic: Police Scotland
Image:
CCTV of the sisters. Pic: Police Scotland

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The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.

Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.

The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.

Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.

CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”

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Britain’s gas storage levels ‘concerningly low’ after cold snap, says owner of British Gas

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Britain's gas storage levels 'concerningly low' after cold snap, says owner of British Gas

Britain’s gas storage levels are “concerningly low” with less than a week of demand in store, the operator of the country’s largest gas storage site said on Friday.

Plunging temperatures and high demand for gas-fired power stations are the main factors behind the low levels, Centrica said.

The UK is heavily reliant on gas for its home heating and also uses a significant amount for electricity generation.

As of the 9th of January 2025, UK storage sites are 26% lower than last year’s inventory at the same time, leaving them around half full,” Centrica said.

“This means the UK has less than a week of gas demand in store.”

The firm’s Rough gas storage site, a depleted field off England’s east coast, makes up around half of the country’s gas storage capacity.

Gas storage was already lower than usual heading into December as a result of the early onset of winter.

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Combined with stubbornly high gas prices, this has meant it has been more difficult to top up storage over Christmas.

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UK’s first taxpayer-funded injection room to open in radical move to tackle drugs epidemic

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UK's first taxpayer-funded injection room to open in radical move to tackle drugs epidemic

Glasgow has been a city crying out for solutions to a devastating drugs epidemic that is ravaging people hooked on deadly narcotics. 

We have spent time with vulnerable addicts in recent months and witnessed first-hand the dirty, dangerous street corners and back alleys where they would inject their £10 heroin hit, not knowing – or, in many cases, not caring – whether that would be the moment they die.

“Dying would be better than this life,” one man told me.

It was a grim insight into the daily reality of life in the capital of Europe’s drug death crisis.

Scotland has a stubborn addiction to substances spanning generations. Politicians of all persuasions have failed to properly get a grip of the emergency.

But there is a new concept in town.

From Monday, a taxpayer-funded unit is allowing addicts to bring their own heroin and cocaine and inject it while NHS medical teams supervise.

A dirty needle thrown less than 100 metres from the new injection centre
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A dirty needle thrown less than 100 metres from the new injection centre

It may be a UK-first but it is a regular feature in some other major European cities that have claimed high success rates in saving lives.

Glasgow has looked on with envy at these other models.

One supermarket car park less than a hundred metres from this new facility is a perfect illustration of the problem. An area littered with dirty needles and paraphernalia. A minefield where one wrong step risks contracting a nasty disease.

Drugs paraphernalia in a supermarket car park in Glasgow, near the new facility
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Drugs paraphernalia in a supermarket car park in Glasgow, near the new facility

It is estimated hundreds of users inject heroin in public places in Glasgow every week. HIV has been rife.

The new building, which will be open from 9am until 9pm 365 days a year, includes bays where clean needles are provided as part of a persuasive tactic to lure addicts indoors in a controlled environment.

There is a welcome area where people will check in before being invited into one of eight bays. The room is clinical, covered in mirrors, with a row of small medical bins.

Clean needles are provided to lure addicts to inject in a controlled environment
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Clean needles are provided to lure addicts to inject in a controlled environment

One of the eight bays users can inject in
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There are eight bays users can inject in

We were shown the aftercare area where users will relax after their hit in the company of housing and social workers.

The idea is controversial and not cheap – £2.3m has been ring-fenced every year.

The aftercare area
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The aftercare area

Read more: ‘Dying would be better than my £1,000 a month heroin addiction’

Authorities in the city first floated a ‘safer drug consumption room’ in 2016. It failed to get off the ground as the UK Home Office under the Conservatives said they would not allow people to break the law to feed habits.

The usual wrangle between Edinburgh and London continued for years with Downing Street suggesting Scotland could, if it wanted, use its discretion to allow these injecting rooms to go ahead.

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The stalemate ended when Scotland’s most senior prosecutor issued a landmark decision that it would not be in the public interest to arrest those using such a facility.

One expert has told me this new concept is unlikely to lead to an overall reduction in deaths across Scotland. Another described it as an expensive vanity project. Supporters clearly disagree.

The question is what does success look like?

The big test will be if there is a spike in crime around the building and how it will work alongside law enforcement given drug dealers know exactly where to find their clients now.

It is not disputed this is a radical approach – and other cities across Britain will be watching closely.

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