Pearce 'to be full-time U21 coach'
Pearce has impressed Sir Trevor Brooking with his U21s' work
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Friday, 22, Jun 2007 09:21
Sir Trevor Brooking, the Football Association's director of football development, has hinted that England under-21 manager Stuart Pearce could be offered the job on a full-time basis.
Pearce originally took the coaching role with the international youth team on a part-time basis - marrying his responsibilities with those at his club side Manchester City.
However after a disappointing Premiership season at Eastlands Pearce was sacked by City.
And after turning his focus to the under-21s, the 41-year-old former international left-back led his side to the semi-finals of the European Championships before they were knocked out by hosts and defending champions Holland on penalties.
In light of this relative success, and the workload involved, Sir Trevor has backed the FA making the under-21 job a full-time position.
"Clearly our priority is looking to the future and I believe we are committed to making the coach of this side a full-time position," he said.
"The past two weeks here in Holland show the importance of the role and why it should be permanent."
Sir Trevor added that the focus would now be on preparations for the qualification tournament for the 2009 European Under-21 Championships, which begins in September, and the first issue to be resolved would be the coaching position.
"Stuart Pearce has done fantastically well in this tournament, the spirit in the camp has been great and they really showed their character in the face of adversity against the Dutch," Sir Trevor explained.
"They were seconds away from a place in the final, and Stuart, the coaches and all the staff can be very proud of what they have achieved."
According to reports, talks may begin as soon as next week over Pearce's situation and the FA is expected to make an announcement regarding the under-21 coaching role at some point this summer.