Welshboy Taffy
Inactive User
Stuart Pearce is ready to apply for the full-time England Under-21 job when the Football Association confirm the role.
Pearce is the leading contender to coach the Under-21s after taking them to the European Championship semi-finals where they lost a marathon penalty shoot-out to Holland, and he admits he is desperate to return to football.
He was appointed for the finals earlier in the season on a part-time basis but losing his job at Manchester City means he is unemployed for the first time since leaving school at 16.
"I am unemployed for the first time in my life," he said.
"I want to stay in football, I love the profession and it's a great job and a job I've enjoyed doing.
"I don't know whether they put it out for tenure for people to apply to. It will be a case for myself and the FA to sit down and if I fancy it and like what goes with it, I'll apply for the job."
Pearce is in no doubt that he wants to work in the game rather than take a break, and the Under-21 role is seen as a job where the coach can develop as well as the players.
"Where do you, in normal working-day life, get the adrenaline and highs and lows of this profession?" he added.
Soho Square officials are set to address the under-21 situation next week, with talks of a full-time boss having an all-encompassing role with younger age groups, experience Pearce already has from previous work with the FA.
Pearce's final task after the tournament in Holland was to submit a report to Steve McClaren, outlining the players who could make the step up to the seniors.
Backing David Bentley to graduate gave Pearce problems when the Blackburn winger pulled out of the squad on the eve of the tournament, citing fatigue after a long season and a trip to Estonia with the seniors.
Pearce, however, impressed the likes of FA chief executive Brian Barwick with the way he coped with the difficulties of keeping a squad together and then almost getting them to the final with a man short in the squad.
Staging a practice penalty shoot-out against Slovakia was an example of Pearce's attention to detail, although he admits he is still learning his trade as he is barely 100 games into his managerial career.
"I learn all the time," he said. "Every day that goes by that I'm in this job I'm learning even more. This experience for me, on a selfish level, has been absolutely incredible."
Part of the problem Pearce has faced is being, what he calls, a coach who is in the "middle ground", a level of management that is rarely acknowledged.
"I'm not stupid, I'm involved in the media and you're either the best coach in the world or an absolute buffoon," he said. "You've either got all your tactical decisions right, or you're an absolute............"
"There is no middle ground. It's a case of 'he's going to be the next England manager' or 'get him out the game'.
"If I won this tournament I wouldn't for one minute think I was any better a manager than I am now.
"But I'm getting better at my job, I can guarantee that."
Pearce admits he is not the finished article like Arsene Wenger or Jose Mourinho - "I want to emulate them because I feel they are at the top the tree in their profession," he added - and does not feel an automatic choice for the FA.
"They might think there is someone better than me to do the job," he said.
"If I thought I was the best man there is - and I'm clearly not the best manager there has ever been - someone else will come in.
"If they have got more qualifications and a better CV, it would make sense to give the job to the best man. I've been fortunate that they have had six months to have a good look at me."
After defeat to Holland last Wednesday, Pearce got the squad together and split them into those who are too old for the next campaign and those who will play.
Aside from the shoot-out against the Dutch, Pearce ensured the under-21s remained unbeaten since 2005.
"If I or the next manager have another undefeated season that's a great season," he said.
-------------------------------------- Taffy --------------------------------------
I think he did a great job for his first attempt so I see no problems in them giving it to him he's got my vote
