Stuart Pearce placed in charge of England for Netherlands friendly in February
Pearce placed in charge of England
Posted: 2012-02-09 15:05
The FA have confirmed that Stuart Pearce will take charge of the England national team for their friendly against the Netherlands in February.
The under-21 boss will take temporary charge of the national side as the search for Fabio Capello's successor begins, with David Bernstein insisting the FA will not be rushed
Pearce currently manages the England under-21 side and will also take charge of the Great Britain team at the 2012 Olympics in London.
FA chairman David Bernstein added that the association will not rush in appointing Fabio Capello's permanent successor as England manager.
"With regard to the future, I'm very pleased to announce that Stuart Pearce will manage the England team for the Holland match," Bernstein told reporters.
"He has huge experience outside and inside this organisation and of course, he manages the England under-21 team and has been working with Fabio for some time. He knows the players very well.
"I've got a great confidence in Stuart, we'll be in safe hands.
"Our priority then will be to appoint a new England manager. This will be handled by the four of us with a total focus on getting the best person in place as soon as we sensibly can."
Bernstein insisted that the departure of Capello would not be allowed to affect England's preparation for this summer's European Championship.
"Of course it's regrettable when a manager leaves like this," Bernstein said. "Could it have been avoided? I don't know. At the end of the meeting, he decided he had to go.
"We're in very good shape, all the organisational matters for the Euros are in place, such as our base and training camp. I think there's plenty of time for a new man to get in place and do what he needs to do.
"We don't want to rush the process. We'll do it properly, we'll do it as soon as we can."
Bernstein refused to confirm that Capello's successor would be English, but admitted that a domestic candidate would be preferable.
"It's very early days so I don't want to be too descriptive," he said. "The four of us [Bernstein, director of communications Adrian Bevington, general secretary Alex Horne and director of football development Sir Trevor Brooking] will be sitting down tomorrow, we will be moving fast to get our ducks on the right row.
"He will not definitely be English. There's a preference for an English or British person, but we're not prepared to rule out anything at this stage. But clearly, an English or British person would have a good start on the matter.
"Any manager we take on will have detailed knowledge of English players. I'd expect the top man to pick of the reins very quickly. The new manager will be able to make his appointment regarding a new captain.
"We want to make an appointment that the public are positive about and excites the fans, but we can't be driven by that. We have to do this professionally, we have to get a proper shortlist together but the desires of our supporters are crucial to us.
Bevington added: "While of course there's a priority of appointing a manager, we have a very experienced staff, who have experience of delivering on a big stage with or without Fabio Capello. Any manager coming in will be able to hit the ground running."
Bernstein stood behind the FA's decision to remove John Terry from the captaincy, a decision over which Capello was not consulted.
"I think in the long term, things should be done in the interests of English football," he said. "I know the importance of success and winning matches.
"The backing of John Terry clearly wasn't helpful. The language has been OK, there was a degree of issue about it.
"When Fabio offered the resignation, it was in the interests of the FA and English football [to accept]. We were very open, we covered a range of issues.
"I think we got it absolutely right, until the court's decision to postpone the matter until after the Euros. Once that changed, it changed the whole dynamic."
Horne added: "There was no point having a manager who didn't want to be in the job. We went through all the issues with Fabio at length, and looking forward, having offered that [resignation] it was right to accept."
Bernstein defended the appointment of Capello and praised the professional way in which the Italian had behaved during the discussions on Wednesday.
"I'd like to publicly thank Fabio Capello for all the work that he's done," Bernstein said. "He's provided us with two qualifications into major tournaments - the World Cup and now Euro 2012.
"I just want to emphasise that all the way through his time with us and yesterday he's behaved with dignity and honour. He's an honourable person and any reports of storming out are not true and a complete misrepresentation of fact.
"It wasn't a mistake [to appoint him]. He's been a great manager. No one is going to defend the World Cup performance, but the qualification process has been perfectly acceptable. We've done extremely well away from home.
"I'm hopeful a new manager can add additional confidence into the side. I expect to see more high-class performances at Wembley to get the fans excited."
: 2012-02-09 22:22
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