Aidy Boothroyd has been dismissed as England U21 manager after seven years in the England set-up. After once again failing to get out of the group stages of the U21 European Championships this year, the FA released a statement that read:
“Aidy Boothroyd is to leave his role as a national-team coach after a seven-year spell in which he guided England to three successive UEFA U21 EURO tournaments.
“Boothroyd, who took the Young Lions to within a penalty shootout of 2017's U21 EURO final and followed that up by winning the 2018 Toulon Tournament, has particularly played a pivotal role in helping nurture young talent through the player pathway and into the senior squad.
“Having initially joined the St. George’s Park set-up in February 2014, Boothroyd has decided to move on after the disappointment of the recent U21 EURO in Slovenia”
With a whole host of candidates lined up for the job one man tipped by former England player Jamie Carragher to get the job, is former Chelsea boss Frank Lampard.
“You actually look at the job of the under 21s, I almost think it would be perfect for someone like Frank Lampard,” he told The Sportsman. “I think he has just had a newborn baby as well and it may be the perfect job for him I think.”
Chelsea legend Lampard was sacked by the Stamford Bridge club earlier this year after previously taking Derby County into the play-offs and Carragher believes his former England team-mate would be a hugely positive influence on the nation’s young stars and added, “Everyone in the squad would look up to him, they’d be in awe of him. He has still got that youthfulness in that he hasn’t retired too long ago, he’d have that connection with young players.
"I think if you were a young player you would be absolutely over the moon if Frank Lampard was the manager and that may suit Frank right now, I don’t know.
“He may want to get right back into the thrust of things but coming out of Chelsea, it is still a high profile job, you’d be coaching and training really top players, young players and it is not every day. So maybe if he has got things in his life he wants to do he can get on with that as well, so I think he’d be a brilliant fit.”
Another out-of-work English manager who may be interested in the job could be former Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe, out of work since leaving the Cherries last summer. However, Carragher doesn’t believe he would take the job.
“I don’t think Eddie Howe, unless he was almost told he would be the next England manager. I think he’s got such a good CV and experience as a manager now. I think Frank has dipped his toe in, with Frank it is almost, does he want to have a long managerial career or does he almost want to pick and choose his jobs.”
@Carra23 thinks former teammate Frank Lampard would be a perfect fit for the England U21 role, should the position become vacant.
