AIDY BOOTHROYD has quit as England Under-21s manager after their European Championships flop – with Joe Cole an early shock contender to replace him.
The former Watford chief took charge of the Young Lions five years ago when Gareth Southgate was promoted to the senior side, winning 31 of his 48 games.
His contract was due to expire in the summer but the decision was made with the FA for his tenure to end with immediate effect.
Boothroyd, 50, said: “It’s been the greatest privilege to represent the FA and lead England teams into high-profile tournaments.
“While we didn’t finish in the way we wanted, I’m very proud to have been able to work so closely with players who I know will go on to have remarkable international careers and to have experienced some very special moments with them over the years.
“I’d like to thank my staff and all of the incredible support team that have done so much to help us remain competitive against other elite nations.
“In every single get-together they embraced our unique challenge of rightly prioritising the needs of the senior team while ensuring we gave our all to try and get a positive performance and result.”
Boothroyd led England to the semi-finals of the Euros in 2017, before winning the Toulon tournament in 2018.
The former Northampton chief can point to a number of players now in the senior squad that he has helped develop, such as Phil Foden, Mason Mount and Reece James.
But the failures of the last two Euro tournaments, both in 2019 and this year, when he could not get past the group stages despite the talent at his disposal, will be part of his legacy too.
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His youngsters finished bottom of Group D in Slovenia and Hungary last month.
Defeats to Switzerland and Portugal left them on the brink of another early exit.
Needing to beat Croatia by two to scrape through, Ebere Eze and Curtis Jones looked to have pulled off a miracle before Domagoj Bradaric’s 91st-minute strike broke the Young Lions’ hearts.
Ahead of that do-or-die Croatia game, Boothroyd labelled his role as ‘the utterly impossible job’.
He felt that the priority of bringing talent through for the seniors conflicted too much with the pressure to deliver tournament success.
Three Lions chief Southgate, who shared an office with Boothroyd at St George’s Park, said: “I’d like to thank Aidy for his wholehearted support and dedication to developing English players and coaches across the last seven years.
“His pride in working with all of our development teams has shone through and his support of the senior team has been greatly appreciated.
“I wish him every success on the next step of his career.”
Boothroyd started his managerial career at Watford in 2005 before spells at Colchester, Coventry and Northampton.
He joined the England youth set-up in 2014 but is now looking to get back into club football.
The FA will now begin a ‘formal open process’ to recruit Boothroyd’s successor.
As revealed by SunSport, ex-Chelsea midfielder Cole is a surprise candidate to take over after obtaining his Uefa A licence a year ago.
Since retiring as a player, Cole has worked as a coach in the academy of his old club and is passionate about both management and the national team.
He has also been to England’s HQ at St George’s Park to study training sessions and give talks to youth players.
His former Chelsea team-mate Frank Lampard and QPR boss Mark Warburton are also in contention.
Jodi Morris, Nicky Butt and England U17s boss Justin Cochrane have all been mentioned as possible candidates too.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
