Stuart Pearce dismissed as England U21 manager

Football Association decided not to renew Stuart Pearce’s contract as England U21 manager, which is due to expire later this month.

The future of the 51-year-old has been in the dark for the last year, but the terrible England’s display shown in European U21 Championship sealed his fate. England’s performance was far below expectations in the tournament, as they suffered defeats in all of their three games against Norway, Italy and Israel, and scored only once against Norway.

Although Pearce expressed the desire to extend his contract before the start of the tournament, the FA felt change was needed and Pearce had become stale in his post.

FA chairman David Bernstein said: I’d like to thank Stuart Pearce for his hard work. Nobody can doubt his commitment to the job throughout his time as U21 coach.

“He has done extremely well in qualifying for Finals tournaments, but after the disappointment of the past two tournaments, we believe it is time to change coach.

“On behalf of everyone at the FA I’d like to wish Stuart well for the future.

“It is important the organisation now considers the best approach for the role of U21 coach and how this works best within the overall England structure before making any new appointment.”

Speculation as to Pearce’s successor is rife, with Gareth Southgate being touted by the media as the favourite to get the nod.