>>guardian.co.uk"On the other side of things, Michael Johnson has had a massive absence from injury for a long, long time, so being in the squad will be a big lift for him."
Johnson's call-up comes after the 21-year-old recovered from a long-term abdominal problem that limited him to eight City appearances last season. He could make his third appearance for the U-21s, 15 months after his last cap.
A big performance from Joe Hart saw England under-21 side through to the final of the European Championships against Germany.
This despite throwing away a 3-0 half-time (with Nedum Onouha grabbing one of the goals) to see Sweden level at 3-3. Not only did Hart make a couple of crucial saves but he netted England's second penalty in the shoot-out.
A big downside for Hart though was his booking during the spot kicks which now sees him miss out on the final as any appeal is likely to be turned down.
From the FA.com:
Goalkeepers
Joe Hart (Manchester City), Joe Lewis (Peterborough United), Scott Loach (Watford)
Defenders
Martin Cranie (Portsmouth), Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal), Michael Mancienne (Chelsea), Nedum Onuoha (Manchester City), Micah Richards (Manchester City), Andrew Taylor (Middlesbrough), Steven Taylor (Newcastle United), James Tomkins (West Ham United)
Midfielders
Lee Cattermole (Wigan Athletic), Andrew Driver (Hearts), Craig Gardner (Aston Villa), Adam Johnson (Middlesbrough), James Milner (Aston Villa), Fabrice Muamba (Bolton Wanderers), Mark Noble (West Ham United), Jack Rodwell (Everton)
Forwards
Theo Walcott (Arsenal) Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa), Frazier Campbell (Tottenham Hotspur - on Loan), Danny Welbeck (Manchester United)
Three City players have been named in the England Under 21 squad for next Tuesday’s friendly against Poland at Molineux.Nedum Onuoha is the most experienced player in the 20-man list named by former Blues boss Stuart Pearce with 13 caps, and he will be joined by goalkeeper Joe Hart as well as midfielder Michael Johnson.
The trio will see another familiar face next week, with former City striker and Youth Academy graduate Ishmael Miller also receiving his call-up papers.
 | ||
| ||
Ishmael Miller will be seeing some familiar faces after being called up to the England Under 21 squad.A good reward for Miller's fine form this season for the Baggies and it will be interesting to see how he fares when stepping up to this level, as he has surprised me (and many others no doubt) with how he has performed this season.The powerful striker has been in a rich vein of form since starting a season-long loan spell at West Brom in August, bagging nine goals for Tony Mowbray's side.
He now links up with Stuart Pearce after the former City boss was hit by a number of injuries to his original selection.
The 20-year-old will meet up with City team mates Joe Hart and Nedum Onuoha as Pearce fine-tunes preparations for the Euro 2009 qualifiers against Bulgaria, in Milton Keynes on Friday, and Portugal in Agueda next Tuesday.
Nedum Onouha, Joe Hart and Michael Johnson all featured for the under-21's 1-1 draw against their Romanian counterparts yesterday evening.
I didn't see the game but believe that the Romanian goal owed much to a touch of misfortune from both Onouha and Hart, but both will be permanent fixtures in the side I imagine and add further weight against the argument that the club has ignored English talent since Sven-Goran Eriksson took over.
Former Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce has been named
-BBC Sport.
as full-time coach of the England Under-21 side.
The 45-year-old has signed
a two-year contract running until 2009.
Pearce was put in part-time control
in January and guided England to the semi-finals of the European Under-21
championships in June.
The role, on a full-time basis - a move away from the recent trend of a part-time manager (which Pearce of course initially operated as) was seemingly Pearce's after a European Championships in which he drew widespread praise from the squad and officials alike after reaching the semi-final stage.
In a full-time capacity it may well be that Pearce operates more as a bridge between the youth levels immediately below the under-21 level and to the senior side - something Pearce has mentioned previously and again yesterday in his interview.
Whilst his tenure at City will probably be remembered for his shortcomings as a manager, it cannot be doubted though that (maybe more out of necessity given the financial constraints he worked under) he was succesful in bringing through and integrating young players into the side.
It is therefore likely then Pearce will enjoy more success as manager with the under-21's than at City.
Personally, I believe his style of management and coaching is more suited to the international game where being more of a 'motivator' than a 'pure' coach has a better effect in an environment where you have the players for several short periods as opposed to a continuous full season where his animated style can (and certainly did) wear thin after a period of time.
Working with the young players at this level, undoubtedly he will command respect from a group of players who would have grown up when he was in his prime as a player at international level, and all the noises coming out of the England camp at the European Championships were positive in relation to Pearce being in charge.
I do feel that this is a good move for him, enjoying what looks to be a reasonably talented crop of young players at his disposal - and also that it is unlikely that his City record will see a host of tops clubs queueing up to employ him, so he may struggle to get a club job that he truly sees as one to challenge him.
I think Pearce has every chance of being a success, and one angle he may look at is this is a chance to redeem himself a little and restore a reputation that took a bit of a beating over the final few months in charge at the club.
From mcfc.co.uk:Three of City’s younger players are heading for Spain
in a bid to secure a place in the England squad for this summer’s Under 21
European Championships.
Nedum Onuoha, Joe Hart and Michael Johnson are in
the provisional squad of 30 players who jetted off to Valencia on Monday for a
five-day training camp. That number will be whittled down to 23 next week, but
all three will have high hopes of making it to the finals in Holland after a
busy few weeks at the end of the domestic season.
As Mr Banks noted in a post last week, it seems that the club were far from happy at allowing Pearce to take the job - but having reluctantly done so, they at least imposed some strict conditions on Pearce. Namely that he will not be involved in any other Football Association duties, including scouting, and any prospective friendly match in March prior to him taking charge for the summer European Championships.
This will now though see the near farcical situation of Pearce being the manager of the side or the friendly against Italy but merely allowed to sit in the stands for the game with no contact with the players. This is something Pearce will possibly be hoping to change, although Trevor Brooking has moved quickly to dispel that suggestion.
Although Pearce gave his word to Wardle that he would not apply for the job should it be available on a full-time basis, he did leave the door slightly ajar with his following comments:"Part of taking the job now was giving my word to the
chairman that I'll be the Manchester City manager now, at the end of the summer,
and hopefully into next season – simple as that."
"The England Under-21s need a full-time manager – full
stop, without a doubt. I don't think it will be me in the summer, as I've given
my word, and very rarely in my life have I gone back on my word."
Given the fact this is after just one game, given Pearce will lead the side headlong into a full tournament in the summer, could this be one of those rare occasions he referred to?
Now I have already gone on record as saying I don't think The England U21 job should interfere too much with Stuart Pearce's ability too manage Manchester City. If a recent M.E.N. poll is anything to go by I am in a very small minority. The vast majority of message boards and phone ins have actually seen calls for him to go and do the job full time , and they are the kinder one's !!
So this doesn't really help his cause :
Not very cute stu ?
A time and a place eh Stu ?
Stuart Pearce has been allowed by Manchester City to take up the coaching of England U21's on a short term temporary contract. The club has issued a curt statement which I presume they are not too happy with it ! Be interesting to see what happens particulary if we have a good tournament.
I dont really see much harm in Pearce doing this the time restraints are minimal , on the flipside I dont see any positives !! Some have said he can spot trhe up and coming talent , thats great but we have no money to sign them !!
Job Sharing has not been particularly sucessful in football , I wonder if outsourcing could work and we could get somebody in to do his job cheaper (or better) .....................
