COOPER WON’T AID AND ABET
STEVE COOPER has ruled himself out of the England Under-21 job and agrees with current boss Aidy Boothroyd that gigs don’t come much tougher.
Boothroyd labelled it “the impossible job” before his team crashed out of the European Championship by conceding a late goal in their 2-1 group win over Croatia on Wednesday.
Swansea City head coach Cooper – who won the World Cup with the England Under-17s – is in the frame to replace Boothroyd, but insists he wants to stay in club football.
Cooper, whose promotion bid with the Swans has caught the attention of both Crystal Palace and Newcastle too, said: “I had a good time working with England and I got to work with some top players, but that ship has sailed.”
Boothroyd could go down with his own sinking vessel now that the Young Lions have failed to find safe passage to a Euros knockout stage for the second time under his leadership.
The former Watford boss (above) claimed the demands for results plus the pressure of supplying Gareth Southgate’s senior side, means any Under-21 manager is always up against it.
Cooper said: “With international football, results and development are both important.
“You have to win, because it carries you to the next stage and gives you another experience.
“International football is all about getting to the knockout stages, semifinals and finals, and that’s why winning is important.
“But at the same time you have to try to develop a certain style of play within a development programme.
“You should never lose sight of that – but you still have to win to go on to the next experience.
“With the Under-17 team, we experienced all-or-nothing games and penalty shoot-outs. Getting to the latter stages of a tournament can mean being away for four or five weeks too and you only get those experiences by staying in the tournament.”
Cooper lifted the World Cup with his Under-17 squad four years ago with a team that included Phil Foden, Jadon
Sancho and Callum Hudson-Odoi – all of whom have graduated to the senior squad.
That Under-17 crop also had former Liverpool striker Rhian Brewster, Marc Guehi, Conor Gallagher, Joel Latibeaudiere and Morgan Gibbs-White – all of whom Cooper has tempted to Swansea, either on loan or permanently, in the last two seasons.
“The group I worked with that won the Under-17 World Cup received a lot of attention, but I worked with four or five groups of players during my time,” said 41-year-old Cooper.
“There is someone from each of them playing in the senior England team now.
“You want to try to do that by doing it your own way. The English FA has its own way of developing players in their pathway.”