England U21s boss Gareth Southgate signs a year-long contract extension 
England U21s boss Gareth Southgate has signed a year-long contract extension with the Football Association, which will keep him in his post until 2017. Southgate, who is also Head of National Teams at St George’s Park, guided the England U21 squad to the European Championship in Czech Republic this summer.
The 44-year-old has also been instrumental in developing the FA’s philosophy for teams – England DNA – and prior to that conducted the Youth Development Review that has helped shape the national body’s modern outlook for grassroots football.
Southgate said: “I am enjoying my work at the FA and with St George’s Park coming to life with innovation and development across our football disciplines I believe we now have some solid foundations in place.
“England DNA is evolving but anyone who has seen our development teams play – including the Under-21s – will know that many of the principles can already been seen in the way we go about our work.
“Whilst I am certainly happy with the direction we are heading and the progress made so far, we have enormous work ahead of us to raise the level to where we would like to be. It is a big challenge, but an exciting one.”
'Outstanding'
And FA technical director Dan Ashworth is delighted the former England international has agreed a new deal, and believes Southgate’s relationship with senior coach Roy Hodgson is invaluable.
“Gareth is an outstanding individual to work alongside and I am happy to see him commit further to his work with the Under-21s and to football development at the FA," he said.
“We are looking forward to the European Championship this summer and testing our young players against Europe’s elite. With Gareth in place we will hope to qualify for the 2017 European Championship to continue our players’ education and development.
“Gareth’s close working relationship with Roy Hodgson is certainly helping the transition of our players through to the senior team.”
Southgate's next game in charge of the side will be against Germany at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium on Monday, March 30 (7.45). Tickets for the match are £10 for adults and £1 for children.
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/9645700/england-u21s-boss-gareth-southgate-signs-a-year-long-contract-extension [ 此帖被羅力亞在2015-01-15 19:43重新編輯 ]
