Cole and Lescott appointed England assistants to Carsley
Joleon Lescott and Ashley Cole: Assisted Lee Carsley with the England Under-21s
Written by Training Ground Guru — August 24, 2024
Ashley Cole, Joleon Lescott and Tim Dittmer have been appointed as Assistants to Interim Head Coach Lee Carsley for England’s upcoming September internationals against the Republic of Ireland and Finland.
The trio all worked alongside Carsley for the England Under-21s and were part of the squad that won the 2023 U21 Euros. Cole’s full-time role is as First-Team Coach at Birmingham City, which he will continue, and he is one of only nine men to have achieved 100 senior caps for England.
Lescott made 26 senior appearances for England between 2007 and 2013 and was part of their squad at Euro 2012. Dittmer has been with the FA for more than a decade as a National Goalkeeping Coach - most notably with the U21s - and was appointed Head of Coaching across all men’s development teams in 2021.
Lead Men’s Performance Analysts Stephen O’Brien and Michael Baker have been seconded to focus on “strategic projects” in preparation for the arrival of the new senior men’s Head Coach, to succeed Gareth Southgate.
O’Brien has worked with England since 2003 and Baker since 2007. As a result, U21s Performance Analyst James Ryder will step across to work with Carsley’s senior men's staff.
As TGG reported earlier this week, Goalkeeping Coach Martyn Margetson has departed the FA after eight years. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has also moved on after 17 months as Assistant to Southgate.
Another Assistant, Paul Nevin, will now take charge of England’s Elite Squad (formerly the U20s) on a temporary basis, with Kevin Nolan, Chris Lock and Neil Cutler as his assistants.
Nolan left his role as West Ham Assistant in the summer following the departure of David Moyes; Lock is the U21s Head Coach at Charlton; and Cutler is Head Goalkeeper Coach at Wolves.
Ben Futcher, the U20s Head Coach, has moved to take interim charge of the U21s in place of Carsley. He will be supported by Tom Huddlestone (Wigan Athletic First Team Coach), Paul Williams (former Birmingham City Academy Manager), and Sam Meek (National Goalkeeper Coach).
Liam Bramley, who was Norwich City First Team Coach to December 2022, has been appointed U18s Head Coach. He will be assisted by ex-England striker Darius Vassell, whose full-time role is as a forwards coach at Wolves.
Blackburn Rovers Academy coach Matthew Hill will support the U16s and Sheffield United Academy coach Fahd Saleh will work across the goalkeeping department.
Huddlestone, Vassell, Lock, Hill and Saleh have all been appointed as part of the England Elite Coach Programme, which was introduced by the FA and PFA in 2017 to create opportunities for coaches from historically under-represented groups.
ENGLAND MEN'S COACHES FOR 2024/25
- U21s: Interim Head Coach: Ben Futcher; Assistants: Paul Williams, Tom Huddlestone and Sam Meek (GK).
- Elite League Squad: Interim Head Coach: Paul Nevin; Assistants: Kevin Nolan, Chris Lock and Neil Cutler (GK).
- U19s: Head coach: Will Antwi; Assistants Andy Edwards, Paul Harsley and Adrian Tucker (GK).
- U18s: Head coach: Liam Bramley; Assistants Stuart Delaney, Darius Vassell and Anthony White (GK).
- U17s: Head Coach: Neil Ryan; Assistants: Tom Curtis, Matt Thorpe and Matt Doyle (GK).
- U16s: Head Coach: Greg Lincoln; Assistants: Andy Edwards and Matthew Hill.
- U15s: Head Coach: Tom Curtis (also Youth Development Phase Lead); Assistants: Matt Thorpe and Ben Futcher.
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