In the wake of their second straight disastrous U-21 European Championships campaign, England manager Aidy Boothroyd is facing stern criticism from the football world. With a youth squad containing an embarrassment of riches and players featuring in the Premier League on the regular basis, it was simply not good enough for England not to advance out of the group stages of the Euros. 

The time should be up for Boothroyd, whose tenure at the helm has seen a semi-final, followed by back-to-back group stage exits in an eerily similar fashion. With an absolute wealth of talent, it could end up being a great job for the next manager who comes in. Next in line must be able to guide youth, play good football and understand what it takes to rise through the ranks to the very top. I believe that man could be Frank Lampard.

Timing

As I write this, Boothroyd is still the manager and I’m sure there will be an extensive inquiry into the poor performance as a collective in the coming weeks. If there is ever a time to part company with the former Watford manager, it’s now. In terms of his tenure of five years, it doesn’t even compare to the longest-serving U-21 manager, Dave Sexton, whose tenure was 13 years from 1977 to 1990. Since then, the longest reign has been five years; Boothroyd has had his chance with three European Championships and failed to deliver.