New Story Announcement

Hi, fmhunter here. Just so you know, my fairly popular first ever story, 'Juventus FC: La Fidanzata d'Italia', is dead. My laptop crashed and I hadn't saved the progress for 3 months.

It's fair to say I won't make that mistake again – it's on autosave. I apoligise to anyone who was really getting into it. However, after reading Josh_MU's wonderful England story, I fell in love with his layout and way of approaching an FM story. So, this is my attempt. I hope you enjoy it.

I have decided, like Josh, to go for an international story on this occasion. Of course, being the patriotic young man that I am – it's England. With a twist. I am taking charge of the U21 team, breeding and developing the next crop of World Cup heroes (flops).

I will aim to post on the story daily – though with my AS Level examinations imminent, I may find it difficult – but please do bare with me.

New manager announcement is on its way.

Tim Sherwood has left Spurs to become new Head Coach of the England Under-21s.

The 44-year-old takes the national youth role after telling Tottenham that his position with the club he loves had become 'untenable'.

Sherwood, who played 4 times for England U21s and 3 times for the first team has been given a one-year-rolling contract with The FA.

We managed a few words from him as he walked across the car park and in through the front doors at Wembley Stadium this morning.

He said: "I'm really pleased and honoured to be trusted with coaching the England youth team."

He then apologised, and dashed through the doors. Either he did not want questioning about his Tottenham departure for a seemingly lesser job and why his position was 'untenable', or he was late on his first day.

Last month, Gareth Southgate left the position to become Director of Football at Aston Villa.

Sherwood's name became linked with the vacancy three days ago and whilst still Tottenham manager, refused to comment on the speculation.

It is unclear as of yet whether Les Ferdinand and Chris Ramsey (his Tottenham backroom staff) will join him.

Tottenham are rumoured to be 'pleased' by Sherwood's departure and are looking for a new manager just over a month from the start of the Barclays Premier League season.

The FA are set to officially unveil Tim Sherwood as Head Coach of England Under-21s in a press-conference later on today.

I wish you luck with this story, I'm glad you enjoyed my story and that it's inspired you to make this one.

Best of luck! Will be very interesting to see how you cope with the so called 'incredible' young talent England have. If it's anything like Josh's story then we're in for a treat

Really looking forward to this; I was a background spectator for your Juventus story; gutted that It's over, but if this is anything like Josh's story then, as Bantams said, we're in for a treat; Best of Luck!

Josh_MU: Cheers pal, looking forward to this. I believe yours is stopping? Real shame, took me an age to catch up!

Bantams: Hopefully! Sherwood has his work cut out! Thanks for the comment!

TodayAtTomorrow: Cheers! Sorry about Juve, nightmare error from myself not autosaving. Glad you like my writing!

Tim Sherwood has today been officially unveiled as new Head Coach of the England U21 team in a press conference at St George's Park.

Tim resigned his position as Tottenham Hotspur manager yesterday after being offered the national coaching role, stating that it was 'just too good to refuse'.

The following is the transcription taken from Tim's unveiling as Head Coach.

---

GD: Good afternoon all, and welcome to St George's Park for the official unveiling of Tim Sherwood as the England Under-21s Head Coach. We are now taking questions.

NR: Hi Greg. Bryan Swanson from Sky Sports News. Getting straight to the point, what is it that made Tim Sherwood the right man to develop our young stars for the future?

GD: Hi Bryan. Well, not only does Tim have an unrivalled passion for his work, he also has a wealth of experience in developing youth talent from his days as Tottenham Hotspur U21s manager and Head of Youth Development. He has all the credentials and his CV was the one that stood out above all the others on our shortlist.

NR: And can we be sure that Tim was approached for the role, he didn't apply for it?

GD: Absolutely. We saw Tim as the best man for the job and so went about speaking to him the proper way, through the club. Tim has been an outstanding servant for Tottenham and found it difficult to leave.


NR: Hi Tim. Phil McNulty from BBC Sport. We know that you had endured a difficult time at Tottenham, and despite your results being very good with the team, the best in Spurs' Premier League history in fact, your relationship with the board was publicly strained. Were you just waiting for the chance to leave?

GD: (interrupting) Sorry Phil, Tim is here to talk about the England coaching role and nothing else. Can we stress that all questions are to be based on his new position and not his old one.


NR: Tim, what does it mean to you being trusted with laying the foundations for the future of English football? As low-profile as this job often is, it's surely an awesome amount of pressure?

TS: You know what Phil this is the proudest moment of my career mate. I have worked in youth development roles before but like you say this is probably the biggest youth role you can take. I'm honored to have been offered the opportunity.

NR: Ian Payne from ITV Sport. Tim, what are your visions going forward for the Under 21s?

TS: Well unlike the first-team, with an under 21s role you've only got players for a realistic maximum of 4 years. So the squad is always changing, as players progress into Roy's side or grow too old for this team, it's difficult to maintain a balance within the squad. My long-term vision is to progress as many young lads from this team into fully fledged England internationals. Short-term, winning trophies is what footballers are born to do, so we've got the European Championships in 2015 to look forward to and prepare for, not to mention a whole host of friendlies, starting with San Marino in a couple of months.

PO: Last question please.

NR: Hi Tim, Fabrice Muamba reporting on behalf of 5 Live. You take your first training session in a couple of weeks time. What will you be saying to the lads on that first day?

TS: Fabrice, glad to see you looking so well mate. To be honest with you I haven't thought about it buddy, I spent all last night checking Sky Sports to see whether Louis van Gaal or Frank De Boer had touted themselves for this job yet.

*laughter from all attendees*

TS: No seriously mate I'll get them together and let them know what I expect from them. If you don't wear the shirt with pride and give 100% in every session, every match, you won't be in my squad. They've all got the gift, I don't need to tell them that, they wouldn't be training with three lions on their chest if they didn't. It's about my expectations of them as people. Behave well, be respectful, work hard, and enjoy the experience of representing their country. Before they know it, it'll be gone. So enjoyment is a big part for me.

PO: Thanks for your questions, that concludes this press conference.

Great update, nicely planned out and well-worded. Will be interesting to see how Sherwood does.

It sucks that your story corrupt . Good luck with this one, though! Interesting managerial appointment

Tim Sherwood has announced his 23-man squad ahead of his teams U21 Euro 2015 Qualifier with Moldova.

Southampton full-back Luke Shaw and Wigan goalkeeper Lee Nicholls miss out through injury.

Goalkeepers

Jack Butland (Birmingham City)
Jonathon Bond (Watford)
George Long (Sheffield United)

Defenders

Dan Burn (Fulham)
Callum Chambers (Southampton)
John Flanagan (Liverpool)
George Husband (Doncaster Rovers)
Liam Moore (Leicester City)
Jack Robinson (Blackpool)
John Stones (Everton)
Andre Wisdom (Derby County)

Midfielders

Tom Ince (Crystal Palace)
Jonjo Shelvey (Swansea)
Ravel Morrison (West Ham United)
Nick Powell (Wigan Athletic)
Nathan Redmond (Norwich City)
George Thorne (Derby County)
James Ward-Prowse (Southampton)
Josh McEachran (Wigan Athletic)

Forwards

Saido Berahino (West Bromwich Albion)
Danny Ings (Burnley)
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)
Connor Wickham (Sunderland)

Very good squad, Nick Powell is a god aha. No Michael Keane? D: I guess that's my United bias showing through xD.

Tom Ince was the stand-out performer as England Under-21s came back from 2-0 down to beat Moldova in what was a gripping group qualification contest.

New boss Tim Sherwood was taking charge of the England U21 side for the first time in this match, and got off to the worst possible start when Moldovian striker Alexandru Butelschi nipped in to score after just 33 seconds at the American Express Stadium in Brighton.

Things then got worse for England as Butelschi again broke free of the home defence to score a fine solo goal on 14 minutes.

Incensed by the sloppy start, ex-Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood decided upon a change, switching to 4-2-3-1 from his favoured 4-4-2, removing captain Harry Kane and midfield starlet Nick Powell from the field and replacing them with Ravel Morrison and Wilfried Zaha on 15 minutes.


This proved a moment of brilliance from the new Head Coach as it only took England 10 minutes to force their way back into the game, Tom Ince rounding the goalkeeper and slotting home from 6 yards into the back of an empty net.

---

HT: England U21 1-2 Moldova U21

---

Sherwood's half-time team talk had the desired effect on his players as they came out looking like a different side.

6 minutes after the break Jonjo Shelvey slipped a wonderful through ball, slicing the Moldova back four, for Ravel Morrison to latch onto and score with a composed finish low into the goal.


England now had the belief that they could fully turn the game on its head and take all three points, which they looked set to do when Tom Ince knocked in his second goal on 69 minutes to make it 3-2.

The game remained this way and England kept the ball from a poor Moldova team as they allowed the clock to run down.

There was one last key moment in the game as Ravel Morrison unleashed a speculative effort from 25-yards, which found its way through a host of bodies and into the top corner. That was game over.

---

FT: England U21 4-2 Moldova U21

---

Team Line-Ups

ENGLAND U21

01 Butland
02 Flanagan
04 Stones
05 Burn
03 Husband
07 Ward-Prowse
06 Shelvey
08 Powell (Zaha - 15')
11 Ince
09 Kane (Morrison - 15')
10 Wickham (Berahino - 66')

---

MOLDOVA U21

01 Bugneac
02 Antoniuc
04 Caras
18 Botnaras
03 Munteanu
07 Galat
08 Cojocari
09 Tugulea
16 Sosnovschii
11 Macoviiciuc
10 Butelschi

---

Tim Sherwood Post-Match Comments:

"It was a horrendous start, I honestly thought when that second goal went in that Moldova were going to run up a cricket score. But, we got the lads in at half-time and scoring just before the break changed things. I said you've got to show a bit of passion here, gotta show something different. It's not about ability now because even though you're all better footballers than them you don't want it as much. We sent them out and I made changes early on, which of course I stand by, and the reaction in the second half was pleasing."

I like your update style, very thorough and detailed. I wonder where you got your style from.. Anyway yeah, a great comeback from the England lads, the future is bright!

Josh_MU: Haha, it's a cracking style mate and I thank YOU in particular for laying it out and inspiring me to do the same. Hope you don't think I'm being a 'copycat'. Thanks pal, got it all wrong in the first half but salvaged the win in the end.

SHERWOOD HAPPY WITH ENGLAND U21 SPIRIT

England U21 head coach Tim Sherwood refused to question two players' commitment in their recent 4-2 win over Moldova in an U21 Euro 2015 Qualifier.

England collapsed from the whistle to signal the beginning of the game, conceding their first just 33 seconds into the match.

Things went from bad to worse when Moldova scored their second on 14 minutes, with Sherwood decided to make two substitutions immediately after the goal.

He replaced captain Harry Kane with Ravel Morrison and Nick Powell with Wilfried Zaha, and both of the players coming off seemed unhappy with the way Sherwood had dealt with the issue in his first match in charge.

"The changes were nothing personal," he told BT Sport

"It's difficult when you go two down so early and I felt that we needed to change the system to get the best out of the players and heighten our chances of getting back into the game.

"Harry is a player I had at Tottenham and it hurt me to have to take him off, but he knows as well as me he wasn't going to fit in with the system we changed to.

"I've spoken to him and Nick and told them that the decision to bring them off was nothing about the way they played, but they weren't going to be as effective as their replacements due to the formation we decided on changing to, that's all it was.

"Obviously I know when you're playing for your country to be taken off after 15 minutes must be tough to take, but they're professional lads and I've spoken to them both individually and they've accepted my reasoning behind the changes. The air's clear."

Kane's replacement Ravel Morrison who played just behind the lone striker Connor Wickham, changed the game when he arrived on the field. He scored to in an what was an almighty second half performance.

The game ended in a 4-2 victory for England who now sit top of their qualification group after a single game.