Pearce - Olympics may help

Stuart Pearce wants to select players from England's Euro 2012 squad for the Olympics if he believes it is beneficial to them.

Team GB coach believes certain players will benefit from 2012 call

Team GB boss Stuart Pearce wants to select players from England's Euro 2012 squad for the Olympics if he believes it is beneficial to them. Three weeks separate the Euro 2012 final and the start of the Olympic football competition, with Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson claimed last month that he does not want any of his young Englishmen taking part in both tournaments. Pearce will be managing the British men's team, but he has not yet decided whether he will ignore Ferguson's comments, and he believes if it is advantageous to the players then he might do so.

Decision

"We've not made a definitive decision in respect to anyone who goes to the Euros and whether they will or won't feature in the Olympics, we will have a look at that nearer the time," Pearce said. "We might feel as though that's the way we are going to go forward. We will make sensible decisions. The decision will be solely based on the benefit of the players, the individuals concerned. We have always done that." The former Manchester City manager already faces opposition from the Welsh, Northern Irish and Scottish Football Associations over the availability of their players, but Wales youngsters Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey have both stated that they want to be part of the British squad. "I am very excited about it and the feedback I get from the players is that they are extremely excited about it as well," Pearce said. "We've not had a football team in the Olympics since 1960. To have it on our own soil is fantastic. All the players will benefit greatly by being involved in the tournament."

Great idea

England Under-21 boss Pearce also gave his support to the FA's Licensed Coaches Club initiative, which was launched at Wembley on Monday which allows coaches to discounted access to courses and classes with the goal of improving the quality of coaching in England. He hopes the system will help the country develop more managers in an attempt to stop the FA from appointing foreign managers to manage the English national team. "It's a great idea and it's vitally important that we keep developing English coaches and English managers," he said. "Every time the England manager's job comes up, I think in an ideal world, we should have 10 candidates who have great CVs that will leave the FA with a big, big problem choosing which one should do the job. "That's what we have to look to achieve in the future."