Casey Stoney ideal England replacement for Phil Neville, says Grace Coombs
Written by News on 28/04/2020
A young, female manager like Casey Stoney would be an ideal successor to Phil Neville as England Women’s head coach, according to Charlton captain Grace Coombs.
Neville has confirmed he will leave the role when his contract expires in July 2021 and the FA is keen to have a coach in place ahead of the revised Euros in July 2022 and Women’s World Cup in 2023.
Stoney, who is charge at Manchester United, is one of the names being mentioned and with more than one hundred England appearances behind her, Stoney’s former Charlton team-mate Coombs believes she has all the credentials for the job.
“It would be great if Casey got it – a young, female English manager,” Coombs told Sky Sports News.
“I think that would be amazing for the country. It would give something to build on, especially someone who played at the level that she played at and with the amount of caps that she got. She will know what it means to play for England.
“But she’s just into a journey at Manchester United so maybe she will want to carry on with that.
“They’re doing great this year, they’ve had a good season and they will only build on that.
“They’re only going to get better and start competing with the top teams in the WSL.
“Like I say, it would be great, but they will make the right decision depending on their vision for English football and where they want to see the England Women’s team go.”
It is a concerning time for the women’s game with the player’s union FIFPro warning that clubs will go under without assistance because of the coronavirus pandemic and Coombs is desperate to make sure the strides the game has made are not lost.
“There’s been so much progress in the last few years with women’s football, it would be a real shame to see that happen to a lot of clubs,” she added.
“But it’s just waiting and hoping that teams can get out of it and that girls still want to play, and that we’ll get even more girls that want to start playing football, and that clubs will be able to build themselves back up.
“If young girls love playing as much as I did when I was younger, they’ll still want to be involved, they’ll want to join clubs.
“Hopefully clubs will be able to stay afloat and it won’t affect them as much as people might think at the moment and they’ll be able to get themselves back on their feet.”
(c) Sky Sports 2020: Casey Stoney ideal England replacement for Phil Neville, says Grace Coombs
