England plans Euro 2012 squad before end of season

LONDON (AP) — England's European Championship squad will be selected before the end of the Premier League season, caretaker coach Stuart Pearce said Tuesday, raising the possibility of Fabio Capello's permanent replacement being appointed imminently.

Pearce, head coach of the national Under-21 squad, has been overseeing England's preparations for the Euros while Football Association executives delay making an approach for a new coach to avoid disrupting any manager's club campaign.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is the favorite for the England job, but his club's decline means its bid for Champions League qualification could go down to the final day of the season on May 13.

The FA has insisted that Capello's successor will be appointed at the "back end" of the season and Pearce has stated for the first time that the organization also wants the 23-man Euro 2012 squad named on May 10. The UEFA deadline is May 29.

"I have no idea whether I will be selecting it but I fully expect, whether it is me or the next man, he will be selecting the squad around that time (May 10)," Pearce said. "The season ends on May 13 and the players need to know."

England's next match is on May 26 at Norway with another Euro 2012 warmup a week later against Belgium at Wembley Stadium.

Pearce said the players should be able to cope with only working with a new manager for a few weeks before the Euro 2012 opener against France on June 11 in Ukraine.

"Whoever the manager is, as you have seen with many clubs, there is an uplift when the new manager comes in," Pearce said. "It just might help the team. My ego is not that big I would feel disappointed if it wasn't me. While the organization needs me to make decisions for the England team, I will do so."

Pearce will select an 18-man squad for the Olympics as manager of a combined British team, but that can only be completed after the Euro 2012 squad is decided.

Pearce's only match as interim England coach ended in a 3-2 loss to the Netherlands in February.

Capello quit at the start of February after he felt he was undermined by the FA's decision to strip John Terry of the captaincy due to the Chelsea defender's racism trial in July.