Clemence keeps faith in England

Former England goalkeeper Ray Clemence is now the Football Association's head of development teams - and is backing both the most junior and senior squads as they face crucial European qualifiers over the next week.

Qualifying campaign
Not only are their crucial UEFA EURO 2008™ trips to Israel and Andorra for Steve McClaren's squad, but England are bidding to qualify for the UEFA European Under-17 Championship as they play in Elite round Group 3 in Bosnia-Herzegovina, with Serbia and Azerbaijan also competing for a place in Belgium. And Clemence - who has been helping even younger footballers take their first steps in the sport at Shenley Primary School after the school just north of London won a competition run by England sponsors Nationwide - has high hopes for this season's crop of players.

High hopes
"This Under-17 group is probably the best one we've had for two or three years," Clemence said. "We've got some decent players in there, particularly in midfield, so we've got high hopes of getting out of the group and doing well in the championships." If the team do get out of their group then they will head to Belgium for the eight-team final tournament from 2-13 May. However, after nearly ten years working with England, Clemence still believes there is work to be done before players even get to U17 level.

Development
"The feeling at the clubs is the players that come to them at 12 to 14 are behind foreign players," said Clemence, who won UEFA club competitions with Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC. "There's now a big emphasis on re-educating the five-to-eleven-year-olds, particularly technically. At some of the top clubs, there are foreign players coming into the academies, therefore the net of getting the best players is not as wide as it could be. But we can only improve that by developing our kids in a better way."

Programme
Clemence spoke of his hope in the system being put together by Sir Trevor Brooking, FA's director of football development: "The programme Trevor has put together - getting skilled coaches out there in the five-to-eleven age bracket - is helping them technically."

Robinson prowess
Also England's goalkeeping coach, Clemence has a particular interest in the senior team's trips to Israel and Andorra, and has some words of defence for first-choice No1 Paul Robinson, who conceded a bizarre John Terry own goal in the 2-0 loss in Croatia in October. "I find it amazing that he's been so severely criticised," Clemence said. "Since breaking into the team he has played superbly for England. He was one game away from breaking Gordon Banks's clean sheet record and all of a sudden, because of one freak goal, the criticism has come long and hard."

'Strong character'
However, Clemence is sure Robinson will bounce back. "He's got a strong character and has come through it well," he said. "You can't be a goalkeeper if you're not strong mentally - it's part of the game."