Chelsea coach Steve Holland named as England assistant manager
Holland will join the Football Association full-time at the end of the Premier League season, when he will relinquish his post as Chelsea's assistant first-team coach
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Your support makes all the difference.Steve Holland has been confirmed as England's assistant manager, juggling the role with his Chelsea commitments until leaving Stamford Bridge in the summer.
Holland will join the Football Association full-time at the end of the Premier League season, when he will relinquish his post as Chelsea's assistant first-team coach.
The FA's bosses have negotiated a compromise deal to prise Holland away from Stamford Bridge, where the 46-year-old remains highly regarded by both boss Antonio Conte and club hierarchy.
England boss Gareth Southgate added Holland to his Under-21s coaching staff in 2013, and hailed the importance of extending their partnership with the senior side.
"I am delighted to have Steve as my assistant manager," said Southgate.
"We have worked very closely for three years and I have the utmost respect for the way he works, his professionalism and the detail of his preparation.
"Our aim at the start was to encourage a young England team to play in a certain style and to develop a winning mentality; I think we certainly got a long way down the road to doing that with the U21s.
"The challenge with the seniors is a greater one but Steve's experience of working with elite players and coaches at Chelsea means he knows what a world-class team needs to look like."
Holland joined Chelsea's backroom staff in 2009 and has remained a constant at Stamford Bridge ever since.
The former Derby trainee went into coaching aged 22 and has risen to a level of prominence where Chelsea regarded him as a club appointment - whose presence would not be altered by any changes of manager.
Holland even stood in as caretaker manager at Chelsea in late 2015 after the sacking of Jose Mourinho, before Guus Hiddink took on an interim role.
Now Chelsea have handed Holland the chance to go full-time with England, leaving Southgate to praise the Premier League club's handling of a delicate situation.
"I'd like to thank Chelsea for allowing Steve to join up with us over the last three years," said Southgate.
"It's great that Steve is able to work with us on the March camp but getting him on a full-time basis is very important and I was more than prepared to wait until May for that to happen.
"If we want to be successful then we have to employ the best people and for me, Steve is the best."
PA.
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