Q. THE first question everyone asks is if Peter Taylor couldn't fit the job into his Championship side's schedule, how can you hope to do two jobs?

A. If you ask Peter Taylor whether he could do both jobs he would say yes and that he has been doing so successfully for the past few years.

It is that same old thing, the perception of people outside football and in the mass media that you can't do it. He has done it.

I have always lived my life doing things for the right reasons and saying what those reasons are and then standing up to be counted.

I was asked the question would I be interested in the job and I said `yes,' then I was asked if I thought the timings would get in the way of my job at City and the answer was `no' and finally I asked myself would there be benefits for City and the answer was `definitely.'

Q. So exactly how long will you be away from City while performing possible England Under-21 duties?

A If and when the job is finalised, it will be only two days or so away from the squad to face Spain being picked so there is no scouting involved for the game next week because that would be physically impossible. In any case, the squad is reasonably settled and most of them play in the Premiership.

Anyone who comes in to manage the Under-21s is coming in to do a steering job. It is a bit like someone being installed as full England manager tomorrow - the chances are that you would choose 95 per cent of the same players.

The first game is therefore just a two-day get-together. There could be a game in March which would be scheduled for an international week when we at City do not have a game and involves a maximum five days from Tuesday until Saturday.

If I was involved in that game, and there is talk of me not being involved or being involved for just two days on the Friday and the Saturday, then it would not impact on the club because we would have maybe half-a-dozen of our players away on international duty and historically we have always given the others a break.

So the most I would be away in total before the summer is two days next week and another two in March.

Q. Are you saying then that the job would not involve any scouting or take you away on evenings when you could be looking for new players for City?

A. As regards the scouting issue, as I said, the squad that was in place under Peter Taylor and reached the finals is hardly going to change at all. As soon as this Premiership season ends I will do all the things to prepare us for the lead into the summer transfer window opening and there is nothing to do with regard to the international question.

England Under-21's first game is on June 11 and the final is on June 24 so that covers a period when managers are generally on holiday and in any case I will always be there on the end of a phone if the club needs me.

Q. Do you still maintain that the Under-21 job has more positives than negatives given that there is perceived to be a club versus country row in full flow?

A. I believe it will benefit my footballing education to do the job. There is not a manager of my age and with my limited experience that I feel cannot benefit from working with the likes of Theo Walcott, Nigel Reo-Cocker and Tom Huddlestone to name but three. You cannot fail to benefit from doing that.

I don't think that there is a split between club and country. All that has happened is that the FA made an offer to me in regard to the job and the club obviously and quite rightly needed to have assurances.

They needed to know the level of involvement and have assurances over the calls on my time. When they found those out they put one or two limitations on what would be acceptable to the club. That's fair enough. Hopefully a balance will be struck by the club and Football Association and we will proceed and by the end of next summer Manchester City will have a manager with more knowledge than he has got now and one who has forged relationships with the best young players England have at their disposal.

You never know when that is going to be beneficial in the future. I will also get to know the cream of the European talent.

Q. Do you understand the anger of City fans at hearing you wanted to take up the offer?

A. Yes, I can understand the fans being up in arms at the thought of their manager being dragged away but perhaps their perceptions are based on not knowing the full facts.

After the game on Sunday I went back to Steve Wigley's place to discuss how things had gone against Southampton and he called in the chip shop.

There were some City fans in there who were happy that we had won but then put the question to Steve about whether I was going to do the England Under-21 job and how I would manage my time.

He asked them if they knew exactly how little time would be involved away from Manchester City and they were surprised when he told them.

All managers in every league are hard working but I probably put in more hours watching matches and players than most.

I know I cannot afford to take my eye off the ball at City.

We are not good enough and I am not good enough to be distracted just one per cent and if I thought doing the England job would create that situation then I simply wouldn't do it.

If I thought there would be a problem, I would have held up my hands and said thank you but `no, that won't allow me to do my job properly.' Manchester City are, and always will be, my number one priority and in my own mind I am absolutely sure that me being involved with the cream of this country's young players can only benefit this club in the long run.

I am not stupid. I weighed up the situation carefully before I decided that the two jobs would not overlap.

Q. So, for instance, if there is a night between now and the end of the season when there are two games taking place, one which involves a City target and one a potential Under-21 player, you would go to the former?

A. Absolutely. There is no question that I would go and watch the City target. People who think that I will be sat there at matches thinking `oh he'd be a good one for the Under- 21s' is not giving me enough credit.

City is absolutely paramount for me and that is how it always will be. I am a good at prioritising and, in any case, I will be accessible to City all the time I am away with England in the summer - and I have to say that I would have been going to the tournament anyway.

Q. And what about your assistant Steve Wigley, There was talk of him being part of the England set-up with you?

A. STEVE may be involved in the summer but not during the season in anyway whatsoever. People have to remember that I am not in every day as it is, especially if I have been abroad scouting.

It is only a handful of days I have missed but this would be no different. Steve will take training on those days.

The players don't think `where is he?' and sometimes it does them good not to see my face or hear my voice.

Brian Clough used to miss training and we'd be wondering whether he had gone somewhere to find a replacement for one of us.

Q. It is likely that the Football Association will make the Under-21 job permanent after the summer Euro championships. Do you have any intention of applying for it and would winning the championships sway you?

A. My plan is to take the team and try to win the tournament and that wouldn't put any added pressure on me to apply for the job if it is advertised as a full-time post.

The FA have said they wouldn't offer me the job on a full-time basis in the summer. If the chairman wants my word that I wouldn't apply or resign to take that full time England Under- 21 role, then I will give it him. This post is for the summer only.

If City fans don't know that I will always put this club first, then they don't know me and they should by now. Anyone who wants to sit back from now until the end of the season and put every defeat down to the fact that I was away for two days needs to get real.

I didn't see the speculation get in the way on Sunday when we went out and played as well as we have done at home for a while. The eye wasn't off the ball then and it won't be in future.

Q. Are you disappointed that there has been such a furore over what you see as an honour?

A. The approach was leaked to the media in London when it should have been all settled first. All the reservations could have been sorted out and then, if and when an agreement was reached, announced as a package.

What has happened is that it has been leaked to some papers who have already put their own slant on things and it is a better story to say that there is a wedge between City and the FA than it is to say what a great honour it is for the manager and for the club.

We had a great feel-good factor around this club before Christmas when Micah Richards was picked for England, so why shouldn't we be proud that another employee is wanted by the national team. I am not stupid. I thought about what the FA were offering before I said I wanted to do it. I didn't just grab it, say this suits me and pull the ladder up. I thought about it from the club's point of view before Stuart Pearce's point of view, because that is how I work and what I am like and, hopefully, fans will understand that.

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