Interim boss Andy Crosby ticking all the boxes in his bid to keep Northern Ireland U21 job

Andy Crosby

William Cherry/Presseye

Andy Crosby

Stuart McKinley

October 15 2020 12:00 AM

Andy Crosby has expressed his desire to oversee the continued development of the Northern Ireland Under-21 team by taking charge on a permanent basis.

Currently in a caretaker capacity after Ian Baraclough was promoted to senior boss, Crosby guided the team to a second victory of his reign when they beat Ukraine 1-0 on Tuesday night.

If his spell as interim boss is considered a five-match job interview then he is going the right way to being handed the post - and the players are making every effort to get him the gig full-time too.

A 2-0 win away to Malta in his first game was followed by two solid all-round performances from an organised and well drilled team in defeats to Denmark and Finland. They only lost to a late penalty against the Danes, who are the unbeaten runaway group leaders, and Crosby's kids deserved more against the Finns having led twice, justifiably feeling hard done by when they lost 3-2 to a late goal.

The 1-0 win over Ukraine was richly deserved and having made progress in a short space of time, Crosby - who was previously assistant to Baraclough - is hungry to build on the work done thus far.

"When Ian stepped up and became senior team manager the opportunity was there to take over, and I will be here until the end of the campaign and then we'll see what happens," said the 47-year-old.

"Of course I would like the job. I have totally enjoyed it. I have enjoyed working with the boys and we'll see what happens after next month."

Although a number of players will play their final Under-21 match in the return game in Ukraine next month, half the squad that faced Finland and Ukraine will be around for at least one more campaign.

Manchester United's Ethan Galbraith and Alfie McCalmont - currently on loan at Oldham Athletic from Leeds United - are two already tipped to go all the way to senior level, while Kofi Balmer, Jack Scott, Aaron Donnelly, Caolan Boyd-Munce, JJ McKiernan, Andy Scott, Liam Ravenhill, Amrit Bansal-McNulty and Paul O'Neill all still qualify, as do another half a dozen who have won caps in the last year.

Highly-rated young Chelsea defender Sam McClelland, who is still only 18, is a player who will also come into the reckoning.

It is that exciting group of young talent that adds to Crosby's desire to progress even further with the group.

"The campaign is coming to an end now with our game in Ukraine next month and the group is developing, which is a credit to the players, and the group is going to continue to evolve too," he said.

"They buy into it and we are creating a spirit which will help us grow on and off the pitch."

Interim boss Andy Crosby ticking all the boxes in his bid to keep Northern Ireland U21 job

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