Former Cobblers defender Sean Dyche has joined the England under-21 squad this week as a temporary member of the back-room set-up.
Dyche, who was a key part of the 2006 promotion-winning side at Sixfields, was sacked by Watford in the summer after the club was taken over by an Italian consortium, despite guiding the club to their highest league position in four years.
The 41-year-old was at Northampton on Tuesday night to watch his former club beat Milton Keynes Dons in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.
Dyche has been with the under-21 squad this week, ahead of the crunch Euro 2013 decider with Norway tonight (Monday).
The juniors are managed by Dyche’s former Nottingham Forest team-mate Stuart Pearce and England sometimes used Watford’s London Colney training ground ahead of games.
“I knew Stuart when I was a young player at Forest,” Dyche told the FA’s website. “I stayed living in Nottingham even when I moved to Chesterfield, so through my friends Ian Woan and Steve Stone, who were apprentices with me, I got to know him even more.
“When I came out of playing I asked if I could go along and watch some sessions at Man City when he was there. And Stuart kindly invited me up to St. George’s Park with the team this week to see what’s what and it’s fantastic.”
The various England age groups now use the recently-opened St. George’s Park and tonight will be playing at the ground of another of Dyche’s former clubs, Chesterfield.
“I’ve been to watch Under-21s sessions a number of times over the last few years, but this is the first time I’ve been in behind the scenes,” he said. “It’s been really good for me, I’ve sat in the meetings, joined in with training and just got a feeling of what the actual preparation is like in the build-up to an important game.
“When you are in a job, sometimes you can get so into it that you forget what’s going on in the wider world. It’s nice to have a little window to go and reflect and look at others, share stories and practices and get a visual on it.
“When I went in to work and Watford and you’re in the coaching circles you speak to a lot of other coaches to help in your own development.
“It’s all part of the learning curve. I’m still a young coach-manager, so by no means do I think I’m the finished article with all the answers. I’m not sure anyone is.”