Managerial Merry Go Round

[Agony]

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The Biggest Obstacle for Young British Coaches? Old British Coaches

On Soccer

By RORY SMITH NOV. 9, 2017

 

Foreign coaches are preventing British coaches from getting jobs with Premier League clubs, says Sam Allardyce, who has coached six of them and is angling to lead a seventh. CreditMark Robinson/Getty Images

On Oct. 27, Sam Allardyce sat down in a television studio in Doha, Qatar. It was two days after Everton had fired Ronald Koeman as its manager, and four since Leicester City had appointed Claude Puel, a Frenchman, to the same post.

Allardyce was in the Gulf to appear on the beIN Sports show hosted by Richard Keys and Andy Gray, the veteran British broadcasting duo drifting into a reluctant obsolescence after being ostracized for a workplace harassment scandal. He was there, in part, to discuss what Keys described as the “glass ceiling” faced by English managers.

This is, of course, Allardyce’s specialist subject. He has long championed the idea that British coaches are too readily overlooked by Premier League clubs in thrall to exotic imports. In 2010, he declared that he was better “suited” to managing Real Madrid or Manchester United than his then employers, Blackburn Rovers. Two years later, he decreed that he would have been a Champions League coach if only he had a more glamorous surname.

In Keys and Gray, Allardyce knew he had a sympathetic audience. Last December, he had appeared on the same show to claim that the Premier League’s top six were appointing “branded” foreign coaches because they held more global appeal. A couple of days before his October appearance, Keys had tweeted that Leicester’s appointment of Puel sounded a death knell for British coaching.

In front of his willing audience, Allardyce readily reprised his greatest hit. British coaches, he said, are now seen as “second class” in England. They have, he said, “nowhere to go.”

“The Premier League is a foreign league in England,” he concluded.

Allardyce should be delighted, then, at the events of the last two weeks. Leicester might have followed the fashion for the foreign, but West Ham did not: it has appointed David Moyes, a Scot, to replace its Croatian coach, Slaven Bilic. And Everton seems set to follow. Within a few days of his appearance in Doha, Allardyce himself was reported to have held talks with Farhad Moshiri, the club’s largest shareholder, over Koeman’s position.

Indeed, Allardyce’s passion for British coaches is matched only by his prescience. A week after he had appeared with Keys and Gray in December last year, he was appointed as manager of Crystal Palace. Two weeks after his most recent remarks, he is in line to return to work again. It is almost as if he sets out to make himself visible — and his employment a moral, as well as professional, issue — whenever he suspects opportunities may arise. They say sharks can sense blood in the water.

The reality is, however, that the appointment of Moyes, and the prospective return of Allardyce, will not be cause for celebration for any British coaches other than the two men themselves. It should, in fact, be precisely the opposite. On the surface, nobody has done more to highlight the plight of British managers than Allardyce (or Moyes). Beneath it, both men — and those like them — are part of the problem, not the solution.

There are 92 clubs in the four professional divisions of English soccer. At the time of writing, 22 have foreign coaches. Precisely half of those men work in the Premier League, and among those 11 are the bosses at all six of the teams — Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United — that might reasonably hope to win the title at the start of any given season.

That number has been slowly increasing in recent years, giving rise to the broadly held, largely accepted assumption, as voiced by Allardyce, that foreign managers are blocking the path of England’s own bright young things.

The premise does not, though, stand up to scrutiny. Four of the top six clubs have been managed by a Briton at least once in the last decade: Alex Ferguson and Moyes at Manchester United; Kenny Dalglish and Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool; Harry Redknapp and Tim Sherwood at Tottenham; Mark Hughes at Manchester City.

Only Chelsea and Arsenal — a fairly unusual case when it comes to managerial stability — have not given a British manager an opportunity. In the circumstances, if anything, the remainder of the elite have been a little too nationalist in their appointments.

All six see themselves as Champions League clubs. It is reasonable for them to believe that the most qualified candidates for their managerial posts are those who have managed Champions League clubs previously. Those candidates, logically, are most often found abroad.

It is below them where the real problem lies. Of the eight — nine, if Allardyce is appointed at Everton — British managers in the Premier League, only one, Bournemouth’s Eddie Howe, is under age 40. Only two more — Burnley’s Sean Dyche and Swansea City’s Paul Clement — are under 50.

The rest range from 54 (Moyes, now installed at West Ham, and Hughes at Stoke) to 70 (Roy Hodgson, Palace’s latest manager). Between them, and including Allardyce, they have held 25 Premier League jobs.

It would be harsh to suggest that all of them are without merit, or to dismiss their experience out of hand, but it is worth noting that failure does not seem to reduce their employability. Moyes’s work in almost a decade at Everton was impressive, but he has won only five home league games in more than two years. He was fired by Manchester United, Real Sociedad and Sunderland, whom he led to relegation. West Ham still appointed him, despite howls of protest from its fans, to try to avoid the same fate.

The second-tier Championship has the same problem: 7 of its 24 managers are foreign, but more telling is that only 5 of the 17 British coaches in the division are 40 or under.

In League One, the 24-team third division, there are only six British coaches under 40. In League Two, there are eight (and plenty more only a little over 40), though it is worth noting that many of those clubs that employ a novice — the likes of Barnet and Yeovil Town — do not necessarily have the budget to attract a more established name.

Across those three divisions, though, there are 19 managers over the age of 50. Between them, they have been appointed by English clubs 103 times; Cardiff City’s Neil Warnock is the clubhouse leader, in his 14th league job.

So Allardyce is right: there is a glass ceiling. It is just that it is not one that has been constructed by migrant workers, but by him and his ilk. It is not foreign coaches who prevent young British hopefuls from finding jobs, but older native managers. So stifling is their effect that it is hard to list half a dozen realistic, English contenders for a Premier League job. It is not just that a generation of domestic coaches are not being given a chance; it is that there is not a generation of domestic coaches to be given a chance.

Eager to rectify that, the Football Association has invested no little time or resources in recent years in improving its coaching courses at the game’s new national base, St. George’s Park. In the facility’s first five years, more than 1,300 prospective managers passed through its doors. Who knows what bright ideas, what clever innovations, they might collectively possess?

Nobody, alas, will ever find out. The world they are entering is barren, inhospitable. Not because Manchester United appointed José Mourinho or Liverpool hired Jurgen Klopp, but because the rungs beneath those clubs are already occupied by a group of men who have been there for a decade or more, and who are always offered a hand back up, no matter how many times they fall off.

It is that lack of imagination from clubs that makes English managers seem so limited compared to their continental peers, and ensures that English managers are always adopting German, Italian or Spanish concepts and styles: These are the same old ideas, riddled with the same old flaws, regurgitated again and again.

It is that misidentification of failure as experience, too, that explains why British coaching remains so steadfastly white — the same old faces means the same old color — and why the Premier League’s most ambitious teams are now, increasingly, managed by foreigners.

It is not that those teams do not want to appoint locally; realistically, they cannot. They look at the proving grounds of the lower reaches of the Premier League — Howe and Dyche aside — and into the Championship, where the future should be, and see only the past.

There is nothing wrong with Allardyce’s conclusion. There are too few opportunities for young English coaches. It is his explanation that is incorrect. The imports are not blocking the road: it is Allardyce, and those he represents, standing in the way.

Follow Rory Smith on Twitter: @RorySmith.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/09/sports/soccer/premier-league-sam-allardyce.html

 

 

[Agony]

53 minutes ago, Drift said:

It's just the SAME guys 

 

[i5_PRODUCER]

Marco Silva sacked

 

[O Fenomeno]

Not surprised 

Never got the hype 

Why was he being linked to jobs? 

This guy got Hull relegated

[youcleanwepaint]

Watford’s expections are way to high 

[Thizz]

pls 

 

[O Fenomeno]

On 28/12/2017 at 1:29 AM, O Fenomeno said:

To replace him with Montella is nonsense.

??

[youcleanwepaint]

Southampton’s gaffer now gone in the managerial sackings

[TheOneGameBaller]

Pardew “leaves” West Brom but no doubt he’ll get hired again soon via the good ol’ boys club.

And yet, black managers are not even getting a sniff at the top level.

[Heero Yuy]

Which black manager should be getting his shot mate, give us a few names.

[Thizz]

Sol Campbell 

[Davicious X]

Is Pards the most fired manager from prem clubs yet? If not he must be close to the top of that list.

[TheOneGameBaller]

44 minutes ago, Heero Yuy said:

Which black manager should be getting his shot mate, give us a few names.

Don’t ask such asinine questions. When there’s a clear lack of representation in any field of work at the top level, then making reductive posts such as yours are just puerile.

There’s systematic discrimination in the FA, which makes it harder for a lot of black players to transition into managerial roles compared to their white counterparts. So a  sizeable number of them end up becoming pundits. And even when they do get the chance, they rarely get many others if they fail once. 

When people like Pardew, Allardyce, Mark Hughes and others get rewarded for their failures time after time, there’s clearly a good ol’ boys club in place.

But of course you’d rather reduce it to “well what black managers should be hired?” As if it’s as simple as that.

Of course the local rent boy @Thizz had to take a typical snide jab. Not surprising of his kind.

[Da Luv Doc]

Henry has to become a manager in the pram within the next decade. Imagine one of the best footballers ever does not get a managerial job.....

 

I don't like America but they'll most likely give black managers a chance.

[TheOneGameBaller]

13 minutes ago, Da Luv Doc said:

Henry has to become a manager in the pram within the next decade. Imagine one of the best footballers ever does not get a managerial job.....

 

I don't like America but they'll most likely give black managers a chance.

Whilst I think the “Rooney Rule” they’ve adopted in the NFL is flawed, it’s a step in the right direction for employing more black managers. How can that sport, that has mostly black players, have such a small representation in terms of managerial roles and ownership?

The usual deflection when questions such as these are asked, usually start off as “black managers don’t have the experience, intelligence,” etc. Anything to dismiss the outright racism.

Recently Michy Batshuayi was racially abused during a Europa game and UEFA dropped the investigation against the fans. 

lt won’t let me copy a link to the picture but just go here: https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/about-uefa/executive-committee/index.html#/#Members

And look at all the members of this board. Not difficult to see why no further action was taken.

But of course, I’m just a black man whining about nothing. Someone on twitter actually had the gall to say “it’s about diversity of race is not important but diversity of ideas is.”

You couldn’t make it up. It’s no different than “Kick It Out”. Look at the members there, which ironically just goes to show how pointless Kick It Out is.

 

[TheOneGameBaller]

And then look at how the FA dealt with the Eni Aluko racism. When you look at the executives (where coviniently there are no group photos on their official website) it’s no different then UEFA.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/oct/19/minister-labour-lost-confidence-fa-eni-aluko-affair

When Greg Clarke describes institutional racism as “fluff”and Martin Glenn compares the Star of David to the Nazi Swastika, I don’t know why any black player would choose to play for England. From top to bottom, it’s run by archaic dinosaurs who couldn’t give a toss about representation.

[Heero Yuy]

53 minutes ago, TheOneGameBaller said:

Don’t ask such asinine questions. When there’s a clear lack of representation in any field of work at the top level, then making reductive posts such as yours are just puerile.

There’s systematic discrimination in the FA, which makes it harder for a lot of black players to transition into managerial roles compared to their white counterparts. So a  sizeable number of them end up becoming pundits. And even when they do get the chance, they rarely get many others if they fail once. 

When people like Pardew, Allardyce, Mark Hughes and others get rewarded for their failures time after time, there’s clearly a good ol’ boys club in place.

But of course you’d rather reduce it to “well what black managers should be hired?” As if it’s as simple as that.

Of course the local rent boy @Thizz had to take a typical snide jab. Not surprising of his kind. You 

 

A lot of buzz words with no facts or evidence on the issue. Probably a wasted train of thought but can you find one area fair representation in any profession. There’s a over representation of blacks on the nba and nfl but still more white coaches. Meh it’s just super lazy way to chalking up such disparities all the time but whatever.

[Thizz]

1 hour ago, TheOneGameBaller said:

Don’t ask such asinine questions. When there’s a clear lack of representation in any field of work at the top level, then making reductive posts such as yours are just puerile.

There’s systematic discrimination in the FA, which makes it harder for a lot of black players to transition into managerial roles compared to their white counterparts. So a  sizeable number of them end up becoming pundits. And even when they do get the chance, they rarely get many others if they fail once. 

When people like Pardew, Allardyce, Mark Hughes and others get rewarded for their failures time after time, there’s clearly a good ol’ boys club in place.

But of course you’d rather reduce it to “well what black managers should be hired?” As if it’s as simple as that.

Of course the local rent boy @Thizz had to take a typical snide jab. Not surprising of his kind.

??? if you think that’s a snide jab then I feel sorry for you. 

1 hour ago, Da Luv Doc said:

Henry has to become a manager in the pram within the next decade. Imagine one of the best footballers ever does not get a managerial job.....

 

I don't like America but they'll most likely give black managers a chance.

Being a good footballer has 0 corellation with being a good manager 

[Anderson]

 

[Drift]

The cartel is even blocking out young white English coaches.

Neil Warnock is touching Prem next season with Cardiff FFS.

But once the bubble bursts they'll be replaced by a new cartel of short term foreign managers like Silva, Nuno, Carvahal etc.

[Thizz]

Left Burton too early IMO 

 

[Da Luv Doc]

Well a lot of these black footballers will have a good footballing brain.

/

@TheOneGameBaller will never let my kids play for England/uk in any sports if the status quo stays the same!