AuthorJeffEyesRimmer We have said previously that the path for young managers is blocked not by foreign managers coming into the league but by the same tired, old British managers, you can read our take on it here. So it was inevitable that with Southampton parting ways with Mauricio Pellegrino this past week that another familiar name was in the running for the vacant Saints job. Mark Hughes is the favourite to be named the new man in charge at the St Marys and that would take his tally of Premier League Clubs to six! Hughes has taken charge of a grand total 445 Premier League matches for Blackburn, Manchester City, Fulham, QPR and Stoke and if you include Wales in that list he has a win percentage of 38%. Not particularly the best and that average is boosted by a decent record at Blackburn and Man City, who were good teams before he walked into those posts. However, he has never won anything in his managerial career. With Stoke potentially relegated this year it would likely make 3x relegation's Hughes has directly been involved in (QPR and Fulham). So while this appointment is another underwhelming one and another slap in the face of young managers, what are some of the solutions to this barrier? Are there any? The appointment of Hughes at Southampton will be likely be championed by the ‘Proper Football Men’, liking that another British manager has taken over an EPL club. However, the appointment of Hughes, and recent return of other PFM (Allardyce, Moyes, Pardew, Hodgson), will not be cause for celebration for any young British managers. It should, in fact, be the opposite. While the same stale old managers being recycled are one of the major problems there is a reason for it. Chairmen and clubs sack managers when the club is in trouble (obviously) and turn to these managers to add stability and safety. The aim is to keep the club, which is usually relegation threatened, in the money spinning EPL. Losing the golden egg that is the EPL TV money is unthinkable for most chairmen and owners and bringing in what is perceived to be a ‘safe pair of hands’ to keep them up is the sensible option (you would think). However, if safety is secured then the same old road is tread, usually 18months of mediocre results, boring football, then poor results and inevitable sacking and the cycle is repeated. The issue there is changing the culture of the chairmen and owners to employ someone with new ideas and it is risky to do that when you might be staring relegation in the face. My counter to that is that the ‘safe hands’ aren’t so safe anymore, as evidenced by Pardew at West Brom, Hughes at Stoke, Hodgson at Palace and Moyes at West Ham all doing their best to relegate their respective teams. The same old ideas don’t seem to be working anymore. Better coaching is also needed to up the respective numbers of quality managers coming through and to be fair to the Football Association it has also recognised this as a problem and looked to rectify it. They have invested in improving its coaching courses at the game’s national base at St. George’s Park. In the facility’s first five years, more than 1,300 prospective managers have passed through. So who knows what bright ideas they will come up with? I don’t think young British managers do themselves any favours though. I have said before for chairmen, with millions of pounds on the line, want to be sure they are getting the right person in. Hence the safety first approach with these older managers. To succeed we think young managers would have to be prepared to go to Europe and further afar to manage. Working abroad would expose them to the other system and contacts which we think they need in this age of the global game. This should stand them in good stead if and when they come back to the English game. They would also then fit the criteria for a top 6 club in the Premier League. The top managers have no issue in moving between leagues, if you want to be the best you need to learn and have different experiences to bring to the table. I have to applaud Swansea (not many times ill do that) for appointing Paul Clement, a manager that went abroad to expend his expertise and although that ended badly it was a bold move. What's holding back these managers to some extent is an outdated belief that success in the UK alone is enough and it's not. However, there is hope, look at Graham Potter at Ostersunds in Sweden. He has guided them from the fourth division all the way into the Europa league. How about Des Buckingham who did a great job with Wellington Phoenix in the A League and New Zealand’s Under 21 team. Anthony Hudson at the Colorado Rapids is another example of a young manager heading abroad to earn his stripes and doing well. Simon McMenemy is winning trophies and improving the game in Indonesia.
There are also plenty of good candidates in the lower leagues at the moment, Gary Rowlett, Paul Heckingbottom, Michael Jolley, Kevin Nolan, Neil Harris, Darrell Clarke, Lee Johnson and Jason Euell to name but a few. That’s not including Eddie Howe, Sean Dyche and Chris Hughton who are all doing great jobs already in the EPL. These young managers need to be given the chances to succeed. The ‘Proper Football Men’ of today will likely not be in work in within 5 years’ time, time waits for no man after all, so a shift will likely occur then and more opportunities will arise. However, will it be a little too late for some clubs? |
AuthorsJust Some Fans Writing About Football. Archives
June 2018
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