Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Antonio Conte. All are incredible managerial talents that will be gracing the Premier League next season, but how much of an effect is the constant hiring of top foreign managers having on the English national side? Are we now finally starting to feel the pinch of looking abroad as the bid to name Roy Hodgson’s successor begins?
As soon as Hodgson quit on Monday after the disgraceful defeat to Iceland a list of half a dozen names was published by bookmakers as the men that would be in the running to take over from the failed former England boss, and it’s fair to say that none of the candidates particularly leapt of the page.
Gareth Southgate has moved away from the hustle and bustle of the Premier League management – his only experience was taking Middlesbrough down in 2009. Since being sacked by Steve Gibson the following season while in the Championship, he has been a part of the Football Association’s set-up and was favourite to step into the void until reports emanated that he doesn’t want the position.
But what of the English managers that are currently in the Premier League? At the moment it’s an incredibly worrying total of five and that number is only plumped up because of Sean Dyche and Steve Bruce getting Burnley and Hull promoted last season. Now, no discredit to them, but I think you can rule them out of any running so that gives us a realistic working figure of three candidates to be in with a shout of being England manager.
Those three are Sam Allardyce, Alan Pardew and Eddie Howe. They may be successful in terms of getting clubs into the Premier League and keeping them there, but between them none has won a major tournament. I’m not saying it has to be a per-requisite to be England manager, but it would be quite the leap of faith to appoint one of this trio.
Ultimately the issue boils down to the fact that English managers won’t be appointed by the top clubs in the Premier League and although England have seemed to get away with it by either going foreign themselves, it seems as if the well has well and truly run dry now in terms of home grown tacticians.
But then again, it isn’t the responsibility of Premier League clubs to make England the best in the world they only have a duty onto themselves, and if that means getting the best managers in the world and paying through the nose to get them, then so be it. It seems as if we are in amid an irreversible trend now where an English manager will never get a so called ‘big job’ and that can only in the end be to the detriment of the national team.
In days gone by, an English manager with plenty of experience would then see himself taking charge of the national side. A man who would have not just picked up experience but trophies also. We are now in a situation where we have managers with neither. Would Chelsea ever appoint Eddie Howe? Certainly not anytime soon. Would Alan Pardew be in with a shout for the Manchester United job? Of course he wouldn’t. As always, English coaches are overlooked.
Now you could say that the cream will always rise to the top so maybe you could say that we just aren’t producing any decent English coaches anymore. Perhaps that has a modicum of truth but that is something that the Football Association has to address as if you think it’s a problem now then it won’t get any better when the next managerial cycle comes around.
There has always been an uneasy truce between the FA and the Premier League, but it’s clear to see that the latter runs the former. Now has to be the opportunity for The FA to really take charge. I’m not saying they have to order clubs to appoint England managers, but they need a framework in place similar to what Germany installed in the early 2000s after dismal World Cup 1998 and EURO 2000 campaigns. They addressed the issue, put a long term development plan in place and look at them now. 14 years later they are World Champions and they have every chance of winning the European Championship.
But the Premier League is all about the drama and the short term. The big stars create the interest but they don’t lay down the foundations. This defeat to Iceland could really be a fork in the road for The FA let us hope they pick the right direction to lead us down.
This article was submitted via our Write For Us feature. Think you can do better? Submit your own article via the link below, and give yourself the chance of winning monthly cash prizes…
[ad_pod id=’writeforus’ align=’center’]
