The Issue with Coaching in English Football

“We’ve got ourselves to blame. We’ve let too many of our own get away from the system.” Jermaine Jenas

I just happened to switch on Match of the Day Saturday night, already an hour in, and rather fortuitously found myself listening to Alan Shearer and Jermaine Jenas talking about the situation with Sam Allarydce and where the future goes for English now. It’s a conversation which has come two years too soon at least due to the rather foolish actions and comments made by Allardyce, which left the FA with the only real option of having sack Allardyce, just 67 days into the job. 

The Telegraph investigation has exposed a side of football which isn’t surprising, it merely allowed us to see beyond the veil and confirm that money can be a big influencer in terms of transfers and even team selection. What The Telegraph have done is opened up the box of questions regarding English football once again. And while issues of morality and corruption should take centre stage, it is  “coaching” once again which is the talking point. 

Why have we got such a lack of high quality English managers/coaches in the game? Is it cultural? A sad indictment of our national game that with all the “heart” and “passion” which our culture demands of our footballers, perhaps we end up lacking the intelligence and nous required to manage and coach? 

The truth is that English coaches, like the players, are simply as good as they think they are in today’s globalised football world. What is the solution? Jermaine Jenas thinks that the job should be given to people like Lampard, Gerrard or Rio Ferdinand, that in itself highlights the issues we have. 

England's New Era

Dan Ashworth was supposed to be ushering in a ‘new era’ for the England national. Or so we thought. After a decade of foreign coaches Ashworth was given the remit to revolutionise English football, across all levels  Of course the short term focus was on the national team. And truth be told, the results so far haven't been great. Hodgson was given three tournaments and never really made any significant progress in those 4 ½ years. The next choice was Sam Allardyce. This new era was looking more like a regression back to the old days of the FA. It wasn’t exactly modern thinking or progressive decision making. Yes Hodgson was the safe choice, the man who Ashworth had built a relationship with at West Brom, where Hodgson staved off relegation. As for Allardyce, he was the populist, ‘people’s choice’, the ‘real’ Englishman, the British Bulldog. A real man’s man. Well he at least left with a 100% record and no goals conceded.

The concern now comes from who we can view as his successor. There is a dearth of English managers, in England and elsewhere, coaching at the highest level. There’s only four in the Premier League; Alan Pardew, Eddie Howe, Sean Dyche and Mike Phelan. There’s not one English coach coaching in any of the top leagues across Europe. Not one! Gareth Southgate may be given the job by default, he’s the ‘FA's man’ and the plan of succession seemed to be him moving from the U21’s to the senior side after Allarydce departed. Yet this just seems a bit early. Who knows, Steve Bruce may well get the job as he is currently unemployed and was interviewed for the role in the summer along with Allardyce. All in all it doesn’t look good does it?

Personally I do believe that an English manager is required, Wenger, Mourinho, Hiddink, these are top class managers, but the worry should be, where are our top quality coaches? How can England not produce a single top quality manager? Quite simply there is not enough top quality English coaches and managers in the game. How many English managers have won the Premier League, none! Not one has won their own domestic league in 20 years!

There is clearly a dearth of talented English coaches in the top levels of the game. When you consider that the England job in recent years has been out of Hodgson, Redknapp, Allardyce and Bruce you do worry about the state of English football. Many talk about the issues of players but (perhaps more importantly) the amount and level of quality coaches is even more concerning. So why don’t we have more coaches/managers in the top levels of the game? Are they so bad that top sides don’t rate them? It would appear so. 

We need to address this serious problem. Why are foreign managers better than ours? Why are they considered for positions over our own? Why have not enough English managers been given the chance to succeed in England?

So where are the managers? In my opinion there is a big problem in this country of giving ex players, with big reputations, managerial positions too early, before they have become an expert as a coach. They are thrown in and have more often shown to fail; think of Adams, Ince, Southgate and Shearer. They took roles before they achieved their qualifications, they were fast tracked because they were excellent players, yet this is not right and these rash decisions led to failure. This happens while other managers in the lower leagues are overlooked time and time again, painted with the brush of being a 'lower league manager', whatever that means. Therefore progression up the ladder is denied to many good managers who aren't given the opportunity. And we often see the same men on the carousel moving from job to job. 

Other countries laugh at our method of bringing through managers, they believe what you did is a player is not (necessarily) relevant, as Arrigo Sacchi said “I never realised that to become a jockey you needed to be a horse first.” Mourinho, another without playing at the top level worked under Bobby Robson and Van Haal before he went into management, he learnt his trade, did his apprenticeship before taking over. He was patient and has been rewarded. 

There is a problem and this is one which has been postulated and debated yet not acted on; that we fail at developing world class talent; whether players or managers. We sensationalise, we hyperbole, we heighten expectations and always end disappointed, because our players and coaches are just average, we try to succeed yet have low standards of what is required to succeed.

We need to realise that playing and coaching are two completely different roles, requiring different mentalities and methods. If the English game wishes to have more English managers, then they will benefit by giving potentially excellent coaches time to develop and opportunities to learn the trade. If all teams were required to have an English coach as assistant or coach then perhaps we could develop more top quality coaches. By having a mentor to educate, guide and learn from may be the key to producing successful managers. 

The Fast-Tracking Issue

Southgate’s managerial career started in 2006 when he replaced Steve McLaren at Middlesbrough. The appointment surprised many, especially considering that Southgate was only a UEFA B qualified coach at the time. Even Southgate has admitted that he had “never” coached before he was offered the role! I hope you understand the embarrassment of this situation and that this alone points to the issues plaguing English football and coaching.  Yes he was a good player and represented his country, yet he was simply not qualified for the position to manage Middlesbrough. And yet he still got the job. 

Steve Gibson, the man who hired Southgate said this in regards to Southgate getting his A and Pro-Licence award (qualifications which should be mandatory for Premier League managers) Gibson said, "For him to find the time during the season to progress, it's nonsense." Incredible no?! The man you've chosen to run your club isn't qualified and you somehow don't care? 

Apparently because Southgate had recently been an international player, he had had no opportunity to undertake the coaching courses and was allowed to go into management on this basis. Granted you now expect him to be manager of the club 24/7 but if he doesn’t have the credentials to manage your club before you hire him, then don’t hire him. Now of course Gibson could well argue that he trusted Southgate’s intelligence and character, that the badges weren’t as important. Yet the decision proved costly for the club as Southgate would get Middlesborough relegated in his second season (perhaps someone may argue that Southgate did better as a UEFA B coach than when he achieved his UEFA A and Pro Licence...).

And (not so) incredibly the rest of the Premier League allowed Southgate to become the manager which pointed to two things; firstly a lack of care about coaching and an acceptance of the ex-pro culture or perhaps a greater understanding of the situation in terms of knowing how far out of his depth Southgate would be and how it would probably lead to relegation, which would benefit at least one other Premier League side. 

So why did Southgate struggle so much? Quite simply he was too inexperienced for such a job as manager of a Premier League side. So why did he get it? Because of his reputation as a player. This is not a successful model for clubs to follow.

The lack of appreciation towards coaching

On Match of the Day this past Saturday Jermaine Jenas said the following when asked on his opinion of the state of English football. “We’ve got ourselves to blame. We’ve let too many of our own get away from the system. You’ve got players like Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand. I just feel like the FA, there’s not enough there in terms of giving them the room to grow, keeping them a little bit closer to the FA, saying we want you to be part of this. There’s not enough of a carrot really. They make life very difficult for you to get your badges, basically is what I’m saying, not as easy as they should do. And we are allowing so much experience to go out the window.”

Too many get away the system? What you mean going into the world of punditry? Where you are Jermaine? What do you want the FA to do exactly? What is this carrot he talks of?  Pay your extortionate wages to compete with the BBC or Sky? That's not going to happen. And I'm struggling to think of how much easier the FA can make it for ex-players to get their A and Pro Licence qualifications without simply giving it to them. Perhaps that what Jenas wants. The qualification, the job, the tracksuit, without doing the work necessary to get it? Maybe.

Forget about 21 residential days at St George's Park, forget about learning and enhancing your thoughts and knowledge in classrooms and on the pitch. Just give these guys their certificates and let them loose in the coaching world. They've been part of football for 20-30 years, they've experienced coaching nearly every day for over two decades. And yet so many still lack the skills and understanding to be coach. Jenas' viewpoint highlights the fact he doesn't get it. And for those worried about looking silly, when you don't understand something, it's easier to dismiss it and say it's irrelevant. Thereby you don't have to look like you don't know. 

Listening to Jenas and Shearer speak about coaching is as myopic a viewpoint as you can get. Shearer pointed out that “They (The FA) put such emphasis on the coaching badges.” How dare the FA put such a focus on improving as a coach! These two guys simply don’t get it. But the worry is they’ve been given a platform to speak to millions of people across the country. This will then influence how many perceive coaching and how much of a waste of time it is. 

What a disappointing and ultimately damaging view about such an important element of our national game. No wonder our grassroots game is suffering, no wonder our Academies aren’t producing world class players and why at senior level we don’t any managers coaching at the top level. Our culture doesn’t respect coaching because it listens to people like Shearer and Jenas and thinks they are correct. Because ‘we all know football’ we don’t need coaching badges. The BBC and Match of the Day are doing a dis-service to our national game by letting these men spout their uneducated, blinkered viewpoints.

Now not every ex-pro believes getting your badges is a waste of time or unnecessary for an esteemed ex-professional. I’ve met many who see the value in the education and knowledge these provide. But there are many who view it is a hindrance, as a waste of time. If you go into something with this approach what kind of mindset are you going in with? One of learning, or one of frustration? The thing that many do, and this is non ex-players also, is that they think these qualifications is simply an education in to football. And if you think you know football, then what can this teach me? 

The truth is, these qualificaitons teach you to understand coaching; to understand people, communication, how to prepare, plan and structure your week and season. Provide an insight into learning and teaching, a knowledge of psychological aspects to improve performance, fitness and physical development. It’s not just football, but these areas enable the football to be enhanced. 

I’ve seen too many who have no clue about coaching, and who unfortunately seek to get by simply by their reputation as a player. This may work sometimes, yet eventually your talent as a coach needs to show, if not the players will lose respect and trust. And this is what happens when the players get lucrative jobs too early. They are destined to fail.

Too much, too soon, destined for failure

Now I have absolutely no problem with ex-players becoming football managers, the game is full of them and the non-players who are managers list is very slim in the scheme of things. What I do have a problem with is the ‘fast-tracking’ of these ex-players through special PFA (compensated) coaching courses which allow players to become A licence and Pro licence qualified coaches in a matter of weeks. 

Effectively these players become qualified to be managers in a matter of months after hanging up their boots. And what happens? Well they realise that coaching and managing is not the same as playing and that in fact they don’t really know what they’re doing. It does seem that England is particularly guilty of this occurring with ex-England players such as Tony Adams, Paul Ince, Alan Shearer and of course Gareth Southgate all getting high profile jobs and failing tragically. Fast tracking denies these coaches of the invaluable experience which coaches require on their ‘route to greatness’ and as well as this it appears that these ‘new’ coaches have the common failing of the English mentality. 

It is clear that this ‘fast track’ approach does not help these players, the clubs they sign for and ultimately English football in its hope for a new generation of world class coaches who can manage Premier League sides and perhaps even the England national team.

The belief appears to be, if you fail, you are a failure. And as we’ve seen many who try and fail end up quitting after their first endeavour into management. This ‘fixed mindset’ is clearly preventing our coaches from developing into potentially great ones. Yes they should not be given a quick route to jobs they aren’t ready for, yet they should not take that failure as confirmation of their poor quality but of a chance to learn and improve. 

Gary Neville is a perfect example of this issue. Neville for me has fantastic potential to be one of England’s best coaches/managers. He is the best choice to be the future England manager in my opinion. Or he could have been. Unfortunately Neville has chosen to leave coaching for at least five years and concentrate on his punditry and business interests. Fair enough. But what a disappointment for English football. He was on the ladder of his development; coaching England for several years, learning his trade, and then the Valencia job was offered him and impressively he took it. Credit to him for taking on such a difficult role so early in his coaching career. Yes he struggled and ultimately failed. But that happens for many early in their careers. They learn from it and improve. But Neville has decided, after ‘failing’ at Valencia and England, to take the safe route. That disappoints me greatly. I think Neville could go on to become a great manager, I really do. I think his knowledge, his personality, the way he talks, mean he can be a very successful coach. His playing career, working under Ferguson, understanding what a successful culture requires and means, all these work in his favour.

You see, I don’t have an issue with ex-professional’s becoming managers. To dismiss their experience and knowledge is simply ridiculous. However it’s this sense of being set up to fail, been given roles and opportunities far too early in their coaching careers. Jenas says they aren't been given the chances but the truth is they are been given more than they should be at an early stage in their coaching careers. A smarter choice is to go into the Academies like Bergkamp did at Ajax, work with youngsters, develop your coaching under the radar, and then progress up the ladder. It requires patience to develop experience and understanding. The problem is Shearer and Jenas continue to misunderstand the issues which English football has, because they aren't in this world. These are two ex-pro's working as pundits. They've got it easy. 

The new generation of coaches are denied their chances and when given them are often denied a second chance. No wonder we have such a dearth of quality coaches at the top level. Until our cultural approach and belief in 'coaching' changes, it will be hard for young coaches to be given the chance to become great. That is a sad indictment of our national game. 

The Whitehouse Address @The_W_Address