It is often said in football that English managers and coaches are not given the same opportunities as those from other countries. You will read in the tabloids (and often in the more respected papers as well) that these foreigners are taking jobs that our own are more than capable of filling with the same level of style, panache and experience. However, given a lot of what we’ve seen going on in football – and to a greater extent the press (let’s not underestimate how much they affect opinions) – I would argue that it is the foreign managers that are under more pressure and scrutiny and handed less time to prove themselves.
At the heart of this attitude, there is a desire to see the best that English football has to offer at the ‘top table’; in the top jobs. But this comes very close to xenophobia in some situations and leaves a very sour taste in the mouth. The simple fact of the matter is: foreign coaches are preferred simply because they are better. People may point to the likes of Alex Ferguson, David Moyes, and Martin O’Neill but let’s not kid ourselves; these men are ‘foreign’. Sure, they may live on the same island and speak (for the most part) the same language but they originate from completely separate nations; they are not English so by definition, they are foreigners. Sadly for Englishmen, they too are better than anything we can offer.
The press (and, I’m sure, more than a few people that read this article) will argue til they are blue in the face that English managers are as good as any other. That they are just not given the opportunities their foreign counterparts are but this is nonsense. Top jobs are awarded on merit, not nationality. Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal – three of the group known traditionally as the ‘Big Four’, have employed all of their recent managers (Avram Grant aside) on their track record and reputations, not based on their vicinity to the club’s ground. Any top English managers around at the time will have been considered, not overlooked. Take our own club as an example: we had a track record of employing exclusively from the British Isles. Before Gerard Houllier, we had Roy Evans, before him Graeme Souness and Kenny Dalglish. After Dalglish, Souness and Evans performed poorly, at best. Houllier, once given the opportunity to manage alone, performed near miracles in his first few years, repaying the faith of the club’s owners in its first coach from the continent. Benitez later went on to build on Houllier’s successes and performed actual miracles. Likewise, the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal had always stayed loyal to British coaches but once they turned to the continent they both experienced the best periods in each club’s history.
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This week it is Liverpool WAG Alex Curran!
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I regret to say that, I have been saying this for years.You only have to look at the top four, for the last 10-15 years, to see that, they’re all managed by foreign managers.
I agree with most of the article but take exception with the comment above and the derogatory comment about Evans.
Evans had us as a top 4 team all along while playing some good, attacking football. The difference being that back then this was rightly regarded as a failure, while Houllier and Benitez were able to benefit with entry to the money spinning Champions League for just maintaining those same standards.
Houllier and Benitez made us more competitive in Europe (at the same time as other English clubs became more competitive in Europe due to the money flooding into the Premiership) but get more credit than they deserve for the improvements of the club overall imo
And we should be too Rafa did not deserve the sack, bring him back JH.
We played crap football on the way to a 7th place in the league. Yes, he did deserve the sack.
Just because Hodgson has been even worse, that does not change what happened last season
David from your Keyboard to God,ears and eyes.
You are 1000% right you are 1 of us
YNWA
WOW, great and inspired piece.
Great article – agree with the above posts.
If Roy Hodgson wasn’t English, he would have been sacked last month and Andy Gray and all the other lousy English pundits would have been on his back since his appointment.
If Rafa Benitez was in charge and producing the results fat Woy is producing then he would have been sacked 2 months ago and he would most probably be branded Liverpool’s greatest manager but sadly because Rafa isn’t English, he was treated unjustly half a year ago despite his achievements.
If Fabio Capello is English, he would be getting so much praise despite England’s disastrous World Cup.
There are only 2 reasons why Roy is manager of Liverpool FC. 1) NESV know nothing about “soccer” and still hasn’t realised we need a new manager. 2) Roy is English.
Roy Hodgson is still our manager and still has the backing of the board and media and Andy Gray because he’s an Englishman. Can you imagine if Roy isn’t English, the board, the media, the pundits, the Liverpool Legends, they would all have killed him.
Please bring Rafa back, he has unfinished business here.
Andy Gray would be delighted to be called English…. Make his day and say he used to play for Livepool.
Solution 1 bring Rafa back but on the condition the contract is to the end of the year. If he turns things around give him a longer contract. He is out of a job has a local house and I sure he would be tempted to complete the unfinished business.
If he doesn’t accept solution 2 same offer to Martin O’Neil.
Mike are you INSANE? O’Neil??? more of the same CRAP?????, no thanks.
I thought the same thing – talk about out of the frying pan!
Finally an article that speaks my mind. I have been absolutely disgusted at the way the media from the scummy press to the BBC have given Roy such an easy ride. Sometimes even being his mouthpiece which produces nothing but excuse after excuse. The BBC puts a headline to the tune of “Roy pleads for fan’s support”. If this was Rafa after yesterdays result it would have been “Benitez on the way out after humiliating defeat”. Some of our fans fell for this distortion of the truth and now we are lumbered with an incompetent ‘manager’ who has kept his position with the help of this twisting of the facts. Bring Rafa back. Full Stop.
Amen mate. Agree on everything. Nothing to even add.
mind spoken.
Pls sack roy. He can no longer do dan my grandfather
Everyone knows that Hodgson is one of Ferguson’s lackeys and should never have got the job in the first place. However, the next manager should be Phil Thompson, he is Liverpool true and true, he knows the club inside out, he knows how to organize a team including the defence. He knows the Premiership and unlike Benitez and all the other so called candidates wouldn’t be looking for a blank cheque book, he might actually do some actual coaching. Benitez couldn’t hack it at Inter (the so called ageing squad that won the Champions League back in May)-(all the injuries were reportedly attributed to his training methods).
Kenny….You sound like one of the anti-benitez brigade that, wanted him replaced wit WOY. You also forgot to mention, in your anti Rafa’s comments that, in six month’s at Inter he won the Italian ‘Super Cup’ and also the ‘World Club Championship’. Get your facts right, before you post next time, if you have to.
David,
You have aired the views I have continuously been trying to get accross to most. Your article is superb and well put together. Your points are s**t red hot and I could never better any of them if I tried. I totally agree with all of them. I remember one idiot supporter who aired his wishes of an English man as Benitez replacement after Liverpool out-played Lyon and drew. I would love to hear his opinion of Roy and his xenophobic wish. I am glad that they allowed this sad saga to play its self out. I just hope that some people have learnt that English and European football has moved on. I would like to see everyone who participated in the removal of Benitez and the appointment of Hodgson sacked. They are a large part of the cause of this present problem within the club.
Fully agree
And what nationalities where the Houllier and Rafa? How many Premiership titles did they win between them?Roy is a tit but in all fairness he ie trying to clean up the mess Rafa left us in.
Rubbish! – the point is Houllier (French) Rafa (Spanish) – in case you’ve forgotten – would definately NOT have been given the same consideration by the press as Hodgson(English). No, neither of them has won the premiership and neither has Hodgson. The “foreigners” did win other cups though (remember?)
“Roy is a tit but in all fairness he ie trying to clean up the mess Rafa left us in”. You mean how Rafa left with 14 internationals in the squad (the team with the second most players at the World Cup)?
Stupid and lame argument.How many of those players are good enough for Liverpool?How many of that 14 would make it into Arsenal’s,Man Utd’s,Chelsea’s or now even Man City’s or Spurs’ squads?
Sick and tired of all this crap about the quality of Rafas squad. Why did everyone accept the ownership issues etc as am excuse for Roys bad start and signings but last season its was all Rafas fault??? Rafa should have been given this season – who knows where we would be if Rafa was still manager? I am sure we would be playing much better than under Roy. Yes he was stubborn and outspokem at times but tactically he runs circles round Roy. The fact he was a foreigner made him the perfect scape goat for the media etc. Time for the media & sky etc to admit their mistakes – Roy is a one trick pony who is tactically inept and way out of his depth at Liverpool. He belongs at a team who will be thankful of his ability to maintain a midtable position with his play to not lose tactics.
I for one would like to see Rafa back, but on one condition….. I want it written into his contract that he agrees NOT to play that ridiculous “zonal defence” system he is so fond of.
Say what you want about that useless lump we have in charge at the moment, but at least under him we are back to man to man marking and we actually have defenders on the posts when defending corners and it has stopped more than a few goal bound efforts which this time last year would have resulted in goals conceded.
Not that I’m giving Roy the credit for this tactic, as every manager of every team from 5 year old schoolboys to Barca employs it….. Rafa excepted of course!
So Give Rafa the job and let him give us this one concession and I’m sure we’ll see that “Golden Sky” once more
With Rafas Zonal marking we had one fo the strongest defences in the premiership!! Roys Man to Man marking etc has left us leaking goals left right and centre! And lets not forget the ridiculous sight of seeing our team holding hands to work out their position…
Stop listening to the Media and their anti rafa crap. He was not the best but I am sick of the continuous picking at this tactics whilst others are praised for the same style or for worse tactics. the media did not like rafa because he did not play their game!
First of all I never said man for man marking was Roys idea in fact I actually made it clear this was not HIS tactic, he merely uses it.
Second if zonal defending was so good why has it not been taken up as the preferred method? Yes while playing zonal defence we may have had a good defensive record but I’ll stick my kneck out and say that without iy we would have had a GREAT defensive record, and instead of coming second to man ure we would have won the title…
How I used to cringe at corners where our last line of defence consisted soley of Pepe, how I held my head in my hands and sobbed as another half arsed effort trickled over the line because no one was there to stop it, how I screamed at two or three Liverpool players running in all directions like headless chickens as two or three opposing players (not standing together) languished in acres of space waiting for the pass that would see them through on goal……Zonal defending my arse!
Comments like these are exactly what I mean about the media playing some of our fans. Under the ‘zonal marking’ we conceded less goals than Man u and Chelsea from set pieces (FACT). The facts did not get in the way of cretins like Andy Gray who incessantly lambasted Rafa for a tactic that actually paid dividends. When it was put to Gray after Roys team conceded many more goals from man marking than Rafa’s zonal marking,and bearing in mind he was the biggest critic, he just turned round and said something to the effect of “oh well it happens I guess”. Now theres real insight for you or to be honest its an insidious ploy to unseat our previous manager. Some of our fans need to look a the facts before following the Anti- Liverpool press who love to play their devlish games.
I’m so fed up with people saying bring Rafa back! He was useless! He fell out and upset our top players! Torres
And Gerrard would both have left if he had stayed! Alonso (are main man) when we finished second left coz Rafa undermined him by trying to sign Barry! He lost the players! His Major signings were flops Keane, Aqualiani, Babel to name a few! Yes he won the CL but we also finishe 5th that season and played some shocking football! We drew game after game after game because he didn’t have
The guts to attack! This cost us the title! Then he went to Inter and with the best team in Europe he was a failure! No way should he be brought back! Yes Woy needs to go but we need someone with Liverpool in his heart! He wants the job and he will motivate our team! Time to step up King Kenny
I’m so fed up with people saying bring Kenny back! What if Kenny takes over and we are still as bad as ever? Are we going to shout “Kenny for England”. At most, let Kenny take over temporarily as caretaker manager and see how things go. He must have been cringing last night at the game.
Wildun ……….now when I snap my finger……YOU get your head out your ARSE…..Now DO IT!!!
I think it’s now fair to say this English/British experiment has now imploded in the biggest possible way.
The media’s desire to prove everything English/British is best has failed as spectacularly as the English football team at the World Cup. The LMA’s best manager in England has well and truly failed, as a lot of us thought he would.
Tactically how do our managers compare to continental coach’s? Not very well in my opinion. Now I think we can admit, bar 1 or 2 managers there are no English/British managers out there as good as their foreign counterparts. The days of kick and rush football are gone and the sooner we accept this as fans the better.
Rafa tried to bring us highly tactical and technical football. Even now some our fans still want us to play all out attacking football with no balance between attack and defence. Some of our fans still live in the past and still spout the terms passion, playing for the shirt and effort above intelligence, technical ability and skill.
The English/British players also bar 3 or 4 cannot hold a candle to their technically gifted foreign counterparts. I debated that many times on these pages using Steven Gerrard as a prime example, and how I think he is tactically inept. I think he should be played in the hole behind Torres taking away his need to think. Instinctually he is probably the best player on the planet, but not intelligent enough to control a game in centre midfield in my view.
In many ways we deserve what we got, because we certainly do not deserve someone of Rafa’s calibre when we can’t see further than the end of our noses.
Those that wanted change well and truly got what they asked for.
How right you are DJ
Totally agree 100%
Wildun ……….now when I snap my finger……YOU get your head out your ARSE!
Roy isn’t the right man for Liverpool, but he doesn’t deserve the personal insults from articles such as these. He isn’t a “complete baboon” – he is a guy who has had more success and earnt more money in his profession than you ever will.
Do people really think that Kenny or Rafa are the answer? Time to say thanks for trying to Roy, and to start building for the future. Owen Coyle anyone?
Whatever your view, lets retain ou dignity and acknowledge that Roy is a good man doing a job that is probably just a bit too tough for him; and probably too tough for 99.9% of managers out there. The vitriol is unbecoming.
…and I speak as someone who was there last night. It was the ugliest atmosphere I’ve ever experienced at Anfield. So, change is due – but lets do it without demonising a decent man.
Rob
Are you his mum too?
That’s insightful. Shouldn’t 12 year olds be in bed by now?
I agree. It isn’t nice seeing someone being pilloried. The langauage and tone are completley unacceptable. I find the references to ‘Woy’ utterly distasteful. the same mentality makes fun of people with other disabilitites. The problem is that Roy Hodgson does not help. He fuels the flames every time he speaks to the press. The solution to it is in his own hands….resign. Go with dignity while he can, and end the misery for everyone.
…one final comment.
If it is xenophobic to say we should have more English managers regadless of abilty then isn’t it xenophobic to say “all English managers are crap”.
As my history teacher taught me, the answer is probably somewhere in the middle.
Also – sometimes a club picks a manager based on promise and potential. I say again – Owen Coyle….
If it is xenophobic to say we should have more English managers regadless of abilty then isn’t it xenophobic to say “all English managers are crap”.
NO! cause they are, as you say…….CRAP!!
You are right….we should have more of the quality overseas managers like Venglos, Ardiles, Jol, Gullit, Sven, Grant, Gross, Perrin, Olsen. Quality one and all.
Maybe we shoudl get in one of the all time greats like Capello….oh….
Clubs pick crap managers, nationality is not an indicator of abilty. Did Hughton deserve the sack?