Gary Neville says English coaching is “in a rut” and figures collated by Sky Sports illustrate just how under-represented English coaches are in the Premier League and Champions League.
German Thomas Tuchel’s appointment as England head coach has shone a light on the limited options the FA felt it had in terms of homegrown talent when considering who to appoint as Gareth Southgate’s successor.
Neville says that situation leaves the FA with “serious questions to answer in respect of English coaching” and the development pathways expected to be generated by national football centre St George’s Park, which has been running for 12 years.
Here’s what the stats show us…
English coaches at all-time low in top flight
In the 1970s and 1980s as many as 90 per cent of teams in England’s top flight were managed by English managers. Now, as of the start of this season, that figure is down at 20 per cent, level with the all-time lows seen over the past 15 years.
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It is a decline which has most noticeably taken place since the formation of the Premier League.
Current English head coaches in the Premier League
- Eddie Howe – Newcastle
- Sean Dyche – Everton
- Russell Martin – Southampton
- Gary O’Neil – Wolves
What is also significant is that English managers who are working in the Premier League are not at teams competing for the title. In fact, no English manager has won the Premier League title, with Howard Wilkinson the last Englishman to win the top flight, when he did so with Leeds in 1991/92.
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Eddie Howe is currently the highest-placed English manager, with his Newcastle side seventh, the same position they finished last season when each of the top six sides were managed by foreign coaches.
While each of the other top five leagues in Europe have had foreign managers win their top divisions, all have seen significant numbers of years of success from coaches from that country.
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English managers short on silverware
Not only are English managers absent from the Premier League title race, they are also failing to win major silverware.
The last FA Cup-winning English manager was Harry Redknapp with Portsmouth in 2008.
The last League Cup-winning English manager was Steve McClaren with Middlesbrough in 2004.
Alarming lack of English coaches in the Champions League
You have to go back to 1997 to find the last time an English manager won a European trophy, when Sir Bobby Robson guided Barcelona to the European Cup Winners’ Cup.
But it is the dearth of Champions League experience which is really alarming – and perhaps best highlights why the FA’s options are few when it comes to appointing a head coach capable of battling with the best tacticians in Europe.
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Frank Lampard is the only active coach who has managed double-figure Champions League games, with his 16 experiences on that stage more than twice as many as next-best active boss Graham Potter, who took charge of seven while with Chelsea. Howe has managed six.
When it comes to crunch knockout ties, again, the experience is sparse.
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Harry Redknapp and Lampard have overseen four knockout games in the Champions League, while Potter – one of the contenders for the England role – has coached just two, the same number as current Burnley boss Scott Parker did during a brief spell in Belgium with Cub Brugge.
“St George’s Park was going to be a hotbed of proving that English coaches could get back to the top of European football,” said Neville. Right now, they seem a long way from operating at that level.
