Gary O’Neil’s sacking by Wolverhampton Wanderers last week means there are now just two English managers plying their trade in the Premier League – Eddie Howe at Newcastle United and Sean Dyche at Everton.
And I wouldn’t put too much money on the latter being around for long, given the club was taken over last week by the Friedkin Group... and we all know how Americans like to appoint managers with exotic and sexy surnames.
The thing is, across the whole of Europe it is only the Premier League that seems to have an allergy to appointing managers from the country where it is based. Let’s take a quick look at the numbers.
There are 16 Italian managers in Serie A, 15 Spanish managers in La Liga, nine German managers in the Bundesliga and 10 French managers in Ligue 1. Those figures may not be entirely accurate as I am basing them on a quick scan of the internet. However, even if I am one or two out in either direction, the overall picture remains the same.
In every major league across the continent between 50 and 75 per cent of the managers are native to that country. In England the comparative figure is just 10 per cent.
Only the Premier League seems to have an allergy to appointing managers from the country where it is based
A decade ago the Football Association said one of their primary objectives was to nurture and nourish English coaches with the ultimate objective of increasing the number of homegrown managers in top jobs. That plan is obviously going swimmingly: when they made that pledge there were six English managers in the top-flight. Today it is down to Eddie and Sean.
Oh well, at least the FA led by example when they gave their own top job to an English mana... never mind.
Time to move, Marcus
Some footballers can spend their entire senior career at a single club without ever losing their edge, desire and passion. Others need to move around every now and then to keep themselves fresh. Events at Old Trafford last week suggest that Marcus Rashford falls into the latter category.
The striker was dropped for the Manchester derby and responded to that by publicly saying he was “ready for a new challenge and the next steps” in his career. In essence the striker was calling new boss Ruben Amorin’s bluff, saying if you don’t want me, I am happy to leave. And that prompted Amorin to backtrack a little by saying the club “needs big talent and he is a big talent”.
Maybe this little pissing competition will have a positive effect on Rashford and get him to raise his levels of performance. One imagines that was the manager’s primary objective in dropping him in the first place. The problem is any improvement is likely to be temporary.
After a cracking season in 2022/23, Rashford has blown hot and cold. But mostly cold. There have been one or two moments when it looked like he was getting back to his best, only for his levels to dip again. And the only reason I can see for that is because he has stagnated. While he probably won’t admit it, there is a growing sense of him having grown tired with Manchester United. After all, he has been there since the age of seven.
As I said, some players can stay with the same club throughout their careers – like Jamie Carragher at Liverpool, Tony Adams at Arsenal and Ryan Giggs at United. Others need to move around to keep themselves motivated.
Rashford has tried the sticking-to-the-one-club path. It must surely be time now for him to try the club-hopping approach. I have no doubt plenty of United fans will be sad to see him go, but at this point I think a swift January departure would be in everyone’s best interests.
Mudryk in a pickle
In the wake of his failed drugs test, Chelsea forward Mykhailo Mudryk has insisted he didn’t knowingly take performance-enhancing drugs. And there is a fairly decent chance that could be true.
Unfortunately for him, when it comes to professional sports, ignorance is very rarely a valid defence. Sports stars at the top level have to be incredibly careful about what medicines and supplements they take because what can seem like an innocent cough syrup could turn out to contain enough steroids to grow you a third leg. And that is why, to the best of my knowledge, elite footballers are compelled to check with medical experts before taking anything even remotely out of the ordinary.
Hence the ‘I didn’t do it on purpose’ argument rarely works with the authorities.
Ultimately, Mudryk is either lying, which I doubt, or he was badly let down by his medical experts. Or, and this is the most likely scenario, he consumed something that is generally considered ‘ordinary’ but which in this case had traces of something naughty in it.
Of course, if the player can somehow prove that the banned substance ended up in his system in an entirely innocent way, he could get away with this. But we don’t see that happen very often in these situations as the anti-doping authorities prefer a zero-tolerance approach.
At the end of the day, I personally doubt Mudryk did anything wrong intentionally. But I am equally doubtful he will be able to prove that.
If the authorities believe he took something on purpose they have the power to give him a four-year ban from the sport. But I don’t see it panning out that way.
I expect him to get a short, almost symbolic suspension and warning to be a lot more careful in the future. After all, it’s not like anything his performances were actually enhanced...
Merry Christmas!
Hope you all have a great Christmas and the man with the big white beard brings you whatever your heart desires – like a new manager for Southampton fans, the abolition of VAR if you support Nottingham Forest and, for Manchester City’s beleaguered fans, a simple three points...
E-mail: James.calvert@timesofmalta.com
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