England, Euro 2008, Global

For the first time in 14 years, England have failed to reach the finals of a major tournament and the messy post mortem has only just begun. The failings of the reign of Sven-Goran Eriksson over a five year period were needlessly drawn out over a further 18 months with the appointment of Steve McClaren in the aftermath of England’s exit from the 2006 World Cup. The end result was their failure to qualify for next years European Championships in Austria and Switzerland.

Such underachievement by a group of professionals in the modern game has been unrivalled in recent years and only Spain’s national side can come close to England’s level of disappointment in the finals of international tournaments. The clamour from the public and media to appoint an English coach in the days and weeks following England’s exit from the finals in Germany in June 2006 culminated in the appointment of an under-qualified coach whilst also scaring off the more appropriate candidate of Phil Scolari with the FA’s ineptitude combined with the media’s xenophobic stance.

The FA now find themselves back to square one with several million pounds less in the bank to contribute to the development of grass roots football. Their next decision of who should take control could shape the future of English football for the next decade, so time and care ought be taken when making the appointment.

The current crop of English coaches are clearly not ready to coach an international side at the highest level, though this situation may change in a few years once the likes of Curbishley, Allardyce, Pardew and Boothroyd have gained experience at the pinnacle of club football. The standard benchmark must be the Uefa Champions League and until one of these English managers coaches a side in this tournament they will be bereft of the necessary experience. If this means these English managers must find coaching roles abroad in a foreign club environment then so be it. If the best foreign players feel the need to play in England to further their footballing education, then why not an English manager trying his hand on the continent?

It is no coincidence that England’s most successful managers in the modern game have both experienced European club management at the highest level. Sir Bobby Robson achieved prolonged success in European football first with Ipswich Town and later in his career with Barcelona, FC Porto, Sporting Lisbon, PSV Eindhoven and Newcastle United, whilst Terry Venables, who achieved a semi-final place with England in Euro ‘96, also managed to take Barcelona to the European Cup final of 1986, narrowly losing out to Steaua Bucharest on penalties.

The only current English coach in British football with any experience of coaching in European football is the defensive coach at Portsmouth, Tony Adams, who took up a role briefly at Dutch club Feyenoord. However, the FA will certainly not be appointing Adams as manager of the national side. Indeed there has not been an English manager in the Champions League apart from Robson and only Roy Hodgson, who had a spell with Inter Milan in the mid 1990s, has managed a foreign club of any pedigree in the last decade.

It is folly to suggest that the likes of Harry Redknapp and Alan Shearer have the necessary qualifications and experience to take England to the next level of international football. It also makes a mockery of Trevor Brooking’s noble efforts at the FA over the last few years to ensure that all coaches have the necessary coaching badges and qualifications to take charge of a professional team.

With the state of English coaching as it is the FA have no choice but to appoint a foreign manager who has the necessary experience of coaching in the higher echelons of European football and the ability to battle with the written press. The question now is whether or not the FA are brave enough to appoint such an elusive character to take on the impossible job.

Foreign the way to go? Share your views by leaving a comment below.

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