After a mere nine months in charge and with a win record of just 24%, the former England manager, Steve McClaren, was shown the door on Monday afternoon by the 2008/2009 Bundesliga Champions VFL Wolfsburg – their fifth manager in the space of eighteen month. Whilst McClaren leaves the German club in a perilous position, lying 12th in the Bundesliga table and just a point above the relegation places, he has gone to manage where only a very few have gone before him: overseas. With a growing influx of revolutionising foreign managers coming into the English game, it is hardly surprising that British managers are looking abroad to gain experience, develop their coaching styles and training methods but ultimately to be considered for the top national and international management positions. What they have come to learn is that the English way is not the only way.
For many managers and players alike, the opportunity to manage or play abroad often presents itself as a daunting prospect. The usual doubts crop up in one’s mind, namely: How quickly will I be able adapt to the culture? How can I possibly bypass the language barrier? How will the supporters and media come to view me? These are all perfectly valid questions, yet it seems that foreign players coming over to these shores, with the exception of often being tempted by a significant increase on their previous wage packet, are, in most circumstances, willing to adapt and learn about the above. The first major wave of English managers to try their hand at managing abroad began in the mid-1980s with Terry Venables successful three year stint at the Camp Nou with Barcelona, winning the Spanish Copa del Rey in the process, Roy Hodgson prospering with Swedish club Malmo, Welshman John Toshack’s spell at Real Sociedad and David Platt’s hapless time in charge of Italian club Sampdoria. Yet, it was under the late Sir Bobby Robson that British managers first made their mark in Europe. Having previously managed in Holland with PSV Eindhoven and Portugal with Sporting Club de Lisboa and Porto, it was the 1996/1997 season with Barcelona which he is most recognized for. Working with the like of Luis Figo, Ronaldo and Romario, Robson guided the Catalan club to the Spanish Cup and European Cup Winners Cup. To this day, he remains the last English manager to have lifted a European trophy. From the heartbreak of the 1990 World Cup semi-final defeat to Germany, going abroad offered Robson the opportunity to both widen his managerial portfolio and further strengthen his already outstanding tactical skills all in a unknown environment – a similar challenge taken up by one Steve McClaren.
At Middlesbrough McClaren guided the club to its first ever piece of silverware with a League Cup final defeat of Bolton Wanderers in 2003/2004 season. His upward trajectory continued. In 2006 Boro reached the 2006 UEFA Cup Final where they were comprehensively defeated by Sevilla. Nonetheless, McClaren had not only secured the club’s Premiership security but in the process he took it to new unseen levels. A dire spell in charge of the England team, namely failure to qualify for the 2008 European Championship, left his reputation – that of clichéd sound-bites, overly defensive tactics and an overreliance upon certain individuals – in disarray. ‘The Wally with the Brolly’ as he came to be known, had to seek redemption and a year later it came somewhat surprisingly in the form of FC Twente – a Dutch Eridivisie team located in a small University town on the German border. It may not have been the most glamorous job but in his two years in charge McClaren blossomed. Gone were the clichés, the patronising of supporters and most importantly the brolly, and what emerged from the rubble of conservatism was a burst of energy, dynamism and free-flowing football. Such a drastic change in tactics from 4-4-2 to a more attacking 4-3-3 produced instant results. With an attacking trio of Miroslav Stoch, Blaise Nkufo and Brian Ruiz, FC Twente amassed a tally of 63 goals, only to be dwarfed by Ajax’s remarkable 106 goals, in the 2009/2010 season. His adventurism earned praised from the very highest, in the form of Dutch legend Johan Cruyff. By winning the Dutch Eridivisie in that year, McClaren became the first Englishman to manage a team to a top-level domestic title since Bobby Robson in 1996. Ironically it was Robson himself who persuaded McClaren to go to Holland, that after his spell in charge of PSV Eindhoven. In Holland, McClaren excelled and showed an ability to learn and adapt – something all too rare in the current crop of young English managers.
His immense success at FC Twente led to his appointment last summer as manager of VFL Wolfsburg – arguably not one of the traditional German top-flight clubs. However, he faced a difficult battle right from the beginning. Having won the German Bundesliga in 2008/2009 season, an exceptional achievement in itself, it was always going to be hard to equal if not better such an achievement. At Middlesbrough and FC Twente, McClaren was given time to construct his own a team and thus in the process manage expectations and gain the backing of the supporters – something he was simply unable to do at VFL Wolfsburg. Nonetheless, McClaren was given a significant cut of money to strengthen what was an already strong squad which included the likes of the Bosnian pairing of striker Edin Dzeko, now plying his trade at Manchester City following a move in the January Transfer Window, and the creative midfielder, Zvjezdan Misimovic. He brought in two of the most talked about players in European football: Brazilian midfielder Diego from Juventus and the highly rated Danish centre-back Simon Kjaer from Palermo, the latter linked to many Barclays Premier League clubs. Having started off slowly, McClaren’s cause was not helped along the way by a shock exit in the German Cup to Energie Cottbus, accusations a plenty that he had lost the dressing room and reports that decisions over first team affairs were being made above his head by the Director of Football, Dieter Hoeness. Despite leaving the club in a poor league position, he never really had the opportunity to stamp his own authority on the team. Whilst McClaren has, in recent years, been the most high-profile British to try his luck overseas, the reality is that the spread of British managers and coaches around the world is surprisingly large.
From the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere, East to West, British managers have left and continue to leave their football imprint on some part of the world in some form or other. The reality is that the far-flung British managerial ex-pat community has more members than ever before. In 2008, British managers led national teams in four of FIFA’s five football confederations. John Barnes with his brief spell as manager of the Jamaican National team represented the CONCACAF region; Bob Houghton represented the Asian region where he is currently in charge of the Indian national team; the former Kilmarnock striker Bobby Williamson represented the African region where he is presently in charge of the Ugandan national team and Stuart Baxter represented Europe in the form of Finland – a position which he has recently stepped down from. Furthermore, British coaching has been represented coast to coast in the USA. Stevel Nicol, currently the coach of New England Revolution, is the longest-tenured manager in Major League Soccer and was sounded out as a possible successor to the former USA national team manager Bruce Arena, now managing David Beckham at Los Angeles Galaxy. The now Newcastle United assistant manager John Carver, spent a year in charge of Toronto, again in Major League Soccer. Yet, the spread of coaches goes even deeper. Former Northern Ireland boss, Bryan Hamilton, is currently the technical director of the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association whilst the former Scotland goalkeeper Jonathan Gould is now assistant manager to New Zealand manager Ricki Herbert at the New Zealand-based club Wellington Phoenix who are the only team from New Zealand to participate in the Australian A-League. The names and jobs may not be glamorous but such examples highlight that the demand for British coaching is loud and clear for all to see.
It is concerning to see that ever since the Premier League began in 1992 only two British manager, have lifted the trophy: Sir Alex Ferguson, albeit on numerous occasions, and current Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish during his spell as manager of Blackburn Rovers. Furthermore, Chelsea, for example, has not had a permanent English manager since Glen Hoddle left the club all the way back in 1996. What English managers haven’t done, in particular, is come to dominate and revolutionize the style of football in the Barclays Premier League in the manner of their European counterparts. In recent years, the closest connection English coaches have had to winning a domestic title is in their capacity as assistant managers. Take for example former Chelsea assistant manager, Ray Wilkins, who was seen as a pivotal go between the Chelsea players and manager, Carlo Ancelotti. Having spent three years as a player at AC Milan in the mid-1980s, Wilkins was able to utilize his linguistic strengths, namely Italian, to communicate the opinions of the Chelsea players and provide his own tactical knowledge gathered from his time in Italy. With the FA confirming that current England boss Fabio Capello will step down after the 2012 European Championships, providing England make it to Poland and Ukraine in the first instance, and that Capello’s successor will be English, the search is already on. With only Harry Redknapp garnering top-flight European football experience at Tottenham Hotspur and Portsmouth, Steve Bruce gaining momentum at Sunderland and Ian Holloway at Blackpool, that is about it in terms of English managers in the Barclays Premier League. With limited options, a successor may come in the form of Capello’s understudy Stuart Pearce. Currently manager of the England Under-21s, it appears that he is being lined up by the FA for the position.
Robson, Toshack and most recently McClaren have shown that British managers can develop away from the British media’s constant gaze and intense pressure, broaden their horizons, learn other approaches to management, and crucially discover how to win consistently, which, unfortunately, too many British managers are inexperienced in. British managers may not be landing the most glamorous jobs abroad but these men are evidence that progress is being made. Indeed, we should praise the success of Brits abroad rather than look at their achievements with a tinge of ignorance. The very fact that British managers are willing to leave behind home comforts and step into the unknown, progressing their careers and challenging for honours rather than floundering in mid-table mediocrity or their own plight should be applauded. Who knows, in time, we may yet come to once again see a Brit offered the chance to manage one of Europe’s elite clubs – plus it will keep Kirsty and Phil on their toes!
