The Premier League’s British Manager Myth
Apparently British managers don’t get a fair crack in the English Premier League. At least that’s the way the saying goes, although it’s hard to tell whether anyone actually still believes that or if it’s become a reflexive thing that people only say in parody of the idea itself.
And if there is a selection of the Blighty population still singing from that hymnbook then it’s probably the 60-something year old blokes that like a pint and prefer their football covered in mud, blood and as few passes as possible… which that’s funny because it puts them right in the same bracket as folks like David Moyes, Sam Allardyce and Alan Pardew, all of whom were given new Premier League jobs in November.
There was a fascinating game of footy last week: Everton vs West Ham. David Moyes was up against the team he made his name at (and the job which his reputation is still built upon despite leaving in 2013). There’s nothing odd about 2013 for West Ham’s decision makers though. Just look at the blokes they signed in the summer: Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta, Javier Hernandez, Marko Arnautovic… all would’ve been great signings back in 2013, especially with David Moyes as manager. (Okay, Arnautovic was a stroppy, unfulfilled talent at Werder Bremen in 2013… but he’s not been great in 2017 either).
Fitting, then, that West Ham were thrashed 4-0 by the Toffees with Wayne Rooney scoring a remarkable hat-trick. His third was a first-time strike from half-way after Joe Hart had cleared a loose ball straight down the middle of the park. It’s the second time that Rooney’s scored from that distance against West Ham and, another poetic touch, the last time he did it was when David Moyes was his gaffer back at Manchester United.
To put this frankly, there’s nothing about the last four years of Davie Moyes’ career that screams: ‘Hire me, I can save you!’ His spell at Manchester United was Sir Alex Ferguson’s biggest mistake since Bebe. It all made sense in theory but then Moyes looked daunted and out of his depth from the moment the cameras caught him sinking into that big chair in his new office. Real Sociedad was a hilarious misjudgement and then Sunderland… Moyes basically said he was gonna get them relegated at his first press conference and, whaddayaknow, he did exactly that.
When he was still preferred as the new Hammers boss, well, how can you possibly argue that British managers aren’t getting jobs? The game against Manchester City following the hiding at the hands of Everton (Moyes vs Everton since he left them: 0 wins, 0 draws, 5 defeats) made for the 40th consecutive matchweek that Moyesy had started in the relegation zone. It’ll soon be 41. That David Moyes was chosen as the man to save them after Slaven Bilic was fired… it’s beyond comprehension.
There isn’t a whole lot of sense to be made from Alan Pardew being called in to replace Tony Pulis at West Brom either. Sacking Pulis was understandable. A team that’d made some very tasty signings over the last couple years had gone ten games without a win, compounding the dramas over the dour style of play at the Baggies and the lingering doubts from the end of last season, where WBA got to 40 points and then promptly gave up. As often happens with Pulis teams. They managed just two wins from Pulis’ last 22 PL games. The fans were getting feisty. Something had to give.
Alan Pardew, though? That’s almost as boring as Roy Hodgson getting the gig at Crystal Palace or Sam Allardyce at Everton – who was there cheering along in the crowd as Everton beat West Ham (one of Big Sam’s old teams!). These same old buggers getting the same old jobs – there are eight British managers in the PL right now and only one of them (Sean Dyche at Burnley) is in the top nine on the ladder. Oh, oh and how about this one: each of the four clubs that just signed boring, established British managers have all been-there/done-that with at least one of the other four (and let’s add Pulis in there too for kicks, since he’ll be next)…
- West Ham: Alan Pardew (Oct 03 – Dec 06), Sam Allardyce (Jun 11 – May 15), David Moyes (Nov 17 - Current)
- Everton: David Moyes (Mar 02 – May 13), Sam Allardyce (Nov 16 – Current)
- West Brom: Roy Hodgson (Feb 11 – May 12), Tony Pulis (Jan 15 – Nov 17), Alan Pardew (Nov 17 - Current)
- Crystal Palace: Tony Pulis (Nov 13 – Aug 14), Alan Pardew (Jan 15 – Dec 16), Sam Allardyce (Dec 16 – May 17), Roy Hodgson (Sep 17 - Current)
Minus points to West Ham who also got several years out of Harry Redknapp. It is fair to say that all four of them have had their successes. Both Pardew and Moyes have made FA Cup finals. Hodgson and Allardyce have managed England. Pulis and Allardyce have famously never been relegated despite taking several very risky jobs between them. Yet they’ve all also had pleeenty of chances at pleeeeeeeeeenty of jobs. Pulis was basically chased out of town at West Brom. Pretty similar to what happened with Big Sam at West Ham. Or Pards at West Ham, Newcastle and Crystal Palace.
And, erm, let’s not pretend that Everton fans are all too inspired by Big Sam’s arrival now either. They'll deal with it considering the current state of things but they wanted Marco Silva.
Yet there’s a reason these blokes are getting phone calls. That reason’s even more specific when they’re showing up mid-season to try and fix the flamboyant mistakes of others. Slaven Bilic was a well-liked guy at West Ham but he never could figure out how to get the best from his players. Tony Pulis’ situation you know all about. Everton hired Ronald Koeman to take them into the Champions League, hopefully, but after investing HEAPS of cash in the squad this year things quickly turned ugly.
Then there’s Roy Hodgson’s tale, which is even more tangled because Crystal Palace had been saved from relegation by Sam Allardyce. It was Big Sam’s reputation-restoring gig after his disastrous time with England but he quit the gig at the end of the campaign. In an attempt to take this club to the next level they hired Frank de Boer, who promised to bring some visionary football to the Eagles after the by-any-means-necessary methods employed by Big Sam.
Yeah… it was a nightmare. De Boer’s methods brought an immediate disconnect, his tactical ambition meant nothing to the players of a battling English club with the spectre of relegation still lingering in their minds. Like Koeman (another Netherlands legend), it was an attempt to glamourise the footy. In both cases they responded to those fiascos by hiring the most tried and true candidates out there.
That’s it right there. Allardyce, Moyes, Pardew, Hodgson… these guys are conservative neutral options. Think of all the risks involved in running a footy club, there’s massive cash available if you get it right but more often than not it’s costing you cash. Transfer fees are only the start. Clubs see the glory at the end of the tunnel and they go for it. Things turn bad and they freak out. They over-correct things. Play it as safe as possible. It’s like quitting drinking altogether because of that one big hangover.
Which is why Allardyce and Pulis have the careers that they have. This is a fantastic gig for Allardyce too, the kind of job he always moaned that he’d never be offered. Unless his name was Allardici, of course. That’s silly though – Allardyce was the England manager. So was Hodgson, who also managed Liverpool. David Moyes got Manchester United. Nothing more special than Newcastle for Alan Pardiola but… well, honestly it’s hard to see why Pardew got the WBA job at all… other than because he was available.
Allardyce should do good things with Everton, he already sort of is. Palace were no-hopers before Hodgson and suddenly he’s there and they look like they might be able to save this thing. They’re very talented managers despite the lack of flash or style about them. But don’t go saying English managers don’t get a chance while they’re hanging around. Young English managers, now there’s something to talk about. But it’s not the foreign maestros who are keeping them out of the Premier League… it’s fellas like Pardew and Moyes.
Those two appointments look awful. They might work or they might not, but they looked pretty dull and unimaginative from the start. Allardyce and Hodgson are stability corrections. Pardew and Moyes are each replacing a relatively/entirely conservative manager themselves. They’re not going to solve or evolve anything – they’re only there because those clubs are scared to keep trying for something better. And it’s just a good thing that managers are so disposable or else they’d be stuck with them.
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