To see young English and also other British born managers getting the nod in front of foreigners is a great way forward for English clubs. The fact that owners of football clubs in England are seeing the benefit of going English or British is really great news.
Not that foreign managers are bad, or cannot to do a job, but you will often see those men bringing in players from their own country and tend to do business with people outside Britain in a way to secure those great prospects.
You can say what you like about Brexit and all that, but in a way it shows that yet again the UK can stand on their own and actually deliver a football product based on the traditional stuff and of course getting a national team back on it’s feet at the moment being among the best in the World, without a league with too much foreign influence.
Chelsea and Brighton are just two examples of clubs that appointed English managers this summer. Graham Potter coming in for Chris Hughton, and Frank Lampard taking over from Maurizio Sarri. In February Leicester sacked French, Claude Puel and inserted Northern Irish, Brendan Rodgers.
Graham Potter has worked abroad and did marvels with Ostersund, bringing together a squad of quality enough to get up and through the ranks of Swedish football. He later did a good job at Swansea, and that was recognized without getting the Welsh club promoted.
Frank Lampard also taken from a lower level, the same to be said about Brendan Rodgers, but in all respect, Celtic as a club is no minor to Leicester City, but the league is and must not to be compared with the English top tier.
Newcastle United decided to appoint Steve Bruce as their new man after Rafael Benitez, they also looking at home to find their candidate. There are of course still clubs that will try to go with foreign management, but all in all it looks a bit desperate when you are the living example of modern football and you run four leagues professionally.
If you look at the huge amount of English players that come through at the moment, it’s really a revolution, and hopefully owners of football clubs will encounter the fact that British is in better than foreign, at least if you appoint skilled and educated people like Danny Cowley.
A number of clubs are owned by foreign businesses and by that the contact pattern and influence are many times from abroad and they see their football clubs in a broader context, but they largely forget who owns the club, not them, the fans. Football clubs without fans are not really football clubs, they are plastic, of course to have a lot of followers around is not bad, but the locals are the most important, if they start to vanish you are in trouble with your DNA, and that would in all be stupid.
Manchester United had their last English manager as far back as 1986, when Ron Atkinson was in charge, but were all British until 2014, when Ryan Giggs stepped down as caretaker boss. Foreign support has never been a problem for Manchester United as their fanbase are World wide, all of it happening mostly when everything about this club was British based and brought forward in that type of environment.
British or then English influence is of course more present in the lower leagues and to see Huddersfield Town now make a decision to appoint Danny Cowley as their new man in charge, are thrilling news.
Danny Cowley might not be the most known name for the ordinary fan of football, but he is one to watch. What he achieved at Lincoln City was huge, taking the club up two divisions and also setting a light on the FA Cup with a number of great results.
He will now take charge of The Terriers, with his brother Nicky following him and doing the assistant job as he also did during the time at Lincoln. The two former PE teachers are in for a heavy challenge trying to bring the club back on it’s feet and avoid what happened the last time a Premier League climb were achieved.
The rocketing fall back in the 70’s, with Huddersfield just rushing down the league ladder as a downhill skier, will not be the picture to look at for The Cowley’s as they start a new chapter in their manager careers trying to establish a momentum based on their own belief and system, instead for trying to copy the German way of life, that many can over a longer period of time find stressful. German managers are tactical and thorough but they are not English. With the Cowley’s you will keep the tactical and thorough stuff just in place, but done with an English accent and by people who are solid rooted to the ground.
There are exciting times in front and hopefully Danny Cowley will be a name to notice and it’s so welcomed to see clubs looking for their managers at home instead of going abroad. Also good to see that skilled and educated people gets a chance in this game as they are not previous greats on the field, but that was not a problem for those who have done so well in the past, brought in from over the sea.
Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola might be seen as former greats, but in all context they were not the best players in Europe. Rafael Benitez, Jose Mourinho and Louis Boa Morte are other examples of great managers without a glorious player career to look back on, and again Roy Hodgson, still in management with Crystal Palace, might also be one to look at when you try mirroring the type of approach and background the Cowley’s have.