Jump to content

Scottish EPL Managers


DoofersDad

Recommended Posts

With the inevitable sacking of Paul Lambert there are now no Scottish managers in the English top flight (unless you count Scott Marshall who is jointly in charge on a temporary basis at Villa Park).  Over the years, the English top flight has had way more than its fair share of Scottish Managers.  Managers such as Moyes, Souness, Dalglish, McLeish and Strachan have all had some reasonable success but it is the legends of George Graham at Arsenal, Bill Shankly at Liverpool, and Matt Busby and, more recently, Sir Alex at Manchester Utd that made Scottish managers almost an institution in the English top flight.

 

I don't know when, if ever, there were no Scottish Managers in the English top flight and wonder what this says about the Scottish game.  More often that not, great managers were also great players before.  Just as we have seen the number of Scottish players playing in the English Premiership decline, it now seems that this is working its way through to managerial level. 

 

Of course, top level football is so much more international these days.  Top Premiership clubs are awash with foreign players and an increasing number of foreign coaches.  But that doesn't mean that there are no longer opportunities for Scottish players and coaches.  If they are good enough then they will be employed.  The fact is that fewer and fewer players and coaches from Scotland seem to be making the grade these days and it perhaps reflects the general state of Scottish football.

 

Lambert's sacking can be seen as representing the end of an era for Scottish football.  Let's hope that Gordon Strachan can conjure up some success for the national side in order to regenerate grass roots enthusiasm again and trigger a new era for Scottish influence in the beautiful game.. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Steady on old chap!  It's a shame there aren't any Scottish managers there just now but it's a bit early to be reaching those kind of conclusions about a long term demise when it is only 3 seasons since arguably the best league in the world was dominated by Scots managers, far more than it ever had been, and outnumbering any other nationality.  There were 7 Scottish managers at one point (all Glaswegians, in fact), a quite remarkable state of affairs, but one which was always going to be unsustainable given the high rate of managerial turnover.

  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I actually agree - it's something that was niggling away at the back of my mind too.

However with the obscene amounts of money being thrown at the EPL maybe Scots managers should be seen as an indicator species :lol:

The strength of the English club sides masks the fact that native players in clubs like Chelsea are extremely rare, hence the national team is about as poor as it's ever been, and maybe the 7 or so native managers, not including interim ones, are next in line for extinction :lol:

Incidentally, I love watching MOTD, but the highlights make the product look better than it is. I usually get to about 3 EPL matches a season and they may be highly technical, but I've not seen one yet that was value for money, or even as thrilling as say last week at Firhill.

  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It says nothing about scottish managers and everything about an unsustainable money driven model of short termism in the EPL. It wlll swallow up and spit out managers regardless of their nationality.

  • Agree 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. : Terms of Use : Guidelines : Privacy Policy