Tonights T'V

[Witton Park]

I heard Dwight Yorke on the radio this morning moaning that Lampard and Gerrard were "parachuted" straight into high-profile management jobs, whilst the likes of himself and Ashley Cole were overlooked...

Now he may well have a point about Gerrard/Lampard walking straight into big jobs. But i think he's mistaken if he's categorising himself in the same level of player as they were... they were light years ahead of him.

And didn't Ashley Cole take a gun into training once and shoot a youth player... whilst i think he's one of the greatest left-backs the world has ever produced, and the vitriol aimed at him by England fans was absolutely shameful... it's hardly a surprise that clubs are less willing to take a gamble on someone who they may think of as a "loose-cannon".

You can argue whether Rangers is high-profile or not, being somewhat on the comeback trail after what happened and being in a backwater of a league.

But Derby? I'd hardly call that high profile, unless you are going back to the early 70s to judge a club's reputation.

The lack of Black managers is a conundrum though. If anyone ventures an opinion on why one particular race, nationality, ethnicity or religion may excel at some things, or struggle at some things as compared to others, one needs your tin hat.
I suspect some evolutionary psychologists could lead an interesting discussion, but they tend to be about as welcome as a climate denier at a Green Party shindig.

Here's my twopenneth.

It was really only in the 70s that black players came to the fore, in small numbers initially. I remember a few early ones like Clyde Best, but the West Brom players under Ron Atkinson were the breakthrough.

It takes time to build a depth of player base that then would naturally move through to management.

We are now probably at the point where we could expect more.

But in the last 10-20 years we have also seen a couple of other developments.

Other avenues have opened - we've seen Wrighty and Collymore go down the media route.

We've also seen a rise in overseas managers. It's hit the prospects for domestic managers regardless of ethnicity.

So just as we might expect an increase, other factors have occurred.

I also think there's a further factor. The money available to players now is so high, would you really like to go from £200k per week, to £200k per year, to cut your teeth in management in a lower division? Or would you settle for a seat next to Jeff Stelling each weekend?

[Llani Boy]

The likes of Paul Ince and Sol Campbell have had a number of goes at management and have not been successful at it. Perhaps it was because they were useless at it, but no, its because of their colour.

Bryan Robson, Gary Neville,Grahaem Souness, Ian Rush, Dean Saunders and many others were also crap at it but they don't complain that it was because of their colour.

With regards to the media Ian Wright, Jermaine Jenas and Dion Dublin are great at what they do but the majority of black presenters/summariser's including Dwight Yorke and Ashley Cole are obviously only there due to their colour as their contribution is usually zilch.
And again, punching far above their weight in terms of percentage of population.

[Muddy Retriever]

The likes of Paul Ince and Sol Campbell have had a number of goes at management and have not been successful at it. Perhaps it was because they were useless at it, but no, its because of their colour.

Bryan Robson, Gary Neville,Grahaem Souness, Ian Rush, Dean Saunders and many others were also crap at it but they don't complain that it was because of their colour.

With regards to the media Ian Wright, Jermaine Jenas and Dion Dublin are great at what they do but the majority of black presenters/summariser's including Dwight Yorke and Ashley Cole are obviously only there due to their colour as their contribution is usually zilch.
And again, punching far above their weight in terms of percentage of population.

John Barnes also had a go at Celtic and was distinctly underwhelming. He was sacked after Celtic lost to Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Scottish Cup. This led to the memorable headline the next day in the Scottish Sun of "Super Caley go ballistic, Celtic are atrocious". He was a great player Barnes but great players often don't make great managers.

I tend to agree with WP, British managers aren't getting that many opportunities these days in the Premier League (especially at the top clubs) regardless of colour.

[Travs]

To give some balance, i have to say that Stan Collymore is one of the best and most honest pundits around.

Match of Day with himself, Danny Kelly and James Richardson, now that would actually be worth watching. Sadly his "dubious" past will mean he'll unlikely ever get a job with BBC/ITV/Sky...

There's an absolute conveyor belt of crap punditry, regardless of race or colour.... Michael Owen for f***s sake!

[Stagger]

To give some balance, i have to say that Stan Collymore is one of the best and most honest pundits around.

Match of Day with himself, Danny Kelly and James Richardson, now that would actually be worth watching. Sadly his "dubious" past will mean he'll unlikely ever get a job with BBC/ITV/Sky...

There's an absolute conveyor belt of crap punditry, regardless of race or colour.... Michael Owen for f***s sake!

Geoff Boycott managed with a dubious past.

[Stagger]

Souness is worth listening to as is Roy Keene.

Wouldn't go for a beer with either but they certainly tell it how it is.

[So Wood]

Good watch. Thanks for reminder.

Be interested to see ineos picks for tour.

[MattPo]

Go Lizzie, Otley's finest! And her dad, John is a 3 Peaks VM 60 winner.

[Llani Boy]

Just watched Manctopia, a series about the building of fancy high rise accommodation in Manchester city centre.

A salesman was showing a potential customer around and one of the highlights of the apartment (flat) was the views over the Trafford Centre!

What ARE these people on?

[molehill]

The addition of sub zero conditions and snow on the mountains makes me think they will have to earn their money 💰.