Why Chairmen are right to widen the net when it comes to recruiting managerial talent:

Indeed, few people upon Allardyce’s unveiling at West Ham will have expected anything other than the Hammers’ instant Premier League return.  That trust in their boss is something the owners must now retain as for the first time this season their side have hit a poor patch of form, and consequently don’t look as assured as a month ago of a comfortable nine months spent in happy mid-table obscurity.

Allardyce’s predecessor at the Boleyn, Gianfranco Zola, is a standard bearer for all those- excluding the more revered managerial names – originating from outside of these shores, who seek to pursue their profession in English football.  Furthermore, he is proof that more than a British passport is required for success at the hard end of the game.  The Italian has benefited immeasurably from experiencing an arduous reign in the East End, and having spent valuable time away has returned to make a mark at Watford.  The Hornets recruitment policy, so heavily reliant on loan purchases, may be unpalatable but that should not detract from Zola’s accomplishment in shaping a cohesive unit who are emerging as genuine promotion contenders.

Zola replaced another unlucky Englishman to lose his job at the hands of incoming foreign owners, Sean Dyche.  The former uncompromising centre-half had achieved enough in his short tenure at Vicarage Road to ensure he quickly found new employment at Burnley.  To continue a theme, Dyche replaced a fantastic young coach in Eddie Howe.  The 35 year-old’s transformation of Bournemouth, from strugglers near the foot of the League One table to now being ensconced in a play-off place, must be the managerial achievement of this season’s first five months.

Back in the top league, and both Roberto Martinez and Paul Lambert require the patience that their West Ham counterpart has earned.  Martinez’s Wigan Athletic continue to be the division’s most enigmatic team.  They veer from breath-taking brilliance to hopeless naivety, not from game to game, but on numerous occasions during any 90 minutes.  The Latics finding themselves embroiled in a relegation scrap as they bring in the new year is a path well-trodden, and their avuncular chairman Dave Whelan knows he has in charge the man most likely to keep his club at the highest level yet again.

When a bigger challenge arrives for Martinez, which surely it will, it will be fascinating to observe as he copes with increased pressure and expectation.  The Spaniard’s footballing principles are exemplary and they should serve him well.

A similar assertion can be made in support of Paul Lambert.  Although causing short-term humiliation, Aston Villa’s 8-0 thumping at the hands of Chelsea wasn’t expected by many to precipitate a collapse of the sort now being endured by the Midlanders.  Lambert is another man however, who has accumulated vast experience during his seven-year ascension to this prestigious post.  The 43 year-old is the same individual who had tirelessly worked at developing a young team which proved capable of scoring 7 goals in the space of a week at Carrow Road and Anfield.  Three – albeit dreadful – matches later he has not suddenly become ill-equipped to cope with the monumental task with which he is faced.

The unsavoury Boxing Day turmoil at Nottingham Forest then, thankfully appears to be an anomaly to what is increasingly occurring throughout the Football League, and beneath the very zenith of the Premier League.  Forward thinking coaches are in vogue.  It is no longer enough to have a stellar playing C.V. or to be comfortably settled among the privileged clique on the tired old carousel.

Of course, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal, with their oodles of cash, will be risk averse when it comes to recruiting their managers.  Any vacancies at these behemoths will be fought over by men at the absolute peak of world football.  Jose Mourinho brings with him as close a guarantee to trophies as is possible.  Pep Guardiola, and indeed Rafa Benitez, have records with which few can compare.  Jurgen Klopp, who has produced the excellent Borussia Dortmund team which has won two Bundesliga title’s – and topped Manchester City’s Champions League group – is another man who will be closely scrutinised by the ‘big four’.

Notwithstanding that, the first signs of change are unmistakeably apparent.  Liverpool appointed a bright young manager from Swansea City, Everton looked to Preston North End for David Moyes, while West Brom and Norwich, both purposeful, energetic, and, most crucially, strongly performing teams, opted for the coaching expertise of Steve Clarke and Chris Hughton, respectively, when choosing who should guide them after losing bosses in the summer.

Swansea City continued their policy of placing playing philosophy above all else by searching for a man in Michael Laudrup, still only 48 and bursting with ideas and intelligence, to sustain the body of work implemented by Jackett, Martinez, Paulo Sousa and Rodgers.

The tide will only be completely turned in favour of fresh and enthusiastic talent when those with responsibility to appoint managers at the pinnacle of the English game are able to show similar derring-do as their lowlier rivals.  When Moyes or Martinez take their place in a home dugout at Old Trafford or the Emirates a change in outlook will be confirmed.  For now though, football in our country is assuredly the richer for the greater insight and perspicacity possessed by its coaches and, despite a wide belief to the contrary, the men who hire them.

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