Keith Curle, the Northampton manager, has said high-profile black, Asian and minority ethnic players interested in coaching should not expect to walk into a job and warned they must prove their credentials by gaining experience.
Raheem Sterling said recently that black former players such as Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole had not been afforded the same opportunities as Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, who secured distinguished roles at Rangers and Chelsea in the early stages of their coaching career.
Of the 91 managers in the top four tiers of English football, six are from BAME backgrounds and only one, Nuno Espírito Santo of Wolves, is in the Premier League. Curle, whose side host Cheltenham in the League Two play-offs on Thursday, is one of five BAME coaches in the English Football League alongside Sabri Lamouchi of Nottingham Forest, Darren Moore of Doncaster, Dino Maamria of Oldham and Campbell, who is at Southend.
Curle said “boundaries are being knocked down” but he is not in favour of the Rooney Rule, which requires EFL clubs to interview at least one BAME candidate when searching for a manager. “I wasn’t in favour because if I ever went for an interview and was told I was being interviewed because I had to fulfil a quota, I wouldn’t go for that job,” Curle said.
Curle dismissed the notion that high-profile white players have received a leg-up in comparison with high-profile black players. “I don’t think so. I think some of the high-profile players that have gone into management, they have been coaching and they showed inclination at early stages. I don’t think anybody has been forced into a management position. It’s been a natural progression for some players. But that doesn’t guarantee them success.”
The former Carlisle manager began coaching while a player at Bristol City. “Players cannot come to the end of a career and say: ‘Right, now I want a job in football.’ They have to be able to demonstrate the gained qualifications and knowledge. Just because you have been a fantastic player that has played in the Premier League, does that mean that you can run or coach a football team?”
Curle’s comments came as the Premier League’s chief executive, Richard Masters, reiterated its backing for the Black Lives Matter movement but admitted endorsement of issues outside football could create “uncomfortable precedents” when it comes to recognising other causes in the public eye.
Players will wear “Black Lives Matter” in place of the names on their shirts when top-flight football resumes on Wednesday, and the league is also happy for them to take a knee in solidarity.
“I would not see what is going on as overtly political,” Masters said. “I would see them as ethically based values statements. We have been talking to the players about how they wanted to respond to the two big issues: Covid, the global pandemic, and the outpouring of response to events in America. They made it clear how they wanted to respond and we were happy to support that, and the clubs are.”
Yet there may be shaky ground to navigate next time an issue that sparks high emotions, whether to teams or individuals, comes along. Two years ago Pep Guardiola was fined £20,000 by the Football Association for wearing a “political message”, a ribbon supporting prisoners in Catalonia, and in December Arsenal were quick to distance themselves when Mesut Özil spoke out against the plight of the Uighur Muslims in China.
“I don’t think I have all the answers to those questions,” Masters said when asked whether Guardiola would still be fined today. “But I do think we are living in unique times, so I do think what we are doing is an appropriate response to where the world finds itself today and where the Premier League and the players are with their voices on the issues of the day. Whether it creates uncomfortable precedents going forward, we will wait and see.”
