Are foreign managers victimised in the Premier League?

One of the stories that has emerged over the transfer window period is the clash between certain premier league managers. Houllier is such a manager, who has received criticism due to his conduct over the signing of Darren Bent and what is seen as an insulting bid for Blackpool’s Charlie Adam.

Bruce was particularly insulted that Houllier neglected to give him a phone call, leaving Sunderland less than half of the transfer window to replace Bent. While the transfer is strange given the league positions of the teams, perhaps Bent simply wanted the pay rise Villa offered him.

Holloway is taking negotiations into the press, criticising the teams who have offered what he perceives to be low bids, such as Villa and Liverpool. However, Houllier claimed that he was being targeted because Holloway’s criticism seemed to exclude Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish. This, I think is a bit unfair on Holloway, who perhaps didn’t want to criticise a legendary player and manager.

However, I feel that the other criticism of Houllier, this time coming from Steve Bruce over Darren Bent’s move from Sunderland to Villa, was justified. Bent is a great player and I’m sure he will be sorely missed by Sunderland. These events raise a deeper issue. Is the establishment hostile towards foreign managers? Is the fact that Houllier is French a factor which means English managers feel it is OK to criticise him excessively in the media? I would argue no in this case. This is a country which has the rare situation of a foreign manager managing the national team.

In Italy, for example, the top jobs are generally given to Italian managers or managers who have been in Italy for the vast majority of their playing careers, such as Inter’s Leonardo. In Italy’s top four, Leonardo is the only non-Italian manager, whereas in the current top four of the Premiership, there are no English managers and only one British manager, with two Italians and a Frenchman. Therefore it is clear that those running the clubs even have a positive bias to foreign managers. Furthermore, it is clear that a manager like Wenger is generally respected across the board, despite being French.

It is clear that everyone is simply protecting their own interests, and that Houllier is attempting to play mind games but losing at them very badly, as he appears to be simply clutching at straws to silence criticism about the way he has operated on the transfer market. Houllier allegedly broke regulations by contacting a player without permission from the club, shown by the suspiciously short time between Bent’s transfer request and his announced move. If this is true, which it seems to be, Houllier has used what he labelled ‘racism’ as a PR tool which is wholly unacceptable from a person in any position, let alone one in the public eye in one of the world’s most followed sports.

If, in over six years at Liverpool, he was unable to grasp transfer regulations or build up a reputation which other managers respect, then citing xenophobia when he is criticised will only cover up a deeper problem.