It is somewhat befuddling to notice that somehow, for some inexplicable reason, the chairpersons of some English football clubs are seemingly lost in transition in some kind of time warp, desperately pinning all their hopes on the old heroes of the past to get them out of a relegation dogfight as they obviously can’t seem to see beyond these managers of yesteryear.
Crystal Palace owner Steve Parish has this past week sacked Patrick Vieira – a coach with some semblance of managerial nous albeit unsuccessful in the current campaign with not even a single win to show in the Premier League – and replaced him with a manager that’s way past pensionable age.
It is not that the legendary Roy Hodgson is devoid of experience or capability, especially when it comes to Palace, but why is there this obdurate penchant for certain clubs to insist on looking backwards to yesterday’s doyens rather than look ahead to more progressive dynamos in their time of need?
Little wonder then that the English game is clearly lacking behind that of it’s European counterparts when the same jurassic names are still being trotted out to pull relegation-threatened teams out of their downward spiral instead of being allowed to enjoy the placidity that their past glories had earned them.
In all fairness to Hodgson, he’s a relatively new inclusion to the list that includes the old guns like Sam Allardyce and Alan Pardew, among others.
If the trend or passion is to go British in the search for managers, then the least English clubs could do is pick managers that embrace the contemporary trends of football management in their arsenal of nous and knowledge.
While we are on this sensitive topic, it must be mentioned at this juncture that Everton’s appointment of Sean Dyche should get a round of applause for their judicious selection as – while he may or may succeed in keeping them out of relegation – his style of management and ability to accept and adapt to technological innovations, as well as leaning on certain ‘cosmopolitan’ concepts at least positively reflects the sensibilities of a seasoned manager willing to do whatever is necessary.
In this day and age, it’s apparent that the days of setting up cones and running around forests for miles are definitely a thing of the past.
For clubs not wishing to slide down into the Championship, it’s time for the Premier League’s old doyens of yesteryears to be finally relieved of their obligations to the game and be allowed instead to savor at leisure the retirement they fully deserve.