Roy Keane and Ian Wright debate lack of English managers and claim it should be more ‘accessible’ – as they take aim at ‘awful’ foreign managers

Roy Keane and Ian Wright believe coaching opportunities for English managers may be limited and have called for the game to become more ‘accessible’.

Just two English head coaches are currently working in the Premier League, Eddie Howe at Newcastle and West Ham‘s Graham Potter, an all-time low. 

Around 60 per cent of bosses in the EFL are believed to be English but routes up the ladder are more restricted than ever, according to critics.

In October, Thomas Tuchel was appointed England manager after a raft of English candidates were overlooked. Around 10 coaches are thought to have been interviewed, although Howe later confirmed he had not engaged in talks over the role.

When Tuchel was hired, Howe was one of four English managers in the Premier League but the total halved in a single weekend after Russell Martin and Gary O’Neil were sacked by Southampton and Wolves respectively. 

Everton then sacked Sean Dyche in January, further reducing the dismal amount.

West Ham boss Graham Potter recently joined Howe in representing the domestic contingent 

Ian Wright believes the lack of English coaches at the top level is due to a grassroots issue

Wright believes the issue lies at grassroots level while Keane has suggested English coaches have failed to succeed when hired in the past, creating a poor perception.

‘There’s a bigger question to be asked in respects of the talent pool of managers of coming through as well,’ Wright said on ITV.

‘We read about how expensive it is to get on the courses, then to how difficult the course is and trying to make the course accessible to people as people probably sitting around now waiting to get on courses.

‘They’ve got to do more about the actual talent pool, because when you look at it, there’s only 20 jobs to get in the Premier League. If you look at the whole league, then we’re talking about 92 jobs. There’s still not a lot of jobs. 

‘Unless we do something about the talent pool and the people that’s coming through, it’s not going get any better because these owners will get the elite managers.’

Keane added: ‘There’s different ownership models now from years ago. Obviously, foreign owners will be looking at a bigger world and different options, and we see it. 

‘But it’s not the English or Irish manager, Scottish manager, whatever. When do you get the opportunity? Because some have had opportunities. 

‘What you’ve got to do, you’ve got to take it.’

Gary O’Neil and Russell Martin were sacked by Wolves and Southampton respectively

Roy Keane claimed foreign coaches may have a better perception than their English peers

Quizzed on why clubs may be leaning toward foreign coaches over their English counterparts, Wright replied:  ‘Well, I can’t answer that. These owners, it’s their prerogative, who they want to take. We’ve seen the Brighton manager. 

‘He’s come in because obviously the way that Brighton play, the way that they are and the way the structure is you can get maybe a 31-year-old, but then you think to yourself, well, isn’t there a 31, 32-year-old in England I could take?’

Keane was in agreement, adding: ‘There is that perception of foreign managers, we’ve mentioned some really good ones, but there’s been a lot of bad managers come over that have been awful and left and people even forgot about them. 

‘So sometimes it’s that perception that the foreign manager is going to be better than English or Irish or Scottish or whatever it might be.’