Brighton became the latest club to part ways with Chris Hughton and in doing so, encountered similar criticism to that faced by his previous employers, Norwich and Newcastle.
The national media were joined by many ‘neutrals’ on social media to condemn the decision; the general inference being that those clubs which sit outside of the higher echelons should basically accept their position and be grateful for it.
Premier League safety and an F.A. Cup semi-final? You’re Brighton – what more do you expect?
Presumably the Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United fans, who were so quick to criticise, are also fully accepting of their revised standing in football’s hierarchy post-Guardiola and Klopp, and won’t be demanding change if the ‘best’ they can hope for is an annual battle for 4th place?
It’s understandable why there was a certain sympathy for Hughton. He’s a polite, dignified and decent man and viewed from a far, his achievements stand up to a degree of scrutiny.
Championship promotions with both Brighton and Newcastle were won with teams that played expansive and attacking football.
However, the challenge of the Premier League has proven to bring out a naturally cautious side to his nature. Pitted against top flight rivals, the former Republic of Ireland defender, has favoured stoic defence and a reliance on shape, discipline and structure. Platforms built, first and foremost, to avoid defeat with lone-strikers left isolated and starved of support and goal-scoring chances.
Just ask Grant Holt.
You could argue that it’s a pragmatic approach. After all, anyone who decides to slug it out and go toe to toe with the likes of Manchester City is likely to find themselves on the wrong end of a drubbing (although whatever you do, there’s always a chance of that).
But an ethos that’s built around conceding possession, being hard to beat and scraping enough points to earn the right to do it all again next season, is unlikely to keep the fans onside long-term.
Fans will accept it as a means to an end; unless that ‘end’ is simply more of the same, year after year.
We want to be entertained. We want to see progression. We want to see our boys ‘giving it a go’.
If, as seems to be the case, Hughton’s Brighton became a carbon-copy of Hughton’s Norwich, then all of those connected to The Seagulls have the right to demand more, regardless of whether national pundits and fans from ‘bigger’ clubs, agree.
However, the wider significance of Brighton’s decision, is that it served to illustrate the paucity of black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) managers within the Football League.
When Macclesfield appointed Sol Campbell as first team manager, in November 2018, he became only the eighth BAME manager across the 92 clubs in England’s top four divisions.
With Hughton’s dismissal, alongside those of Jos Luhukay (Sheffield Wednesday), Darren Moore (West Bromwich Albion) and Chris Powell (Southend United) earlier this season, that number currently stands at just four.
Less than five percent.
Little wonder perhaps that Tottenham left-back Danny Rose, recently spoke out about his desire to turn his back on the game when his playing days are over;
“When I said that, I was talking about the lack of black managers in football now, or working upstairs in football clubs. People ask me if I want to do my coaching badges. Why? You are not given a chance, so no, I wouldn’t be looking forward to doing my badges – it is a waste of time.”
Following Hughton’s sacking, Troy Townsend, who leads Kick It Out’s mentoring and leadership work, told the Telegraph;
“We are now at worse than square one. What people don’t understand is the real difficulties for black managers getting through the bottle neck at the top of football. We are talking about measly numbers. It’s so shabby.
“What are the expectations of Brighton? Surely it is to stay in the league. You are 4th from bottom and you have got to an FA Cup semi-final. I don’t get it. They must have been planning it for some time. Look at how Chris has been treated at Newcastle and Norwich and now Brighton?
“He has given Brighton another year of Premier League football and he gets repaid like this?”
Whilst reflective of genuine frustration, Townsend’s remarks were hugely unhelpful and prompted a subsequent apology from Kick It Out.
Because the comments served to blur two completely separate issues; the lack of opportunities afforded to BAME managers, alongside the circumstances under which managers are relieved of their duties.
Getting a job and losing a job are two different things.
To put it into context, across the top four divisions, Hughton became the 46th manager to lose his job during the 2018/19 season.
With 92 clubs, that equates to half.
Of the managers currently in post, the average tenure stands at 1 year and 198 days.
Hughton had been at Brighton for 4 years and 134 days.
The sack is an occupational hazard for anyone seeking a career in football management, regardless of their background, race or ethnicity.
And whilst you can question any club for what might be deemed unrealistic expectations, short-termism or knee-jerk decisions, to bring race into that particular argument, only serves to detract from the main issue.
There is a huge amount of work needed to bring about equity into the game and on providing equal opportunities to progress through coaching into management.
But genuine equality will mean that managers, BAME or otherwise, will undoubtedly fall victim to boardroom and supporter demands, and lose their jobs.
poor recruitment/not getting the best out of new signings is a criticism by some at Brighton. Norwich fans may have felt similar when he was here (Ricky Van Wolfswinkel) et al.
Good analysis Steve – totally agree with you.
You nailed it with “getting a job and losing a job are two different things”.
How true.
This shouldn’t even be an article. There isn’t work to be done. It is exactly as it should be; best man for the job. No one should be given special treatment and given help, you either rise to the top because you have earned it or you fail. That’s life and if anyone is given special dispensation you are only damaging long term success. A club would hire a wombat with a dodgy hip and one eye if it thought it would get results.
Love the wombat idea, great response.
I don’t entirely agree Jeff. There are two separate issues at play and the point I tried to make in the article is that it’s unhelpful to confuse the two. Your reply seems to deal solely with the singular issue of opportunities afforded to progress and whether it’s an even playing field.
The sentiment that no one should be given special treatment is correct but the examples of Steven Gerrard landing the Rangers job and Frank Lampard taking on Derby suggests otherwise.
It would be great to think that all clubs simply choose the best person for the job without any form of conscious or unconscious bias, but the small percentage of BAME managers is not reflective of the percentage of players.
Which leads to some people within the game (e.g. Danny Rose) that there is disparity.
Whether we agree with him or not, the fact that a player genuinely believes that, is desperately sad and in my opinion, means that work has to be done to change that perception / belief. Not through positive discrimination or preferential treatment to ‘artificially’ rebalance the figures, but by understanding and addressing the root causes.
The negative reaction by certain parts of the ‘media’ to Farke’s and Bielsa’s success along the lines of ‘foreign coaches are bad for the English game and depriving ‘our’ coaches of opportunities’ was a further hint towards a natural bias that exists in football’s wider environment.
I do get a little tired of hearing the race card played, yet again when Hughton was sacked, I cannot say I followed anything over WBA, or even Southend. Yes I agree he is a very decent bloke who comes over polite, but as we all too well know it is about the way you turn your teams out, as nice ,decent blokes go you would have to go a long in finding another Ken Brown
It is about football about being a good manager playing the type of football that keeps boardrooms and fans onside. As we saw at Carrow Rd his syle was incredle to watch and stay awake at the same time. this was a large part of the reason I surrended my season ticket. I could not face another bout of that, it made the struggle of being disabled to get to games, hardly worth the troubke and pain, I gave up on away games earlier that season..
There are countless of non BAME managers who have falled foul of not being up to what is expcted or wanted. It is about football then. Can we say the same as what is said when the likes of Hughton, Moore & Ince face the sack. in support of Irish, or Welsh managers, who have had little success, Scotland does seem to produce half decent managers like Sir Alex Kenny Dalgish (TIC)
The stand against racism is a brilliant thing and quite right in what is stands for, but some want to overplay the card while seeing it in everything. In football it needs to take a long look at what it is really about .
A very good article………which I fully agree with!
Being sacked usually doesn’t seem to incur more than temporary inconvenience. The Merry-go-Round keeps on turning as the same candidates swap seats but stay in the game. A large chunk of money, and then they go again. Despite what he says Hughton would not have kept Norwich up, and loyalty to the manager cost Norwich any slim chance as change at the helm earlier was the ticket. I was amazed at what he achieved at Brighton and was mildly surprised by the sacking. Will anybody be able to do significantly better?
The decision at West Brom really surprised me, and it is fair to say that it has not worked out. Close but no cigar. Incredibly, it is not impossible that what was visited upon Hughton could happen to Farke. In the euphoria of promotion, and then Prem consolidation, no one at Brighton would have believed it….just like Norwich now. Webber is a quick learner and will have taken in all of this. Huddersfield was a prototype that proved the potential. We may go down, says Webber, tempering expectation, but foolish spending that is emotional and vain-glorious only leads to more pain down the line. Will that make Farke safer than any other manager if results are bad and the sentiment turns ugly? Of course not…But for now the adventure continues with wind in our sails. Onward and upward we go.
I and my son gave up our season tickets when Hughton was the manager at City, we’d had enough of being bored, cold and disheartened by his tactics. There was no pleasure in going to Carrow Road. Thankfully things have completely changed and I believe Danny will give us another season of exciting football, and the club will remain in fine fettle.
Excellent article.
Steve – excellent piece.
I fully agree that the BAME argument is flawed and as lazy as any stereotype regarding race. Chris Hughton’s tenure was not cut short for racial reasons and everyone knows that.
Townsend made himself look silly with that statement. It undermines everything Kick It Out is about as if any chairman has a choice between a BAME manager and a white manager they’ll now have a reason to think twice about the BAME manager. Inevitably at some stage with every manager you’ll need to sack them and if you can’t sack the BAME manager without someone accusing you of racism, it becomes easier not to employ the BAME manager in the first place.
I totally concur that a) Chris Hughton is a lovely bloke, and b) Chris Hughton’s teams are unbearable to watch in the Premier League as tactically he s#its the bed. Nobody minds a Backs-to-the-Wall defensive performance once in a while against a massive team, but when you’re setting up that way for Cardiff at home, you wonder why you’re bothering.
An excellent read and well thought out.
It was mentioned that Sol Campbell has got his first job and seems to be doing what he was recruited to do keep them in the league, A couple of years ago he was quoted as saying with the medals, titles abd experience he has in football he would have been offered the Englands Managers job before Southgates got it if he was white.
Having spent a lot of time working overseas mainly teaching the local populas how the job was done the over whelming thing was most didn’t want to learn the job at grass roots level and start to gain experience and knowledge the first remarks was when can I have your job.
Ambition to get to the top of the tree and prove yourself is great but first learn the basics don’t expect to be given the keys to success work to get them, but it doesn’t help when clubs go for high profile name’s like Frank L at Derby and possibly John Terry getting the Middlesbrough position.
Kick it out does good work but I can’t recall them ever stating that racial abuse flows both ways, in a working life most people get sone sort of abuse, working in the Scottish sector of the North Sea an Englishman gets it from all angles , If a white player complained to Kick it out that he was abused by a BAME player what would responce would there be.
Many managers get sacked during the season all could be classed as minority group’s from France, Portugal, Germany and Spain were is the backing for them from Kick it Out, nothing is heard from them Racialism happens to all colours and nationalities and religions but it is easier to pick one than fight for all of them.
Hi Alex
I remember getting abuse while at work for being a “Cockney” in Manchester, Middlesbrough and Liverpool. And I don’t even have a Cockney accent – it’s far more Norfolk tbh.
But as long as you laughed and joined in with the banter by firing back a bit of your own instead of being a snowflake everything was just fine.
I have gained lifetime friends in all of those places – tough it out for five minutes with a smile on your face and any wind-up issue is soon forgotten. Well okay it does reappear now and again but you’re expecting it!
Steve C is spot on with what he says imo.
Hi Martin
Yeah to abuse or racialism at times you have to grin and bear it I was on a rig in the Gulf the only non gordie so at times life could get a bit tough.
As with you I agree with the column and think overall K I O does a good job it just would be nice for once they admitted that all BAME are not angels and can hand out as much of both as whites do, another would be to say they are not looking for special treatment.
Everyone has or should have the chance to progress in their chosen profession but setting rules to have a percentage of BAME interviewed is taking away the freedom of choice of a club owner.
Wise words Alex.
If you’d termed any of the Boro boys (chemical plant workers, office staff, the site Fire Brigade (my best mates – they were terrific) a Geordie they’d verbally fly at you.
They’re Teessiders, simple as. And flippin’ proud of it too. They call themselves the real people and they’re not wrong. Lovely folk.
That’s probably why I get on with the Boro fans so well:-)
Sorry Alex, but at no stage should we have to “grin and bear it”. Maybe this confirms my snowflake status, but anything discriminatory in any way is totally 100% unacceptable, whichever form it takes.
Hi Gary
I suppose my grin and bear it was wrongly put and abuse should as you say never be endured for any reason,
When a group from the same area they sometimes over step the boundaries not thinking it is verbal abuse but taking the mucky out of someone.
Still not acceptable
Hear, hear. And let’s not confuse regional prejudices and insults with the clear and quantifiable inequalities BAME folk face in the jobs market or the fact that skin colour alone makes them targets for the foulest behaviour. Try getting a London cab if you’re standing with a black mate and you’re get a glimpse of what daily life is still like for BAME folk. So don’t tell someone who sees his life chances affected by inherent or even inadvertent discrimination that he or she’s just got to suck it up.
Of course Chris Hughton didn’t lose his job because of his ethnicity. But it doesn’t follow, as some are claiming in these comments, that football shouldn’t be proactive about increasing opportunities for BAME coaches.
I cannot agree more with Gary. Racism is never acceptable and is never a laugh.
Sadly, recruitment does reflect racism. Hughton’s sacking was about results and the crowd turning after the defeat to WBA made his position untenable but there were some disturbing comments especially on the PinkUn board when he was appointed. Similarly, there were equally thinly disguised homophobic comments there when Fry joined the Board.
The lack of black managers reflects that it’s been largely older white men appointing managers. People are attracted to people like themselves.
It is quite wrong though to extrapolate that black managers should enjoy some extra security when in post. Steve is right about that.
“We don’t want the Camels coming to Carrow Road”
Everyone likes to ignore that repeated gem.
I am not sure that we can equate a bit of banter for being a cockney or a non-Geordie to racism, and no Alex I don’t think we should have to grin and bear it.
Hughton may well have deserved the sack on football grounds, but there is a startling lack of BAME managers in the professional game, relative to the number of BAME players, which hints an underlying prejudice.
Well said Andy.
Maybe my comparison was a little too trivial. “Snowflake” was a bad choice of word.
If there’s racism at Carrow Road I haven’t seen or heard any of it this century.
And if I ever did I’d report it, as would anybody I sit with.
Sorry Andy, I didn’t see you response before posting my own higher up. You’re spot on.
To me the question is, what is the right amount of BAME managers?
Proportionate to the population?
Proportionate to the player ratio?
Proportionate to to the number of coaches with all their badges?
Or is it okay to be disproportionate, as long as the opportunity to enter the system is fair?
No answers here. But I prefer equality of opportunity over forced ratios.
For me there is no doubt that Hughton was sacked for footballing reasons. Equally, for me there is no doubt that we have a serious issue in the game with regards to the numbers of BAME managers/coaches. I find it worrying when people deny there is a problem.
I find there’s a misunderstanding of the NFL’s ‘Rooney Rule’. This rule requires a BAME candidate to be interviewed for Head Coaching/Senior roles. It’s not about filling a quote, but providing opportunity & raising aspirations. It did not result in an immediate increase in numbers but the added exposure to interviews & the owners themselves gave the opportunity to show what they could do. Since then numbers have risen and so I would be happy to see a similar initiative over here.