LMA wrong to disapprove of Newcastle's appointment
Posted by JamesB in Alex Ferguson, Freddy Shepherd, Glenn Roeder, Newcastle | 10 May 2006
Today the LMA have spoken out against the dispensation that was given to Freddy Shepherd to appoint Glenn Roeder because he does not have a UEFA Pro A coaching badge. To me this is riduculous, in fact the whole rule seems fairly pointless.
Sure, I don't doubt that the coaching course can offer a lot, but to try and block the appointment by a Premier League club of a manager who was managing in the same division a few years ago seems strange. As far as I'm concerned, I doubt Sir Alex Ferguson would put his success down to the coaching badges he has. As I understand it, Boothroyd of Watford does not have the full qualifications, yet he has transformed them for relegation favourites to playoff finalists. I don't think having badges makes you a better candidate for a managers job, especially at this level. It's all about the person, not a coaching course they should have been on.
Managing a football club is all about giving players confidence and belief, having tactical nous and instinct. Some people will make good managers and some won't regardless of qualifications, which is why the LMA making a big deal of this pro license is bizarre. Glenn Roeder has done a fine job since he took over as caretaker manager without this badge, and he deserves the crack at the whip that he has finally been allowed. He should not need to have been on a course that will probably not change the way he manages or coaches at all.
It almost seems that the LMA doubt that Roeder knows how to manage a football club, and that they believe he needs a badge as proof that he can. The man has experience at the top level, and if that isn't enough of a qualification to manage another club then I don't know what is.
Luckily for Roeder it seems as though the general consensus in football is that Roeder was right to be given permission to take over. Shepherd was required to receive the backing of all the other Premier League chairmen and it appears as though he has got it, which has prompted the Premier League to allow the appointment.
Regardless of whether Roeder is the right man and all that, in my opinion the LMA making a big fuss over the appointment just seems pathetic - especially when the appointment has the blessing of the clubs in the league that Roeder will be managing in.