Sol the man for the job? Who knows... but he is right to highlight football’s blind spot over black bosses
ONE of the easiest targets for ridicule in football this past week – not for the first time – has been Sol Campbell, “one of the greatest minds in football”.
If you had one of the greatest minds in football, you would be unlikely to say, as Sol did, you had “one of the greatest minds in football”, simple as that.
Few can get away with blasting away on their own trumpet and Campbell is not one of those few.
Jose Mourinho could call himself the Special One because he had won a Champions League with Porto.
For all his achievements and ability as a player – and remember, he was a fantastic player – Campbell the coach has only been a No.2 with Trinidad & Tobago, and going into management has not always seemed a priority. He dabbled in politics, joining the Tory Party after criticising Labour’s proposed introduction of a mansion tax and, in 2015, putting his name forward for the Conservative shortlist for the Mayor of London elections.
Sol suggested he would solve congestion on the Tube by making the Underground station platforms longer.
He was into shooting game at one point, suggesting he had shot 30 birds in one year. You get the point. Campbell has always been a figure easily derided.
But there is a broader point here that goes beyond Campbell’s self-regarding comments. Ask yourself this question. Would a high-profile, white ex-England centre-half have a better chance of getting a managerial job than a high-profile, black ex-England centre-half? Sadly, I reckon we all know the answer. We don’t like to admit it, but we all know the answer. Campbell considered being black a disadvantage in his playing career, a disadvantage in the sense he does not believe he got the recognition he deserved. “I believe if I was white, I would have been England captain for more than 10 years – it’s as simple as that,” he said some while back. The permanent captains in Campbell’s years with the national team were Tony Adams, Alan Shearer, David Beckham and John Terry.
While Campbell, Paul Ince, Ashley Cole and Chris Smalling have all done it on an ad hoc basis, Rio Ferdinand (left) is the only black player to have been permanent England captain. And his reign lasted barely a year.
Every England boss would say Campbell missed out on the job because there were better qualified candidates. Fair enough. And those who spoke to Campbell about taking the Oxford United job will say they just didn’t think he was the FA charge him. For what they deem a political message in support of Catalan independence, Guardiola (right) is charged by an FA which has just signed a ‘memorandum of collaboration’ with the football authorities of Qatar.
That’s Qatar, shunned by neighbouring states for alleged links with Islamic terror groups.
Even by the FA’s standards, on this occasion, you really could not make it up. @Gainmassey92 “Unbelievable!!! What a feeling!!! Nothing can compare! Boys were unbelievable and we deserved every bit of that. Quarter finals here we come.” the right man. Fair enough. You might also wonder why Campbell has not gone down the route of a Steven Gerrard (below) or Nicky Butt and started his career as a boss at junior coaching level.
Fair enough, although whether he has been offered that sort of opportunity is unclear.
One thing is certain, though.
While there remains this startling imbalance between the number of black players and the number of black managers, anyone – no matter how unsuited, how inadequate, how conceited, how misguided you think they are – bringing attention to it does not deserve ridicule.