Black managers start at the bottom while their white peers start at the top. That’s racism STAN COLLYMORE
I WANT you to list the first five words that come to mind when you think of Steven Gerrard and then do the same for Frank Lampard.
Most of you, I bet, will have been pretty positive, with words such as, ‘leader’, ‘grafter’, ‘intelligent’, ‘determined’, ‘winner’, ‘cultured’ and ‘classy’ leaping off your page.
Now do the same for Ashley Cole and Sol Campbell, and compare the four lists you’ve written.
You could have used any of the words above for those two as well but I dare bet many of you thought along the lines of ‘Judas’ or ‘weirdo’ for Campbell, and ‘car’, ’crash’, ‘air’ and ‘rifle’ for Cole.
Gerrard and Lampard both had their scrapes in their playing days, too.
Most of us will have seen footage of Gerrard in a bar fight, while Lampard made headlines for the wrong reason for his behaviour on 9/11 as well as a trip to Ayia Napa. Yet such episodes involving those two are forgotten one the whole, seemingly along with the success and achievements of Campbell and Cole.
Cole (with Lampard below) is arguably the most dependable performer in Premier League history and won every trophy there is in club football, some several times over.
Campbell was a brilliant defender as well, a two-time Premier League winner who was voted into the FIFA World Cup Allstar team in 2002 for his performances in South Korea and Japan.
The problem is, whether consciously or not, football owners think this way as well. Which is why Lampard and Gerrard both landed good jobs off the bat and one of the reasons Lampard, after one year of doing well enough with Derby, was fast-tracked to Chelsea.
Campbell, meanwhile, had to start his management career with Macclesfield at the bottom of League Two, while his second job is with Southend, relegated from League
One.
Just as Gerrard worked with Liverpool’s academy, so Cole is taking his first step with Chelsea’s.
But it would be folly to think he will walk into a job as big as Rangers, as Gerrard did, as soon as he feels he is ready for management.
Not just in sport but in life, there has long been a perception that white middle-class men are bred to lead and black men are not.
Disconnect
And as a result, white former players get opportunities that simply don’t exist for their black counterparts.
I remember asking Les Ferdinand a few years ago why he hadn’t gone into management and he just said: “Stan, there’s no point.”
He had a stellar playing career and sent off numerous applications when he first came out of the game but in a lot of situations he didn’t even get a reply. It shouldn’t matter what colour
I have the utmost respect for Jadon Sancho, but now is a crucial time. He footballers on the shoulder doesn’t affect him. He now needs to think like