It’s time to close the door on unqualified coaches

By aLEX sMITH

Published:

THE decision to appoint Gareth Southgate as Middlesbrough manager two years ago when he did not have the necessary qualifications set a precedent.

Paul Ince, who also does not have his coaching badges, has been given the Blackburn job this week and it is time for the FA to close the door.

These appointments are devaluing the coaching qualifications and are also unfair to the people who are putting in the hard work to get their Uefa A or Pro Licences and are then left on the outside when the big jobs come up.

I don’t think Uefa will put up with it for much longer either because they have been very keen in setting up the qualification process and if you look across Europe, clubs in Italy, Spain, Germany or Holland would not even consider anyone for a position at the highest level unless they were suitably qualified.

Ince had a fantastic career at the top level and he has also had some experience at managing in the lower leagues in England at Macclesfield and MK Dons. But he has been a manager for less than two years and in my opinion his experience is far too little for a job in the Premier League.

Paul will do his badges in the next two years, but quite how he will juggle the pressures of a high-profile job with intensive work on his qualifications is beyond me. There will not be enough hours in the day.

There is a reason we have these coaching qualifications, they are not just a means to an end. Management is hard enough, but these courses, which can take up to three or five years to complete, stand managers in good stead.

They do not create good managers, but they make them better equipped.

I have been taking the coaching course at the SFA’s base in Largs since 1982 and assessing coaches for 20 years and I think it is a vital experience for them.

The advice handed down is invaluable.

I remember David Moyes taking his qualifications when he was just 24 – just ask him how important he felt they were. The one thing Ince will not be short on is advice.

Football must be the only industry when the experienced people readily offer help to others without charging a consultancy fee.

Guys such as Sir Alex Ferguson, Jim and Tommy McLean and myself could easily pick up the phone to managers such as Jock Stein, Bill Shankly, Eddie Turnbull and Willie Waddell and ask for advice.

It is that kind of help that is on hand when you sit your coaching qualifications and there are times in your career when you have to call on every single minute of your experience to get through a situation.

Ince will only be able to dip into a very shallow pool but he will get advice and I hope that he does succeed.

He does seem to have the desire and the ability to become a good manager.

Time will tell but it could quite easily go the other way and the big risk is that Paul might not get another chance.