Twitchy back at St Marys

[Pompey Penguin]

I always thought that Hughes did a pretty good job at Man. City. It was before the money poured into the club, and he seemed to get them moving in the right direction. Unfortunately for him (but probably correctly), he wasn't regarded as the manager to attract the top players to a free-spending club and he was let go. Overall, I would rate Hughes as a competent PL manager, but nothing more. He certainly won't excite the fans, but that isn't his job for the next two months.

[The Cincinnati Kid]

I guess my beef is...why do Hughes / Moyes / Pardew etc etc etc keep getting their mediocrity recycled time after time (cue Cyndi Lauper tape) yet English managers from the lower leagues seem to be ignored. I'm struggling to think of an English / scots/Welshman that has been plucked out of divisions 2 through 4 for a prem job....unless they got there themselves ie Chris Houghton / eddie Howe.
I could have done better than Moyes since Everton

Its either recycled guy or Johnny Foreigner.

I'll exempt Big Sam as hes got a great track record saving teams from relegation.

[Pompey Penguin]

I think there are a number of issues here.

Most of the top Championship sides are the same as lower half PL sides; managed by either the usual suspects who have had a few goes in the PL or foreign managers. The few that aren't have managers on the up who know that they are better off staying put (e.g. at Brighton, Bournemouth) than risking things at an ordinary PL team.

It is a big jump from L1 or L2 to the PL. Paul Cook and Darren Ferguson are typical pretty successful managers at that level, and seem ambitious, but who would appoint them to a PL side? It would be a huge risk.

We are still in a situation where, if a vacancy does arise, then owners are dazzled by famous ex-PL players. Not club sides, but the appointments of Giggs at Wales and P. Neville at England Women are typical recent examples where players have got the chance to put themselves in the shop window.

Overall, we lack a proper structure that allows managers to move up the leagues on merit. Maybe this can't happen where 92 clubs are independent operations, most of which are desperate to survive and run on a strategy of short-term-ism. I agree with your argument, but don't see any way forward.