Post by QPR Report on Oct 11, 2009 8:04:24 GMT
The Times -FA accused of failing English managers
Jonathan Northcroft, Football correspondent
THE professional body representing England’s top managers has accused the FA of “a complete lack of focus and investment” in training and developing coaches.
The League Managers Association (LMA), which counts Arsène Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson among its most stalwart members, is becoming increasingly disillusioned with the FA, the Professional Game Board of which last week turned down a request to help fund a programme aimed at improving coaches’ media skills. The board took its decision even though the FA’s own technical director, Sir Trevor Brooking, supports the scheme and the sum requested was relatively minor — £50,000.
Other complaints include the FA’s delay in establishing a National Training Centre, and the attitude of the FA chairman, Lord Triesman, whom the LMA perceives as aloof and dismissive of those in the game with technical expertise.
The FA vehemently rejected the LMA’s criticisms. “The FA takes the whole issue of learning and development of technical and other staff very seriously,” said Ian Watmore, the FA chief executive. “We spend millions of pounds a year on this and have our own football education company, FA Learning, to deliver it.”
Watmore said it was disingenuous to blame the FA alone for not funding the media skills scheme, pointing out that membership of the Professional Game Board is drawn largely from represent- atives of Premier League and Football League clubs.
However, LMA chief executive Richard Bevan, inset, pointed to the film industry, which spends 15 times more of its annual income than football on training technical and management, as evidence of FA under-funding.
“Generally there has been a complete lack of focus and investment from the FA in recognising the importance of training and development of technical personnel, whether it’s managers, coaches or referees, going back to the 1990s. Football spends the smallest amount on training and development of nearly any industry in Britain as a percentage of revenue generated,” Bevan said.
While about £10m (0.3%) of the £3.3bn made annually by the British film industry is reinvested in education, training and personal development for a workforce of technical and management staff — separate from what is spent on training actors — the LMA claims that just £500,000 of the £2.5bn generated yearly by England’s 92 league clubs goes on training for technical and management staff. “The development of coaches must start when people are still players. David Moyes started in his twenties and a player at Shrewsbury,” Bevan said.
“But it requires investment. We realise the FA has serious financial issues to deal with — it spent more on legal fees on Wembley than the Millennium stadium cost to build — but investment in development of coaches and managers must be a priority.”
The LMA’s media scheme would have involved hiring experts from the communications industry to give managers face-to-face coaching sessions aimed at improving their skills in press conferences and before the cameras. This is seen as vital to helping young managers avoid damaging their careers by making gaffes.
“We were disappointed the FA declined to agree a £50,000 contribution to the media development programme for managers and coaches,” added Bevan. “I had discussed it several months ago with the support of Trevor Brooking but the [Professional Game] Board allocated no budget.
“My experience is the Premier League are very supportive of programmes for managers, the FA less so.”
The row comes at a time when only 19 out of 44 managers in England’s top two divisions are English. The managers of four of the top six clubs in the Premier League, and the manager of the national team, were all trained in other countries.
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article6869426.ece
Jonathan Northcroft, Football correspondent
THE professional body representing England’s top managers has accused the FA of “a complete lack of focus and investment” in training and developing coaches.
The League Managers Association (LMA), which counts Arsène Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson among its most stalwart members, is becoming increasingly disillusioned with the FA, the Professional Game Board of which last week turned down a request to help fund a programme aimed at improving coaches’ media skills. The board took its decision even though the FA’s own technical director, Sir Trevor Brooking, supports the scheme and the sum requested was relatively minor — £50,000.
Other complaints include the FA’s delay in establishing a National Training Centre, and the attitude of the FA chairman, Lord Triesman, whom the LMA perceives as aloof and dismissive of those in the game with technical expertise.
The FA vehemently rejected the LMA’s criticisms. “The FA takes the whole issue of learning and development of technical and other staff very seriously,” said Ian Watmore, the FA chief executive. “We spend millions of pounds a year on this and have our own football education company, FA Learning, to deliver it.”
Watmore said it was disingenuous to blame the FA alone for not funding the media skills scheme, pointing out that membership of the Professional Game Board is drawn largely from represent- atives of Premier League and Football League clubs.
However, LMA chief executive Richard Bevan, inset, pointed to the film industry, which spends 15 times more of its annual income than football on training technical and management, as evidence of FA under-funding.
“Generally there has been a complete lack of focus and investment from the FA in recognising the importance of training and development of technical personnel, whether it’s managers, coaches or referees, going back to the 1990s. Football spends the smallest amount on training and development of nearly any industry in Britain as a percentage of revenue generated,” Bevan said.
While about £10m (0.3%) of the £3.3bn made annually by the British film industry is reinvested in education, training and personal development for a workforce of technical and management staff — separate from what is spent on training actors — the LMA claims that just £500,000 of the £2.5bn generated yearly by England’s 92 league clubs goes on training for technical and management staff. “The development of coaches must start when people are still players. David Moyes started in his twenties and a player at Shrewsbury,” Bevan said.
“But it requires investment. We realise the FA has serious financial issues to deal with — it spent more on legal fees on Wembley than the Millennium stadium cost to build — but investment in development of coaches and managers must be a priority.”
The LMA’s media scheme would have involved hiring experts from the communications industry to give managers face-to-face coaching sessions aimed at improving their skills in press conferences and before the cameras. This is seen as vital to helping young managers avoid damaging their careers by making gaffes.
“We were disappointed the FA declined to agree a £50,000 contribution to the media development programme for managers and coaches,” added Bevan. “I had discussed it several months ago with the support of Trevor Brooking but the [Professional Game] Board allocated no budget.
“My experience is the Premier League are very supportive of programmes for managers, the FA less so.”
The row comes at a time when only 19 out of 44 managers in England’s top two divisions are English. The managers of four of the top six clubs in the Premier League, and the manager of the national team, were all trained in other countries.
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article6869426.ece
