7 Premier league managers from Glasgow

big_white_dog84 · 5 May 2011 at 10:38

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9475000/9475696.stm

From next season we'll probably have:

Alex McLeish
Alex Ferguson
Paul Lambert
David Moyes
Owen Coyle
Kenny Dalglish
Steve Kean
...and possible Billy Davies

...all from Glasgow and surrounding towns.

Is this coincidence or is there something more to it? The radio clip makes an attempt to explain it, talking about Glasgwegian childhoods changing managers' attitudes etc, but I don't think that is enough to explain 40% of the EPL managers being from such a small area.

HangTime · 5 May 2011 at 13:36

Well Glasgow is probably one of the biggest footballing towns in Britain outside of London (in terms of lack of other sports to compete with and having two big clubs), so a lot of people there will be brought up with football. And then obviously as a manager the EPL will have a strong appeal because of all the money involved, I mean someone like McLeish is a great example, he had the two biggest jobs he could in Scotland (National job and one of the old firm) and yet he still chose to leave to go to an average English side like Birmingham.

Lets be honest, ignoring national pride etc and focusing more on how much can I get paid / have to spend / quality of competiion, most British managers would rather manage in the EPL.

Now obviously you would expect London to have a lot of managers too, but one thing I reckon is worth mentioning is that English players from recent years don't actually need a proper career after they finish playing because of all the $$$$ they racked up in the EPL glory days.

Meekal · 5 May 2011 at 14:15

HangTime said:
McLeish is a great example, he had the two biggest jobs he could in Scotland (National job and one of the old firm) and yet he still chose to leave to go to an average English side like Birmingham.

Being a Rangers FC Fan, I wouldn't say mcleish chose to leave, more of a case, he was told he was being replaced. He was going through a bad spell at the club just before he left.

But anyway, back to the point at hand. 7 Glaswegian managers out of 20, in the worlds "top" league is an amazing accomplishment.

No1newts · 5 May 2011 at 14:22

I will agree it is a good acheivement, but lets be honest here Steve Kean wouldnt deserve to manage my local pub team never mind Blackburn.

semi-pro waster · 5 May 2011 at 20:10

HangTime said:
Well Glasgow is probably one of the biggest footballing towns in Britain outside of London (in terms of lack of other sports to compete with and having two big clubs), so a lot of people there will be brought up with football. And then obviously as a manager the EPL will have a strong appeal because of all the money involved, I mean someone like McLeish is a great example, he had the two biggest jobs he could in Scotland (National job and one of the old firm) and yet he still chose to leave to go to an average English side like Birmingham.

I'm still a fair way from forgiving him for leaving the National team. However with that aside it's quite remarkable that there should be 7 out of the 20 as being from Scotland, nevermind from just near Glasgow - it's punching well above their weight in terms of size of population for Scotland.

I wonder if apart from a certain level of talent to get these guys there if there's also a perception that helps Scottish managers following greats such as Bill Shankly, Sir Matt Busby, Jock Stein, Sir Alex Ferguson etc - whether they actually display such greatness themselves is less important than the belief from the people hiring them that some of the brilliance of these men will be evident in any Scottish manager.

Greenlizard0 · 5 May 2011 at 20:57

Fair play to them, there are a few names I really respect, however I wouldn't say it's anything more than a coincidence.

weescott · 5 May 2011 at 23:03

A coincidence would be 3 maybe 4, not 7! Glasgow is THE biggest footballing town in Britain. Scot's might not be able to play great football, but they have the perfect mentality to tell others how it should be played.

Rich_L · 6 May 2011 at 06:49

There must be something in the Scottish dialect that incomprehensible shouted nonsense translates bith inadvertently and inexplicably universally to tactical genius

semi-pro waster · 6 May 2011 at 07:41

Rich_L said:
There must be something in the Scottish dialect that incomprehensible shouted nonsense translates bith inadvertently and inexplicably universally to tactical genius

Maybe that's just fear the manager's going to stick the heid on you if you let him down? Or kick a football boot into your napper.

Rich_L · 6 May 2011 at 08:47

Yeah er, that

4-5-1 pressing k boss whatever you say

Toryglen-boy · 9 May 2013 at 14:18

semi-pro waster said:
I'm still a fair way from forgiving him for leaving the National team. However with that aside it's quite remarkable that there should be 7 out of the 20 as being from Scotland, nevermind from just near Glasgow - it's punching well above their weight in terms of size of population for Scotland.

I wonder if apart from a certain level of talent to get these guys there if there's also a perception that helps Scottish managers following greats such as Bill Shankly, Sir Matt Busby, Jock Stein, Sir Alex Ferguson etc - whether they actually display such greatness themselves is less important than the belief from the people hiring them that some of the brilliance of these men will be evident in any Scottish manager.

Have you ever been to Glasgow? i was born 2 streets away from SAF, and grew up there in the 70's its dog eat dog. there tenacity outweighs anything in the UK. as i said to me boss lately "dont kick me when i am down ... because when i get back up .... you are ******"

Please fully star out all swearing in future. Thank you.

semi-pro waster · 9 May 2013 at 19:23

Toryglen-boy said:
Have you ever been to Glasgow? i was born 2 streets away from SAF, and grew up there in the 70's its dog eat dog. there tenacity outweighs anything in the UK. as i said to me boss lately "dont kick me when i am down ... because when i get back up .... you are ******"

I have been a couple of times although I'm still not sure whether that's more or less often than I'd like it to be.

You're probably right and tenacity helps as well as sheer bloody-mindedness but I still wonder if some of the reason why Scottish managers continue to be pursued is due to their perceived qualities (ability via reputation of the group) rather than necessarily actual results based choice.

Toryglen-boy · 10 May 2013 at 05:02

ooops! soz for the swearing

Jokester · 10 May 2013 at 06:53

Only Moyes left from next season I think? Personally I think SPW has hit it on the head about them being rated better than they really are due to that perceived Glasgow thing.