Do English managers play more English players than foreigners?

There is theory in English football that English managers will play more English players as they understand how important the national team is. There is indictment every time an English manager such as Nigel Adkins is replaced by a foreign manager such as Mauricio Potchettino. As the example above shows, the indictment is not always correct. With Potchettino using a lot of young English players, I examine whether the typical English belief has any weight based on players used in the premier league so far this season. In total there have been 369 players used in the premier league season of which 260 have been foreign players compared to 109 English players. In total around 30% of players used this season have been English.

Arsenal- Foreign manager- 15 foreign players- 5 English players- 25% English

Aston Villa- foreign manager- 12 foreign players- 5 English players- 29% English

Cardiff City- Foreign manager- 10 foreign players- 9 English players- 47% English

Chelsea- Foreign manager- 16 foreign players- 4 English players- 20% English

Crystal Palace- English Manager- 13 foreign players- 5 English players- 28% English

Everton- foreign Manager- 10 foreign players- 6 English players- 38% English

Fulham- Foreign Manager- 16 foreign players- 6 English players- 27% English

Hull City- English Manager- 10 foreign players- 6 English players- 38% English

Liverpool- foreign Manager- 13 foreign players- 5 English players- 28% English

Manchester City- Foreign Manager- 15 foreign players- 4 English players- 21% English

Manchester United- Foreign Manager- 12 foreign players- 6 English players- 33% English

Newcastle United- English Manager- 17 foreign players- 2 English players- 11% English

Norwich City- English Manager- 12 foreign players- 6 English players- 33% English

Southampton- Foreign manager- 9 foreign players- 8 English players- 47% English

Stoke City- foreign manager- 13 foreign players- 5 English players- 28% English

Sunderland- foreign manager- 16 foreign players- 4 English players- 20% English

Swansea- foreign manager- 13 foreign players- 3 English players- 19% English

Tottenham- foreign manager- 13 foreign players- 6 English players- 32% English

West Brom- foreign manager- 14 foreign players- 6 English players- 30% English

West Ham- English manager- 11 foreign players- 8 English players- 42% English

279 players have been used by foreign managers this season with 197 being foreign compared to 82 being English leaving a percentage of 29% of players being English.

90 players have been used by English managers this season with 63 players being foreign and 27 being English leaving 30% of the players that have been used English.

The statistics above therefore show, albeit on a small sample of English managers in the premier league that it is a myth that English players are given more opportunities by English managers. This is further shown by Alan Pardew fielding the least amount of English players and he himself being an English manager. The two managers that have fielded the most English players this season are both foreign albeit Mackay is Scottish.

reasons for the lack of top English players in recent years

I saw an article during the week that Nathaniel Chalobah is now on £35,000 a week. Whether the statistic is correct or not it is clear that youngsters are given wages that are too high with Chalobah yet to make a big impact on a premier league first team. I saw Chalobah play last season a number of times and it is clear that the boy has big talent but that is all it is at the moment. Put yourself in Chalobah’s shoes, I don’t know what wages he was on before he signed his new contract but I’d be shocked if it was above £3,500 a week which of course is a still a large wage by society’s standards. The point I’m trying to make is that Chalobah was probably quite comfortable living on his previous wage, and it being increased by around 10 times would be difficult for anyone to comprehend and it certainly makes it difficult for players to stay grounded. If you were living comfortably off a wage and it got increased by 10 times, you’d probably want to spend the increase in wages and lead a more lavish lifestyle, it’s human nature. Young footballers don’t have a clue what to do with £35,000 a week and that is the key reason for the unnecessary lavish lifestyle footballers lead but it’s difficult to blame them for doing so. The wage could make Chalobah think that he’s made it and ironically that could lead him further away from making it as an England star. Chalobah’s case is common amongst the big clubs of England. There is evidence of this in the case of Nile Ranger, whilst I’m not saying that Ranger had the ability or potential of Chalobah it is shown that his problems at Newcastle started with a big money new contract. Whilst he’d had problems at other clubs, his problems had died down upon joining Newcastle before his 5 year contract. Similarly, I see the same potentially happening with Raheem Sterling who has already been involved in off- the pitch problems since his new contract. Clearly, I’m not saying that every youngster who gets a big new contract causes trouble off the pitch, but it is a very big ask for youngsters to ignore their new found riches and to live the same life as they did before. I saw an article in the Newcastle Journal about Newcastle blaming youngster James Tavernier for celebrating his new contract with a new car, but I wouldn't say that is an unexpected reaction to having a new contract. It’s difficult to blame anyone for their role in these affairs. For example, if Chelsea hadn’t offered Chalobah a huge wage increase, it’s possible he could have gone elsewhere with Arsenal showing an interest, this doesn’t shock me as Chalobah has huge potential and I think he could make it at the top level given the chance, Chelsea need to make sure to protect their investment I understand that. Clearly Chalobah is not going to ask for less money as that is not how most people work. The solution I think that could be used is some sort of universal wage cap on players, that until they have played over a certain amount of professional games, say 100 they should not be allowed such money, and then move the pay scheme up gradually not by giving players huge wage rises.

Secondly the length of the contract causes problems. Again taking Chalobah’s example as an 18 year old, he has a 5 year contract. If Chalobah becomes a first team regular at Chelsea within a couple of seasons this will not be an issue. However, if it so happens that in two years time, Chalobah has still not got a path to the first team, then it becomes complex and let’s face it, that is quite possible as Chelsea do not have the best record for bringing through young players. In an ideal situation, Chalobah would leave to another premier league club, and at 20 would still have time to make it as a star.  However, with a 5 year contract, Chelsea would demand a big fee for him and the wages will mean that it would be costly for a potential bidder and it is likely to put off other premier league clubs. Therefore, it is possible that a cluster of loan spells will be all a youngster has to show by the time he is 22 or 23 when he would eventually leave the club. Whilst I’ve seen fans argue that the best youngsters will rise to the top , many of the youngsters that were so talked about have barely progressed at all. Josh McEachran is one such example. Whilst he is only 20, he was talked about as Chelsea’s star of the future only a couple of years ago but he hasn’t stepped up at all. He hasn’t impressed in loan spells and is probably as far away from the Chelsea first team as ever and he probably needs a move to fulfil his undoubted potential and it’s not too late for him. But guess what, he has given a 5 year contract meaning he has another 3 years left on his contract, another 2 or 3 years without first team football would mean it will be too late for him to become a world class player as he was once hyped to be. Team’s would have to pay a decent sum to sign him and his wages may be quite expensive. People argue Chalobah is the best thing to come through the Chelsea academy in years, but they argued the same about McEachran only 2 years ago.

 On the flip side of this, Ross Barkley may finally be given a chance to fulfil his potential at Everton which is really pleasing to see, I felt that it may be time for him to move on after a couple of unsuccessful loan spells but due to Martinez’s faith I can see him thriving and this shows that sometimes youngsters just need a run of games and a manager that believes in them. Andy Carroll is a good example, he was almost sold by Newcastle for £1million but upon relegation Newcastle were forced to rely on him. In the first half of the championship season he was average at best. The second half of the season saw him take off and the rest is history. A number of years ago Glen Johnson was sold by Chelsea at a young and Portsmouth took the chance and he has become one of the best right backs in England. For that to happen now, it takes a huge gamble due to the length of contracts and high wages being offered to young players. It means a high net cost for clubs. Liverpool had to pay £12million to sign Daniel Sturridge and must people at the time thought it was a waste of money, its turned out to be a very good signing but how many managers would have taken that chance? The funny thing is that Sturridge would probably be Chelsea’s top striker now, but they didn’t give him a run of first team games in his best position and it meant that Sturridge’s career had to be saved by Liverpool. 

Does Deadline day lead to panic signings? analysis of the 2012 summer window

Does Deadline day lead to panic signings?

There are several arguments that deadline day leads to panic signings as shown by the failed transfers of Andy Carroll and Fernando Torres for inflated fees. Having said that there is a lot of evidence of smart business being done on such a hectic day with Christian Benteke and Hugo Lloris both being signed at excellent value last season. This shows the varying statistics of success between deadline day signings and signings before the last day of the window.

Deadline day transfer business

Charlie Adam- Liverpool £4million- miss

Christian Benteke- Genk £7million- hit

Berbatov- Manchester United- £5million- hit

Clint Dempsey (Fulham, £6m)- miss

Javi Garcia (Benfica, £16m) miss

Pablo Hernandez (Valencia, £5.55m) hit

Hugo Lloris (Lyon, £13m), hit

Maicon (Inter Milan, £5.5m), miss

Matija Nastasic (Fiorentina, £12m), hit

Steven Nzonzi (Blackburn, £3.5m) hit

Stephane Mbia (Marseille, £6m) miss

Bryan Oviedo (FC Copenhagen, £5m), miss

Gaston Ramirez (Bologna, £10M) miss

Scott Sinclair (Swansea, £8m) miss

Ashley Westwood (Crewe, £2million) hit

Richard Wright (PNE, Free) miss

7 out of 16 successful- 43.75%

Santi Cazorla (Malaga, £16.5m)- hit

 Olivier Giroud (Montpellier, £13m)- hit

Lukas Podoloski (Cologne, £11m)- hit

Ron Vlaar (Feyenoord, £3m) hit

Karim El Ahmadi (Feyenoord, £2m) miss

Brett Holman (AZ Alkmaar, free), miss

Eden Hazard (Lille, £32m) hit

Oscar (Internacional, £25m) hit

Marko Marin (Werder Bremen, £7m) miss

Cesar Azpilicueta (Marseille, £7m) hit

Steven Naismith (Rangers, free) hit

 Kevin Mirallas (Olympiakos, £5.2m) hit

Mladen Petric (Hamburg, free) hit

Ashkan Dejagah (Wolsfburg, £2m) hit

Fabio Borini (Roma, £7m) miss

Shinji Kagawa (Dortmund, £17m), miss

Alexander Buttner (Vitesse Arnhem, £4m) hit

Vurnon Anita (Ajax, £6.7m) hit

Romain Amalfitano (Reims, free) miss

Steven Whittaker (Rangers, free), hit

 Alexander Tettey (Rennes, £1.25M), hit

Samba Diakite (Nancy, £4m), miss

Esteban Granero (Real Madrid, £9m),miss

Maya Yoshida (VVV-Venlo, £2M) hit

Emmanuel Mayuka (Young Boys Berne, £3M) miss

Steven Davis (Rangers, free),hit

, Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo, £2.3m), hit

Jamie Ness (Rangers, free) miss

Maurice Edu (Rangers, £4m), miss

Michu (Rayo Vallecano, £2m),hit

 Jose Manuel Flores (Genoa, £2m), hit

Jan Vertonghen (Ajax, £10m), hit

Gylfi Sigurdsson (Hoffenheim, £8m),hit

Markus Rosenberg (Werder Bremen, free), miss

Claudio Yacob (Racing Club de Avellaneda, free) hit

Modibo Maiga (Sochaux, £5m), miss

Alou Diarra (Marseille, £2m), miss

Arouna Kone (Levante, £3m), hit

Ivan Ramis (Real Mallorca, £4.5m),hit

Matthew Lowton (Sheffield United, £3m)- hit

Joe Bennett (Middlesbrough, £2.5m) hit

Victor Moses (Wigan, £9m), miss

Steven Pienaar (Tottenham, £4.5m), hit

Hugo Rodallega (Wigan, free), hit

 Kieran Richardson (Sunderland, undisclosed), miss

Joe Allen (Swansea, £15m), miss

Jack Rodwell (Everton, £12m), miss

Robin van Persie (Arsenal, £24m) hit

Gael Bigirimana (Coventry, £1.5M) hit

Sebastian Bassong (Tottenham, £3m), hit

Robert Snodgrass (Leeds, £3m) hit

 Michael Turner (Sunderland, £1.5m), hit

 Jacob Butterfield (Barnsley, £1.6m), miss

Mark Bunn (Blackburn, £1.5m) hit

Junior Hoilett (Blackburn, £3m), miss

Park Ji-sung (Manchester United, £5m), miss

 Robert Green (West Ham, free), miss

Ryan Nelsen (Tottenham, free), hit

Andrew Johnson (Fulham, free), miss

Jose Bosingwa (Chelsea, free) miss

Chris Gunter (Nottingham Forest, £2.5m), miss

Adrian Mariappa (Watford, £2.5m), miss

 Pavel Pogrebnyak (Fulham, free), miss

 Danny Guthrie (Newcastle, free), hit

Garath McCleary (Nottingham Forest, free) hit

Nicky Shorey (West Brom, free) hit

, Jay Rodriguez (Burnley, £6m), hit

Nathaniel Clyne (Crystal Palace, £3m), hit

 Michael Kightly (Wolves, £2m) miss

Louis Saha (Tottenham, free) miss

Carlos Cuellar (Aston Villa, free) hit

Steven Fletcher (Wolves, £15m) hit

 Adam Johnson (Manchester City £10m) miss

Mousa Dembele (Fulham, £15m), hit

Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City, £5m),miss

Ben Foster (Birmingham, £2m),hit

Matt Jarvis (Wolves, £10.75m), miss

 James Collins (Aston Villa, £3m),  hit

Stephen Henderson (Portsmouth, £1m),  miss

George McCartney (Sunderland, £1m), miss

Jussi Jaaskelainen (Bolton, free), hit

Mohamed Diame (Wigan, free), hit

48 out of 81= 59.2%

There weren’t as many deadline day signings as usual last year, so maybe the stats are slightly unreliable, nonetheless, there seems to be a trend that the better signings are made before deadline day and a number of deadline day signings can be seen as evidence of panic buying, namely the Scott Sinclair transfer to Manchester City followed by Roberto Mancini using him sparingly.