Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe may be coming under the microscope at St James’ Park, but he has received a huge pat-on-the-back as blazing a trail for English coaches, according to Birmingham City boss Chris Davies.
The Magpies may have a problem with their away form at present, picking up just three points on their travels so far this season, but the boss of the Tyneside club is carrying a torch for his peers in the domestic game.
Until Rob Edwards was appointed at bottom-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers, Newcastle's chief was the only English boss in the top-flight.
Davies Hails Howe After Silverware-Winning Spell
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe after losing to West Ham United.
Yet Birmingham City boss Davies has given Howe a ringing endorsement, highlighting how the 47-year-old is carrying a flag for the rest of his profession - while making Newcastle competitive on a national and international stage.
Davies said: “Since the Premier League was formed, there has been the introduction of a lot of foreign coaches to it. Particularly from the early 2000s onwards, and it has enhanced the game a lot.
“You think of Pep Guardiola and the influence he’s had… Carlo Ancelotti, a brilliant Italian manager, Portuguese, Brazilians, they’ve all come to what is seen as the best league in the world.
“I think it has developed our players a lot. And a lot of those players have gone on to become managers. I think it has developed coaches a lot and I think we’re now in a position where English coaches should be respected on that same level.
“I don’t see the disparity. I don’t think it’s true, as it maybe once was, that they are more enhanced than some of our coaches. So, I think Eddie winning a trophy is big - and not just winning a trophy - by competing in the Champions League.
“He's the best English manager. And I'm excited to see that, because I think that to go and make that kind of impact in England as an English coach would be sensational.
“I’ve really admired the work he’s done. He's had to do it the hard way. He's come up from League Two all the way to the Premier League.
“Now he’s won a trophy and Newcastle United are playing in the Champions League. So he's a great example, but not just an example of how he's coached, how he is as a person. You can see his leadership skills and he's a good role model, I think, for a lot of coaches.”
Davies Wants More English Coaches to Secure Top Jobs
Birmingham City boss Chris Davies on the touchline
Howe may have won the Carabao Cup with Newcastle last season - ending a 70-year wait for silverware on Tyneside. But no English manager or head coach has won the Premier League. And that record is likely to be extended to 34 years next May.
The counter-argument is that English coaches are rarely given a chance to shine at clubs that compete for honours. It didn’t help that the last one to be handed the opportunity was Graham Potter at Chelsea. And that didn’t begin or end well. However, Davies feels that the gap is closer now.
He added: “I think the respect, internationally, for English coaches has grown. Gareth Southgate commanded respect for what he did with the national side.
“I still question however, whether that’s enough for English coaches to command, more consistently, the top jobs, which I think we should do, in this country, if we can.
“No English manager has ever won the Premier League. A Scot won it many, many times - and that’s really interesting because 33 or 34 years of no English manager winning the English Premier League, which is seen as the best league in the world, is a strange one. I think there are positive signs towards that gap being closed. For me, that’s the next step.”