Snubbing Sol Campbell while Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard get big jobs is discrimination - we need Rooney Rule now
Campbell has been snubbed for roles as he looks to get into management, while former England stars were able to walk into positions
By
Stan Collymore
- 18:45, 4 JUN 2018
- UPDATED22:21, 4 JUN 2018
The Rooney Rule in football is now a must. And it is time for the discrimination to stop.
I understand all too well what discrimination is. I have been discriminated against in the past and continue to be.
I have won six major broadcasting awards but cannot get on any of the five or six main channels.
(1)
Some of that is because I’m outspoken and I’ve called people out in managerial positions. I get it.
But in football the closest Sol Campbell, one of our most decorated players, has got to a major job is the assistant mangers’ role with Trinidad and Tobago.
Meanwhile, Frank Lampard has walked straight into Derby for his first job.
Steven Gerrard has walked straight into Rangers.
Roy Keane walked straight into Sunderland. Joey Barton was unveiled as Fleetwood Town manager yesterday.
If I acknowledge that coaching and management is only partly about qualifications, having been in six, seven, eight or nine good clubs I can say a big part is leadership, personality and character.
Ok. Where has Joey Barton proved his character, leadership, managerial and captaincy skills over Campbell? He hasn’t.
Then people will go further down the list for excuses. They won’t look for racism until it is blatantly obvious.
So then they say ‘but Barton knows the guy at Fleetwood.’
(2)
Then it will be ‘Gerrard and Lampard are more relevant in modern football than Campbell.’
(3)
Another is people use the experiences of John Barnes and Paul Ince and say they didn’t get jobs because they were bad managers, not because of their colour.
But the numbers don’t add up.
The stats show that since 1990 one in four England internationals to retire have been from black or ethnic minority backgrounds but only one in seven has gone into a management job.
Meanwhile a white, ex-England player is twice as likely to end up in a managerial job as their black counterpart.
So now, it is time for the Rooney Rule, guaranteeing minorities proper consideration for positions.
(4)
And instead of friends giving friends jobs it is time for a merit-only based procedure.
Clubs should have to interview, for example, 10 candidates and out of those 10 there has to be a certain number who are of black or ethnic minority.
Then they can see the man, the whites of his eyes and they can put themselves there.
The excuses have got to stop. And if they don’t, pressure needs to be put on the PFA and the FA who have loosely agreed to put the Rooney Rule into effect and also the Premier League about, at some point, strike action.
Gary Neville nearly took the players out on strike over the PFA getting a certain amount of money from the Premier League. This is a million times more important.
His, and many people’s, colleagues are being discriminated against so they need to stand up and have a show of unity and say ‘we’re going to go on strike because we want the Rooney Rule. Look what it’s done in the NFL.’
Now we have black Super Bowl-winning coaches but 15, 20 years ago they were having exactly the same debate – ‘they’re not captaincy and leadership figures’ was the claim.
But at every turn those walls have been broken down and proven to be rubbish.
The notion that Gerrard and Lampard walk into those very high-profile jobs and that Campbell is scratching around in a part-time role, if that doesn’t accurately highlight discrimination I don’t know what does.
(5)
(1) Sorry, Stan, but thats more likely because you are a well publicised woman beating bell end. TV companies will not go near people with such poor PR in the first place, it leaves them exposed. Look at Carragher this season, golden boy immeidately (and indefinitely?) suspended after being caught spitting at someone.
(2) Barton does know the guy at Fleetwood (a man who prides himself on doing things differently). More importantly, he knows Barton.
In his own words:
“It doesn’t bother me. Clearly Joey regrets what occurred but I’m all about looking forwards.
“I really enjoy his company. He’s not the guy a lot of people believe him to be. He’s made mistakes in the past but so has everybody.
“He’s box office. If we want to increase the profile of the football club he’ll certainly do that.
“He’s very intelligent, he’s an excellent communicator, has huge energy levels and is very driven. He has all the attributes to be a top coach.
“He’s going to be raw, I understand that. There’s an responsibility on me and the other people at the football club to assist him. But I think he can take us right to the top of League One.
“He’s been managing in dressing rooms for years. He’s a leader. I think he can go on to blossom into one of the top coaches in the UK, and who knows, even Europe.”
If anyone is qualified to judge Bartons suitability, its him. Nepotism? Yeah, maybe, but racism? Absolutely not.
(3) Gerrard and Lampard ARE more relevant. They stuck around longer, won more, were higher profile. Nothing to do with race.
(4) Quite possiblynot a popular one here, but I do not want or like the Rooney rule. Positive discrimination is still discrimination.
(5) It doesnt show discrimination. It shows two people focused on building a management career, including the contacts, profile, background etc required, and one who is an utter bellend and lunatic who expects it to be offered on a plate.
