Stan Collymore has never been backwards in coming forwards with an opinion, and he’s laid bare the astonishing reality as to why Thomas Tuchel has found himself as coach of the England national team.
Once Gareth Southgate made it clear that he would be leaving the post, the smart money appeared to be on Pep Guardiola taking over, however, before Tuchel was announced, it already seemed clear that the Man City chief was looking to extend his contract with the club.
Eddie Howe was another name apparently in the frame, though Alan Shearer suggested his information that the Newcastle manager hadn’t even been approached was solid, and therefore a huge surprise to him.
Thomas Tuchel’s hire sees fingers being pointed at the FA
Plainly, that wasn’t a surprise to Collymore, and with good reason.
“We’re as far away as ever and we need to hold the FA to account as the guardian of the English game,” he told CaughtOffside for his exclusive column.
“They’re supposed to be pumping money into the game so that coaches are able to achieve a better and higher standard of coaching.
“[…] There is no incentive for them to do so at the moment. I had a look earlier this week, and the cost to undertake the FA Pro Licence is £13,700 – and that’s if you can get on a course.
“About two or three years ago, it was just €1,800 to do the equivalent of the Pro Licence course in Spain, and they’ve got 2,200 coaches that have qualified. By comparison, England has 200.”
Once it became clear that the likes of Howe, Graham Potter, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney were going to be overlooked, the FA left themselves with little option other than to go for a foreign coach.
Rooney even expressed surprise that the FA had gone for Tuchel (BBC Sport), with the German living or dying by his results.
But what happens for the future?
The FA clearly remain well behind the times, and there’s not one coach at St. George’s Park whose name readily springs to mind as being a potential exciting development for the national team further down the line.