[center]Clubs still think black managers lack intelligence,' says Barnes[/center]

John Barnes, the footballer who braved the torrent of abuse which epitomised Britain's racial intolerance of black players in the 1980s, has declared that a generation of black managers is being lost to the sport because of a belief that they lack the intellectual ability of their white counterparts.


Barnes, who comes face to face with one of only two other black managers, Paul Ince, when his Tranmere Rovers side face Ince's MK Dons tonight, has struggled for nine years to regain a position in British management after his brief and ultimately unsuccessful spell at Celtic ended in 2000. He has put that struggle down to the sport's failure to give a black manager the same second chance as a white one. Though Ince found work again, seven months after his brief Blackburn tenure ended, he has reverted to the League One side which he left for the top flight.

"Until we are considered to be intellectually equal, we will never be equal," Barnes said. "In the 1970s you didn't have black goalkeepers or centre-halves – or not many. If you were a black player you had to play on the wing where you're fast and didn't have to think too much. These are all the misconceptions people had.


"Then all those myths were dispelled and you had players like [Portsmouth's] David James and Sol Campbell coming through and this whole stereotype about black players playing in certain position or not being very good in the winter has slowly been dispelled. Now you have black coaches in the academies but until you say 'this man has the same intellectual ability whether he is black or he is white' there is still that same question mark.

"In the '70s there was a generation of black goalkeepers and centre-halves lost to the game of football. The 1990s and the early 21st century, to 2020, will be the decade when potential black managers will be lost to the game of football. So when Theo Walcott is a 45-year-old black manager he will speak to black players who will say, 'We can't believe you have to go through that, we don't have to go through that.' My contemporaries and I are the management equivalent of those black centre halves."

Barnes (left), who joined Liverpool from Watford in 1987, endured racist abuse as a player, once famously backheeling a banana that had been thrown at him. He was unwilling to be interviewed for Out of his Skin, the John Barnes Phenomenon, Dave Hill's seminal book, published in 1989, which explored his treatment. But while his ability on the field of play – he helped Liverpool to their last league title 20 seasons ago – gave Barnes the last word against those who heaped vitriol upon him, a dozen attempts to get jobs in management since Celtic sacked him (after the club's Scottish Cup defeat by Inverness Caledonian Thistle) have failed to elicit a single interview and none of the Premier League clubs he has approached, supported by recommendations from Graham Taylor, Sir Bobby Robson and Terry Venables, have responded to him. White managers would have had been given another chance, Barnes said.

"There's nothing you can do because you can't tell a chairman to give you a job," said the former England international, who was hired by Tranmere, having managed his native Jamaican national side through a run of 11 games unbeaten.

Barnes' desire to return to management at any professional level has seen him take up the reins at the Birkenhead club. Tranmere have been put up for sale by their owner, Peter Johnson, and have seen five of last season's regular first XI leave the club as the wage bill has been slashed by a third.

League Two Macclesfield Town's Keith Alexander is the only other black manager in the Football League. The former Luton Town player Ricky Hill was named their manager in July 2000 but sacked 11 months later and has never returned to British management. Keith Curle lasted five years between Mansfield, Town, Chester City and Torquay United and is now a coach at Crystal Palace.

Intelligence was never a requisite competence for management, rather interpersonal skills and diligence. John Barnes has issues.

Ibime:

Intelligence was never a requisite competence for management, rather interpersonal skills and diligence. John Barnes has issues.

On the contrary, I think he has a point. . .albeit a very valid one too.

It will take a while for the stereotypes to be erased. Even Nigerians for a long while thought foreign coaches were better than local ones

Ibime

i didnt read eldes culled post but had to post when i saw ur response

i disagree
Diligence and interpersonal skills arent enuff to be a good coach

Anybody can be diligent!
what does it take to be a diligent coach? Nothin
what does it take to be an intelligent coach? i guess thats out of the ordinary cos people like Amodu and Chukwu no matter how diligent they are will still not perform

How can diligence and interpersonal skills be the pre-requisites for having a sound way of reading the game?

Frank Rijkaard is black isn't he?

Maybe Clubs just think Barnes lacks intelligence. From the nonsense he's spewing I agree with them.

tkb417:

Ibime

i didnt read eldes culled post but had to post when i saw ur response

i disagree
Diligence and interpersonal skills arent enuff to be a good coach

Anybody can be diligent!
what does it take to be a diligent coach? Nothin
what does it take to be an intelligent coach? i guess thats out of the ordinary cos people like Amodu and Chukwu no matter how diligent they are will still not perform

How can diligence and interpersonal skills be the pre-requisites for having a sound way of reading the game?

Dont be silly. Most of these coaches dont have 2 GCSEs to rub together. I wonder how many qualifications SAF has?

What was John Barnes doing when people like Jean Tigana came to take his place at the top table? John Barnes was busy leading Celtic to ignominious defeats against the likes of Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

I love the dude John Barnes. Infact my nickname has always been John Barnes cos I resemble the guy, but he is chatting shit.

If u are good enough, u are black enough although I still think there is internal racism with regards to the limited amount of ethnic minority coaches .

Ibime:

Infact my nickname has always been John Barnes cos I resemble the guy, but he is chatting shit.

don't flatter urself jare . U resemble wetin? where is ur proof?

Ibime:

Dont be silly. Most of these coaches dont have 2 GCSEs to rub together. I wonder how many qualifications SAF has?

What was John Barnes doing when people like Jean Tigana came to take his place at the top table? John Barnes was busy leading Celtic to ignominious defeats against the likes of Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

I love the dude John Barnes. Infact my nickname has always been John Barnes cos I resemble the guy, but he is chatting shit.

what does intelligence have to do with paper qualification?
help me out cos im slow in grabbing lil things

Krayola2:



Frank Rijkaard is black isn't he?

Maybe Clubs just think Barnes lacks intelligence. From the nonsense he's spewing I agree with them.

What you just posted doesn't hold any water. . .
It's just like saying something like . . . 'Because Obama's President, there's no racism in America'

Ibime:

Dont be silly. Most of these coaches dont have 2 GCSEs to rub together. I wonder how many qualifications SAF has?

What was John Barnes doing when people like Jean Tigana came to take his place at the top table? John Barnes was busy leading Celtic to ignominious defeats against the likes of Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

I love the dude John Barnes. Infact my nickname has always been John Barnes cos I resemble the guy, but he is chatting shit.

How can you say he's chatting shit?? He gave evidence of how stereotypes have and will still affect decisions in football.

So you actually believe that educational achievements should be a yardstick for measuring intelligence?? Come on. . .

How can you say he's chatting shit?? He gave evidence of how stereotypes have and will still affect decisions in football.

So you actually believe that educational achievements should be a yardstick for measuring intelligence?? Come on. . .

i need him to explain that part to me

chic2pimp:

don't flatter urself jare . U resemble wetin? where is ur proof?

I am glad you know John Barnes is a fine bwoy. . . . just like me!  

eldee:

How can you say he's chatting shit?? He gave evidence of how stereotypes have and will still affect decisions in football.

So you actually believe that educational achievements should be a yardstick for measuring intelligence?? Come on. . .

I am not discounting that there is truth in his assertion. . . . however, I am questioning the motive behind it. . . . he seems to be blaming peoples perception of his skin colour as the reason behind his failure. . . . the fact remains that John Barnes got the best job that anyone could hope to get (except Pep) upon retiring. . . . he immediately took Celtic into the doldrums, finally getting fired after losing 3-1 at home to Inverness. . . . on top of that, his performances on his Channel 5 show, where hes always sweating and fumbling his words would make any club owner question whether he's suitable for management.

@topic

i dont think so, Coaching is more of common sense and instinct You can have the best team, but if you do not know how to position them well, you may end up losing

Ibime:

I am glad you know John Barnes is a fine bwoy. . . . just like me!

na who dash monkey banana? *shior*

He mentioned some important points we should examine

1. In the 70s, black players were forced into positions were intelligence where quick thinking wasn't required.

In the 1970s you didn't have black goalkeepers or centre-halves – or not many. If you were a black player you had to play on the wing where you're fast and didn't have to think too much. These are all the misconceptions people had.

2. It's easier getting a job as a manager when you're white.

First black football League manager 1960 . . . it took 33 years for another black manager to get a League job. Where there not black managers??

3. White managers get second chances

'There are lots of bad white managers – but they usually get second chances'

4. It will soon end . . . and intelligent players like Theo Walcott will become great managers

eldee:

'There are lots of bad white managers – but they usually get second chances'

great point

Ibime:

I am not discounting that there is truth in his assertion. . . . however, I am questioning the motive behind it. . . . he seems to be blaming peoples perception of his skin colour as the reason behind his failure. . . . the fact remains that John Barnes got the best job that anyone could hope to get (except Pep) upon retiring. . . . he immediately took Celtic into the doldrums, finally getting fired after losing 3-1 at home to Inverness. . . . on top of that, his performances on his Channel 5 show, where hes always sweating and fumbling his words would make any club owner question whether he's suitable for management.

What you're doing is throwing the bathwater away with the baby.
It took John Barnes 9 years to come back from management after one flop. (He won his first 11 matches)
This was despite the fact that he had many of his friends like Terry Venables and Sir Bobby Robson.

''But should the fact I wasn't successful at Celtic mean I couldn't be successful in League Two?" - John Barnes.

eldee:

What you just posted doesn't hold any water. . .
It's just like saying something like . . . 'Because Obama's President, there's no racism in America'

Barnes' argument is that black managers do not get a second chance. . .Rijkaard had 2 shambolic seasons at Barca before he left.

Rijkaard coached the Dutch national team despite not having any experience.

He then coached Rotterdam and they got relegated for the first time in their history. His next job was at FC barcelona!!

Do u know how many white managers also applied to EPL teams and did not get a single interview? do u know their credentials? I don't. But I think that would be useful information to have before pulling the race card.