 |
| Source: football365.com |
Phil Neville has been appointed head coach of England Women
until the end of the 2021 UEFA Women’s Championships, and many people are not
happy about it.
For those of you that are unsure why this move by the
Football Association has been deemed ridiculous (after all, he did play for
England at one point), Neville has a complete lack of frontline management
experience. His so called ‘qualifications’ for this role include brief coaching
of Manchester United and Valencia but he has only ever managed one game – at
Salford City. Despite this he has no experience in the women’s game.
This has lead to confusion from both the media and fans,
which has only heightened at the discovery of tweets made by him in 2011/2012.
The mindless tweets range from general sexism to joking about domestic
violence: “Relax I’m back chilled – just battered the wife. Feel better now!”
Another one read: “U women always wanted equality until it
comes to paying the bills #hypocrites”
But this one really takes the cake, it doesn’t even seem like
a joke: “When I said morning men I thought the women would have been busy preparing
breakfast/getting kids ready/making the beds – sorry morning women!”
The tweets have been deleted and he has since apologised in a
statement released by the FA, explaining that the tweets were “not a true and
genuine reflection of either my character or beliefs”. Despite urges for the FA
to charge Neville for such comments, no action has been taken.
This has also highlighted the ongoing issue within women’s football
– a lack of women in top positions. Currently, there are only three Women’s
Super League 1 clubs that are managed by women, a figure many had hoped would
have changed by now.
As a result of Neville’s appointment, many have shared the
names of qualified people for the job instead; one of those being Mo Marley, a
former interim manager of England Women’s, though it has been alleged that she
did not want the full time position.
Additionally, people have spoken of Sarina Wiegman, who, in
2017, led the Netherlands team to victory in the Euro title. Then there is Silvia
Neid, who led the Germany team to gold at the Rio Olympics. These are just two of
many successful women qualified for the job. Can we really believe that none of
them could have been convinced to lead the third best team in the world, behind
only the US and Germany.
Many within the Women’s Football network, though they have
nothing against Neville, still believe this is an ill move by the FA due to his
lack of qualifications and it has been dubbed “an insult to male and female
coaches who are more suited to the role”.
Even if it is looked at from a profit perspective, the FA
could have surely offered a figure to drawn in someone far more qualified.
Having paid Gareth Southgate £1.8 million for the position of the England Men’s
manager, surely the FA had room enough to offer more than the £150,000 Mark
Sampson was paid, for his role as the previous Women’s manager. Whilst it
remains to be revealed how much exactly Neville is getting for his new job, we
can definitely say that it is nowhere near Gareth Southgate’s pay.
Inevitably, the lower salary Neville will be given, will
invite critics to question why the pay of the Women’s coach is so significantly lower than that of the Men’s
team, especially during a time where gender pay gap issues are at an all-time
high.
While it can be said that Neville’s appointment has brought
about attention towards the women’s game, the majority of that attention has
been focused on undermining the team. By awarding such a senior role to someone
with so little, in terms of qualifications and experience, it is implied that expertise
is not a necessity for the women’s teams, consequently making it easier for
people to dismiss the team or instead argue that the team are not to be taken
seriously.
This is yet another hurdle to equality for the women’s team
but there is faith that the England Women’s team will be able to prove that a
good manager is not the only way to become a winning team.
Thank you for reading!
Aman
Amazing
ReplyDelete