Sean Dyche on foreign managers and VAR

Sean Dyche has called for English managers to be given more opportunities within the Premier League.

The former Everton boss was sacked after 18 months in charge at Goodison Park, leaving just Eddie Howe and the then-newly appointed Graham Potter as the only English managers in charge of Premier League clubs.

Dyche feels that more domestic coaches should be given chances to prove themselves at the top level.

“I think there are 14 foreign-owned clubs [in the Premier League] so it’s fair to say that they might look at foreign managers because they’re foreign to the football,” said Dyche on Stick to Football.

“So that’s one thing already that puts you under pressure as an English manager. You need one to pop out of the woods like Eddie [Howe] who’s doing great and hopefully can do better because that gives everyone a bit more belief in the system.

“You need opportunity. We’re not going to change the Premier League overnight but I think the media can sell it differently and go ‘hang on a minute, there are some very good English coaches and managers out there, let’s look at them’.

“Eddie gets a bit of kudos but I think he could get more. Where is the next one? I don’t know.”

The prevalence of foreign coaches in England is another part of the evolution of the Premier League, but there’s one significant change that Dyche is in favour of.

When asked if he’s in favour of VAR, Dyche said: “Yes for me. I don’t like it for fans, I think it’s really hard for fans but having been a manager and been on the knife-edge of success and failure on a referee’s decision many times, particularly at Burnley when it was close to the end of the season.

“You’ve got a lot riding on that. For you, for your team, contracts, money, fans, populus, all of it riding on a decision.”

“I do buzz off it, people going ‘yeah but it shouldn’t be allowed, it was only a toe offside’, and I think ‘yeah, a toe, a thing you score with, so therefore he’s offside’, what’s the debate? No one score with their toe? I can’t work that one out.”

“There’s no two ways about it in my opinion, before VAR, the big clubs got the decisions. Sam Allardyce was right with that, I witnessed it all the time with Burnley, you playing whoever you’re playing and think ‘we’re not getting that’, so VAR does even that out a bit.”

VAR has been much maligned since its introduction, and while it has reduced refereeing errors, critics point to it slowing the game down, and fans at the match being in the dark over decisions.

One suggestion was for referees to explain their decision to the fans at the time, as is done in other sports, but Dyche has spoken out against the move.

“Referees are already getting battered,” said Dyche. “They’re already getting hammered, and you think that by explaining to the fans they’re all going to sit there and go ‘yeah he’s right you know’?”

Liam Williams

• Premier League
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