Liam Rosenior’s arrival at Chelsea offers him the chance to change the course of Premier League history for English managers and head coaches.
Since the Premier League’s inception almost 34 years ago, one of its great anomalies is that no English names have appeared on the managerial roll of honour as winners.
Howard Wilkinson, now 82 and a long-time elder statesman of the game, was the last Englishman to lift the title with Leeds United in 1991-92, but in the league’s previous guise as the First Division.
Since then, 12 managers have led their team to Premier League triumph, but no English managers have claimed the coveted crown, the list dominated by proud Scot Sir Alex Ferguson’s 13 wins and Catalan Pep Guardiola’s six titles at Manchester City.
Rosenior, 41, is only the fourth permanent English manager currently in the Premier League after moving from Strasbourg – joining Nottingham Forest‘s Sean Dyche, Newcastle United‘s Eddie Howe and Burnley boss Scott Parker.
Michael Carrick is taking over from sacked Ruben Amorim at Manchester United, but only until the end of the season, and the fallen Old Trafford giants have a long road back to title aspirations.
This small ratio of English managers in the Premier League is way behind Europe’s accepted top five leagues when it comes to national representation.
Sixteen of the 20 top-flight managers in Italy are Italian, 11 of the 20 in Spain are Spanish, 12 of the 18 in Germany are German and 10 of the 18 in France are French.
Including caretakers and interim appointments, there have been 92 non-British and Irish managers in Premier League history.
The current table is led by Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, followed by Guardiola at Manchester City and Aston Villa‘s Unai Emery – three Spaniards.
So why has the Premier League eluded English managers – and can anyone end that drought?