Patrick Vieira on opening up doors to management

Club

2 Mar 2023

Patrick Vieira discussed the difficulties of transitioning from playing to positions of power in football, as the keynote interviewee at the Financial Times’ Business of Football summit.

The Crystal Palace manager remains the sole black manager to be leading a club in the top-flight of men’s or women’s football in England.

Speaking to Financial Times Sports Editor, Josh Noble, Vieira reflected on that alarming statistic in a wide-ranging interview in which he also discussed his own journey to becoming a Premier League manager.

43% of the players in the Premier League are black, but only four percent of coaches in the Premier League and English Football League are black. In leadership positions, it’s 1.5% representation. Can you make any sense of why there are so few black people in positions of power in football?

“I think it’s quite disturbing really, and really difficult to understand.

“When you mention those stats, and looking at the number of minorities and black players you have, and you see how many stay in the game in those positions… it’s difficult to understand.

“I went through in my head and tried to understand the reason why, and I think it’s something we have to talk about. This is why I’m here today: it is something that has to change.

“I strongly believe that the passion for the game is still there and, after playing on the field… I believe there is an opportunity for us to stay in the game, but those opportunities are not there for us, and this is something that has to change.”

Where do you think the breakdown is there – what is the root cause?

“I think there is a lack of opportunity, a lack of trust, a lack of confidence. I’ve heard so many excuses like black ex-players don’t want to do their badges, but it’s not true.

“There are a lot of black ex-players, like myself, who are going through a proper journey through their badges – what they are waiting for is an opportunity to do something that they love, and those opportunities are not there, those doors are not open.

“When the doors are not open, it’s difficult for you to show your passion and show how good you can be.”

Talking about your own experience, at what point in your playing career did you think you wanted to be a coach?

“First of all, I never really thought about being a manager, but finishing my career at Manchester City, I was surrounded by people who wanted me to bring my experience to the game.

“Through the journey I went through with Manchester City, I spent time at the academy and when the opportunity was there, they gave me the [chance to manage the] Under-21s to really understand if I wanted to do that.

“That opportunity was really important because that was when I realised that going into coaching was something that would suit me, and something I really wanted to do.”

Then you had experience managing New York City FC and Nice – how did you make the move to Ligue 1 and then the Premier League?

“It was about building up credibility. I didn’t want to be a manager based on career I had, I wanted for people to make a judgment on me as a manager, so it was important to build myself to have this kind of credibility and experience to be where I am today, and for people to judge me on what I’ve been doing in the last couple of years and not my playing career.”

Does the onus fall on football clubs or governing bodies to be doing something?

“They all have a responsibility. The football bodies, the owners, the CEOs… when we’re talking about those figures, it’s something that is really difficult to believe.

“They have the responsibility to create those opportunities and open the doors for everyone who dreams and prepares to work hard around a football club.

“It’s not just about being a manager, it’s about how can someone be a Sporting Director, or a black person can be a CEO of a football club. There are people knocking on the door, and what we hope and want is that door to be opened and to have a proper interview, and to have the chance to achieve those positions.”

The Government recently published a White Paper regarding proposed regulation of football. Should these issues be included in that?

“I don’t know if they will have time for that, but to understand what are the issues here, and I think it’s just common sense and the belief that you can change the future.

“I don’t want to talk about the past because the past is what it is, but I strongly believe that with the new faces you have in football, we can start to change people’s view.

“Those positions we are talking about – Sporting Director, manager, or just being part of a manager’s team – I believe those opportunities have to change, and people’s mindset has to change.”

With Vincent Kompany at Burnley as well, one of the youngest managers in football, do you get the sense that there is a generational shift taking place?

“I believe so and I think that Vincent, like myself and Chris Hughton as well, we can be a positive example for this new generation who want to go into coaching.

“You always need a role model when you’re growing up. If we can be good role models for those young players, that will be really good, but having Vincent, things will start to change – too slowly for me – but hopefully in the next couple of years we will have more of those Vincent Kompanys.

“I did not have a role model. I had [City Football Group Managing Director] Brian Marwood behind me, pushing me, helping me because he believed that I could achieve something good in football and be a good coach. He saw that I was prepared to do the hard work to get there. His support was important for me and regardless of who we are, we all need support to achieve the success we want to achieve.”

You work with a lot of young players at Crystal Palace. What do you think you might do to try to encourage some of those young players to move into coaching later on?

“I think it’s just to make them understand that, when you finish your career, there is a life after football. Whatever you want to do, it’s up to you.

“It’s important for us to make them understand that staying in the game and doing what they love can be something really exciting for the future.

“We have to open their minds and start making them understand about coaching, or other responsibilities – it could be as a Sporting Director [for example].

“Working with a couple of players who are getting to the end of their career, it’s always good to open their minds to start to think about what’s good for them.”

Now you’re a Premier League manager yourself, do you feel responsible for providing opportunities to your own staff and at your own club?

“Not responsible, but of course I want to be an example, I would say.

“I’m at a really good football club, well run, and I believe as a football club, when we talk about Crystal Palace, we look at the diversity of this football club. We’re looking at the diversity of south London.

“That place represents London and itself and what our society should be, and if I can inspire some young players from south London, or anywhere around the world, to be a manager one day, this is a responsibility I will take.”

As a high-achieving former player, do you think you are held to a higher standard as a manager?

“Having that career gave me the kind of experience to know what it takes to get to a higher level, but who I am as a manager doesn’t reflect who I was as a player.

“I never talk about who I was as a player. It’s important for me to be judged by what I am doing on the field, and managing to get the best out of the players I have, playing the way I believe the team can do.

“After that, of course, being part of the World Cup and European Championship, winning trophies, allows me to anticipate some of the questions that players can have, but standing where I am now, in front of those players, it’s completely different from my playing time.

“The responsibility and pressure is completely different. It’s about who I am as a manager.”

Do you enjoy being a manager?

“I love it, yes. It’s hard work – it’s much easier to play football than being a manager.

“You win or you lose, you go home, you take it to yourself and it’s over, but as a manager when you go home and the team didn’t perform the way you want, you go home, you watch the game again, you get frustrated, you try to get the answer… and it’s not always easy to find.

“You absorb the pressure from everybody around you and around the football club, and when things are not going in the right way, there is this kind of negativity that you have to control and have to manage.

“It’s not easy, but this is part of the job, and I love it.”

What would your advice be to any aspiring manager?

“It’s always about putting yourself last.

“The difficulty transitioning from playing to managing is that when you are playing, you are always thinking about yourself, but now I’m into managing, you’re thinking about other people before thinking about yourself, and this is a difficult transition to make.

“If you want to be a really good manager, of course there are the basics of organisation, about having a clear philosophy about how you want to play the game, and it’s about the work ethic… but it’s about thinking about other people before thinking about yourself, and if you manage to do that, you’ll have a good chance.”

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