Not Saints I know but I thought it might provoke a bit of healthy debate. Much as I'm in favour of equal opps I just can't see this happening. As far as I know there aren't even any female non league managers yet so this would be a huge leap! What do we all think?
Black footballers have had a hard enough time getting into football management and that is an issue that needs to be addressed and resolved.
The only female coach I know of is Hope Powell. I remember reading something recently where a non-league club gave a chance for someone else to manage the club for one game and it was a woman that did it, but I don't know if that was something they're doing again. I get tired of this debate - if someone's good enough, they should get the job. Be that female, black, Chinese, gay, whatever.
No. Women don't even manage that much in the womens leagues. there are men managing in that. They would also find it hard to control the dressing room i feel.
I for one would not be happy with a women manager. With a dressing room full of men - many of those with huge ego's (not specific to saints), I wouldn't be comfortable that she could control the team.
The way I read it, he was saying that a female would get the job essentially for PR/commercial reasons. I can see where he is coming from but the football landscape will be completely different in 10 years time, so who can say what will happen. On a happier note the Women's Super League seems to be developing well and there are certainly more women involved in different parts of the game. I am sure that Sian Massey will be refereeing in the Football League in 2-3 years which may come as a shock to some.
Sian Massey isn't the only female linesma.......person in the league, we had one at SMS a few weeks ago, can't remember her name but it sounded Eastern European. I think part of this issue is that it's been a man's sport for so long that it just looks & sounds wierd to have woman do it. (Remember when they started having women commentating on football?) I guess once people get used to it, all the furore will calm down and we'll have people doing the job that are good enough to do it, not just for PR reasons or to increase women's profile in sport etc.
No chance, it won't happen in the next 30 years let alone 10. I can see women refs in the next 10 but not managers.
I have often heard discussions on the BBC about a rule similar to American football where one interviewee should come from a minority background, I always wondered if that should include women too. The main barrier to overcome is the players attitude, a lot of arrogant testosterone filled young men may find a woman manager too difficult to contemplate. It is a bit like the silly barrier in this country that for you to be a successful manager you have to be a former pro at a decent level, which I am not sure is true. The media and dinosaur fans would also make it difficult with their sensationalism, however if one got in and was a success I am sure more would follow. I recall that Grimsby Town were rumoured to be considering appointing Hope Powell after Mike Newells departure.
I'm all for equality, but how would a woman be able to prove herself good enough to manage in the Premier League? She would probably need a very impressive CV in ladies' football just to be considered for a Football League side, and then she would have to work her way up to the top. She'd also need a Thatcher-like presence to control the dressing room. I can't see it happening. I think more women should be aspiring to be managing in the women's leagues because, as mentioned above, there are a lot of men doing that right now.
We had a woman run the country not long ago but we all know that a woman couldn't run a football team it is a far more demanding and complex job.
I'd like to think he's right to be honest. Someone like Hope Powell would be absolutely capable of managing a men's team, maybe not in the premier league but somewhere, and if that's a success maybe the barrier would be seen to be broken down.
