Best 'golden generation' coach decided as Rooney returns and Gerrard struggles
As he surveyed the scene during a 1-0 defeat in front of a crowd of just 696 fans in Riyadh on Sunday, Al-Ettifaq's Steven Gerrard might have wondered where it all went wrong.
Over 3,000 miles away in Birmingham at exactly the same time, Aston Villa were recording their fourth successive home league win to move to the cusp of the top four, with Unai Emery's side producing some superb football ever since the Spanish boss replaced Gerrard in the Villa hotseat last year.
Were he still in the second city then Gerrard would have a new neighbour in his former England colleague Wayne Rooney, who on Saturday began his Birmingham City career with a 1-0 defeat to another former team-mate, the ex-Manchester United and England midfielder Michael Carrick and his Middlesbrough side.
All of which got us thinking, which of the current crop of young English managers - many of whom played in that 'Golden Generation' era - have what it takes to succeed as a boss? We asked our Mirror Football team.
Mike Walters
One of the biggest fallacies in football is that great players make great managers.
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But for every Zinedine Zidane, there’s a Gary Neville - and England’s so-called golden generation has discovered that a mountain of international caps and winner’s medals is of little use when young players need saving from wayward behaviour, or they need to knit a group of disparate talents into a cohesive unit.
Michael Carrick has turned heads during his time at Middlesbrough (Greig Cowie/REX/Shutterstock)Of those currently employed, Michael Carrick’s understated but impressive body of work at Middlesbrough looks the best bet for sustained growth. Pipped in the play-offs by Coventry last May, he lost top scorer Chuba Akpom to Ajax and a glut of influential loan players returned to their parent clubs before being sold to Premier League vultures.
Yet after a horrid start, without a win in seven games, he has steadied the ship and Boro are filtering upwards in the Championship through sound coaching and a progressive approach on the pitch.
Wayne Rooney has been thrown a curve ball at Birmingham - if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it - and whatever “no-fear football” means, as the owners demand, the first instalment of his reign was no-points football.
Golden generation? They chase the glory like bullion in a china shop, but few of them played for struggling teams, so how will they know what to do when the going gets heavy?
Alan Smith
The most likely English player from that era to succeed as an elite manager instead represented Ireland. Lee Carsley has steered the England U21s to a European championship, favours a progressive style of play, and looks destined for a long and fulfilling coaching career.
He has already turned down club jobs and Ireland would be very keen to have him as their next senior manager.But considering how streamlined the FA is as an organisation, and Gareth Southgate ’s success from following a similar path, it should be no surprise if he is eventually the successor.
Of the Golden Generation, one of the worst titles in all sport, only Michael Carrick is yet to face a degree of failure and it is hard to see how several of the others, all of whom have displayed significant shortcomings, can bounce back to succeed in a Premier League job.
Lee Carsley won the U21 Euros with England (Istvan Derencsenyi/REX/Shutterstock)Tom Victor
Michael Carrick has already shown plenty of the qualities needed to succeed, while this season has demonstrated he can find solutions when things are going poorly. Another club might have cut ties after two points from the first seven games, but Middlesbrough have been rewarded with a turnaround.
A decorated playing career is no requisite for success in the dugout, but Carrick’s achievements may have helped him earn the respect of some of his charges. As others have shown, though, that counts for nothing without proof you can walk the walk.
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Members of the golden generation are unlikely to need to work again, but those willing to start off in the second tier are demonstrating they’re up for a challenge. Wayne Rooney, whose Birmingham side were beaten by Carrick’s Boro over the weekend, is in a similar boat and could yet stake his own firm claim, but for now it’s Carrick who looks like the most exciting contender.
Fraser Watson
A ‘golden generation’ of players, but as of yet an unproven generation of managers.
Indeed, many of the group once tipped to conquer the international stage with England have thus far flattered to deceive in the dugout. Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard were both fast-tracked into Premier League jobs, with the former now out of work and the latter struggling to make an impression in Saudi Arabia. Paul Scholes, Sol Campbell and Gary Neville have all forayed into the firing line at various clubs, only to soon get back out of it.
Wayne Rooney, credited for instilling an ‘us against the world’ spirit at Derby before failing to elevate DC United, has been fortuitously handed the top job at Birmingham. On his staff is Ashley Cole, while Jack Wilshere and John Terry continue to ply their coaching trade at the clubs that defined their playing careers.
Carrick's Boro have overcome a poor start to the season (MI News/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock)But fittingly, the player from the Sven Goran Eriksson’s era best equipped to excel from the sidelines appears to be Michael Carrick. Like on the field, he’s going about his business quietly and effectively, minus the furore many of his former international teammates attract.
A stint on the Manchester United staff, albeit an unsuccessful one, has given him a grounding. He now has Middlesbrough playing a brand of football that’s easy on the eye and having narrowly failed to get them into Premier League last season, they have recovered from a poor start this time around.
Carrick’s reputation as a manger is slowly building. Rather than have his head turned by Middle East riches or perceived better jobs, he’d be wise to continue that process where he is. Should he do so, and the unheralded star of his generation as a player, should eventually find himself deservedly heralded as a manager.
Megan Feringa
Easy answer: none. A stellar, incomparable playing career doesn’t directly translate to managerial genius. Management is a multi-faceted craft, not a guaranteed postscript.
But other legends of the game from other countries haven’t seemed to labour at the managerial altar with such poor results as this generation. Patrick Vieira and Zinedine Zidane have turned out just fine (Pascal Chimbonda’s fate is TBD), as have Diego Simeone and Mauricio Pochettino. Rotten Golden Gen luck? Maybe. Or maybe there’s still hope, and it’s named Michael Carrick.
Carrick’s record in temporary charge at Manchester United is technically good (two wins, one draw), but it’s with Middlesbrough he’s cut himself a beacon of light. Taking them from 21st to 4th in a first dip into the Championship is undeniably impressive.
While this season has been tough, he taught teammate Wayne Rooney a thing or two over the weekend as he extended his side’s unbeaten run to seven, suggesting that if anyone is going to right this Golden Generation’s woeful managerial ship soon, it’s that man Havoc.
Liam Prenderville
Just days after his retirement was confirmed at the age of 30, Jack Wilshere took up a role with Arsenal's academy and has caught the eye with his side playing an impressive brand of football.
Wilshere's playing career was plagued by injuries but he appears to have the hunger to make it as a top coach, having already attracted interest from the MLS from Colorado Rapids with talks believed to have taken place. Wilshere can learn a lot from his ex-colleagues who have taken their first jobs in management in high-pressure environments that bring plenty of scrutiny and moving to the States may be a good option right now.
Jack Wilshere has shown promising signs as a coach at Arsenal (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)Arsenal academy chief and former teammate Per Mertesacker is reluctant to let the former midfielder depart after he had a "huge impact" and guided the club's youngsters to the FA Youth Cup final last season.
He is in a good place right now and will undoubtedly be getting some tips from Mikel Arteta, but if he does have serious coaching ambitions, a move into a first-team set-up in the near future may be needed.
Neil McLeman
Watching the David Beckham Netflix documentary was another reminder that millionaire ex-players do not need to go into football management anymore. And in the Premier League there are only six coaches - Ange Postecoglou, Pep Guardiola, Andoni Iraola, Mauricio Pochettino, Rob Edwards and Vincent Kompany - who have played international football.
Most of the top English Premier League players this century have taken the easier punditry route and to be still in the game you need a special type of drive or something to prove.
That is why Ashley Cole will be a big success after playing abroad and already gaining experience at Derby and Everton and the England U21s before joining Wayne Rooney at Birmingham as first-team coach. The next step will be as a head coach somewhere - and he still has the star quality to help him get a Premier League gig one day.
Dan Marsh
Of the fabled 'golden generation', Michael Carrick is the one who stands out. He inherited a tricky situation at Middlesbrough and almost won promotion against the odds whilst simultaneously coping with the expectations of managing one of the Championship's biggest clubs.
Boro have endured a difficult start to the season, but already his quality is shining through. They've now won six on the bounce and are looking up - I wouldn't bet against them making up ground on Leicester and Ipswich in the coming months and going one better than they did last year under Carrick, who will wind up in the Premier League sooner or later.
Wayne Rooney is an intriguing one; his stock was arguably higher after leaving Derby than it is right now after a relatively underwhelming stint in the MLS. I reckon he will go on to enjoy success, although I'm not convinced his arrival will yield the instant promotion Birmingham City's new owners crave. A loss in his first game in charge against Middlesbrough certainly wasn't part of the masterplan.
Wayne Rooney is back in the Football League with Birmingham (MI News/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock)I don't see much happening for any of the others. It's hard to see where Frank Lampard goes after a turbulent interim stint at Chelsea and I don't think Steven Gerrard will be bowled over with interest once his lucrative stint in the Saudi Pro League is over.
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