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Howard Wilkinson fears for future of English managers
IT is an accolade to make any manager proud, but Howard Wilkinson is keen to one day pass on the mantle of being the last Englishman to lead a club to the league title.
Click here to read Howard Wilkinson's memories of his move to Leeds United 20 years ago.
Click here to read Richard Sutcliffe's thoughts on the champions time forgot.
The chairman of the League Managers' Association was in charge of Leeds United when the Elland Road club were crowned league champions just two years after winning promotion from the old Second Division in 1990.
United's success came in the season before the advent of the Premier League and since then the roll call of title-winning managers has featured two Scots, one Frenchman and a 'Special One' from Portugal.
Much has changed since 1991-92 when Leeds beat Manchester United to top spot with 19 of the 22 top-flight clubs back then being managed by Englishmen. The exceptions were a trio of Scots in Ferguson, Liverpool's Graeme Souness and George Graham at Arsenal.
Today, less than half of the Premier League managers are English with the five clubs rich enough to harbour genuine hopes of winning the title in the next couple of seasons being led by natives of Scotland, France, Brazil, Spain and Wales.
Despite that, Wilkinson – who 20 years ago today was appointed Leeds manager – is hoping that the new breed of English managers will, in time, be given their chance.
He told the Yorkshire Post: "Being the last English manager to win the title is a proud thing for me, but I also consider it a bad thing.
"I really hope someone does manage to emulate it soon because it would be a sign that the younger managers are getting more of an opportunity than they are at the moment.
"They need the experience but, at the moment, it is just not happening.
"Realistically, it seems that it is no longer the fashion for the big clubs to look outside our shores but a trend. And that is not a good thing."
The 64-year-old rightly looks back with pride on the club's achievements during his eight-year tenure, even if their title success has since been all but forgotten by all but United's fans.
He said: "We might not necessarily have been the best team in terms of individuals that season, but we were a very good team that made the most of what it had."
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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