ENGLISH MANAGERS PREMIER PAIN

HARRY GORDON LOOKS AT WHY HOMEGROWN BOSSES HAVE FAILED TO CONQUER THE DOMESTIC MOUNTAIN.

WHO was the last Eng-lish manager to win a top-flight title in this country?

Well, believe it or not, it was Howard Wilkinson. He did it with Leeds in 1992, the season before Sky propelled the English league into a global phenomenon with the birth of the Premier League era.

Since then, English managers have had to watch with envy as bosses from other countries have repeatedly tasted glory.

We’ve had two Scots (Sir Alex Ferguson and Kenny Dalglish), a Frenchman (Arsene Wenger), a Portuguese (Jose Mourinho), four Italians (Carlo Ancelotti, Roberto Mancini, Claudio Ranieri and Antonio Conte), a Chilean (Manuel Pellegrini), a Spaniard (Pep Guardiola) and a German (Jurgen Klopp) but the great ‘English’ Premier League has never been won by an Englishman.

Many have come close. Ron Atkinson’s Aston Villa finished second behind his former side Manchester United in the inaugural Premier League season, while Frank Clark, two years later, took Nottingham Forest up to third in their first season back in the top flight after being relegated under club legend Brian Clough in 1993.

But the one man who has come closer than any is Kevin Keegan and his Toon Army in the mid-1990s. After guiding Newcastle to promotion, Keegan led the Magpies to third place with the free-scoring Andy Cole helped by the inspired signing of Peter Beardsley from Everton.

By 1995 the team had changed. Cole was controversially transferred to rivals Manchester United but Newcastle welcomed the signings of Les Ferdinand, Faustino Asprilla and David Ginola. In the next two year, they’d finish runners-up behind Manchester United twice, most excruciatingly when they led slip a 12-point lead in 1995-96.