I owe it to myself to be a manager if it inspires black players to do the same'

IF PAUL NEVIN ever does take the plunge into management, it will be squarely on his terms: right job, right environment, right time.

- PAUL NEVIN

"I'd not just jump at an opportunity because it's club X," he says, speaking to Standard Sport at West Ham's Rush Green training ground, where he is a first-team coach. "Is it club X with the things that can help me, the infrastructure, the vision, that could give me a chance to succeed?" Nevin is one of the most respected and most widely experienced coaches in the country, a key lieutenant under David Moyes, as well as Gareth Southgate at England. His strict criteria, though, is not a result of ego, reputation or resumé.

It is because he is a black man, operating in a sport where ,even now, frighteningly few are afforded top jobs, and for the sake of both his own career and those who might wish to follow, "failure is not an option".

"I'm not seeking it at the moment," he says of his managerial ambitions. "I'm in a great place with a great club but I owe it to myself and the people I've worked with.

"If the right opportunity came at the right time then I need to give it a go because maybe with that nudge at the door, if I'm successful, it can allow me to bring others in and give others opportunities." The FA are next week set to release the latest findings for their Leadership Diversity Code, which was introduced with a view to increasing ethnic representation at the top of English football and will outline whether clubs are meeting diversity targets for their most senior positions.