In the past lots of people from the UK got coaching council jobs because it was assumed that they knew more about football governance than the locals.
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I personally think there is a pattern there, simply on the basis that it takes one already in city council HR to employ those who follow.
Alf has a valid point. Not all of the ex-pats are bad, but the myth around them was highlighted by good old Alan Yates being on Family Feud the other week and saying "I played for Liverpool", which he then qualified by saying "I mean the 3rd team". But that's how so many of these people get embedded in our football by impressing us with the fact they went to primary school with someone who was Robbie Fowler's teacher's sister. Much the same as just because they're Brazilian or Spanish doesn't automatically make them good at football - all it takes to impress us is an accent and telling us how much they love NZ.
Ultimately though 1 thing is clear - Andy Martin is way out of his depth
This is so right. Had to laugh at my old mate Alan though. I met a guy that lived in Mt Albert and had just arrived from the UK and he said that he had played for Arsenal. I told him to go down to Anderson Park and get involved. It turned out that he played for their social/pub side.
At work (Heathrow) there are loads of guys that have played for Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, West Ham, Palace, QPR, Orient etc. Most in the academies but a few had careers at Brentford, Barnet, Reading etc.
They all say they played for this and that but interestingly enough when we go to Goals or a proper park after work for a runaround, I tend to be running around them, so I'm always suspicious of young kiwis in British academies or Brits in NZ and Aus going on about their footballing ability as you point out (I myself am only a 1st generation kiwi who's parents are from Devon).
Having also worked in management for the NHS, a very large UK airline and TfL I know first hand that Brits often make worse managers then us Antipodeans, Canadians, Germans etc.