McKenna: Tuchel an Understandable Appointment
Friday, 18th Oct 2024 15:48

Town boss Kieran McKenna says the FA naming Thomas Tuchel the new England head coach is an understandable appointment.

McKenna says he can see why former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss Tuchel has been brought in to succeed Gareth Southgate, who resigned in the summer, Lee Carsley having had a short spell in interim charge in between.

“I think it's an understandable appointment,” McKenna said. “You can see the phase that England are in.

“Gareth did such an incredible job and they came so close to winning major tournaments that the decision-makers have obviously made an appointment that they feel gives them the best chance of winning the next major tournament, the World Cup, so I think it's understandable.”

The appointment of a German coach has led to some controversy with some feeling an Englishman ought to have been appointed and questions asked about the FA’s development of coaches at their St George’s Park base.

London-born, Northern Ireland-raised McKenna, who took his coaching badges through the FA’s system, says the role of the National Football Centre has been misconstrued.

“I think it's two separate issues because for me, St George's Park is very, very good for so many things, for the development of the game development of grassroots football,” he said.

“But for the higher level coaches working at higher levels of the game, since it was finished in 2012, I’ve maybe spent two weeks there in the last decade, and I'm maybe one of the English coaches working at higher level.

“I think your development as a professional coach and manager doesn't come from coaching courses, to be honest. I don't think the FA or St George's Park can be held accountable for that.

“I think your development is in your day-to-day job, your development is within the clubs. I think more of the young coaches, a lot of their development probably comes through the academy systems and I think that's where I know the large majority of my learning has taken place in the professional clubs I've been working at, not through the coaching courses that you attend as you're developing as a coach.

“I think probably more pertinent is maybe the access to people from the amateur game, from the grassroots game, from the semi-professional game to coaching courses in terms of affordability, in terms of availability. I know lots of people who have had struggles with that and I think that's more of an issue.

“But for me, that's more about developing our football culture in the country. Developing the base level of our coaching and our understanding of all the different aspects of football is not necessarily what's going to translate to the next England manager.

“That's just my opinion. I think there's a misconception there about the responsibility for St George's Park. It's a fantastic facility, with some good people there and if anything, I'm sure one of the biggest challenges that the FA want to - and I'm sure working on - is getting more and more people who can pass through the badges, which will give them foot to then develop their careers. And that development is very often going to be done in the clubs.”

Photo: TWTD

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