| Kerr ready to test himself in English
football
By Gareth Makim
Finally, after a record wait of 101 days, victory in the Premiership’s
annual sack race has gone to Portsmouth’s Alain ‘Don’t call me Reggie’ Perrin.
The first major vacancy of the new season is sure to start the managerial
merry-go-round, with other under-fire bosses beginning to look anxiously
over their shoulders hoping to dodge the dreaded vote of confidence from
the chairman.
But while there are no shortage of candidates for this category, there
are another group for whom the chairman’s guillotine represents their next
shot at the big time.
Men like George Burley (whose name is linked with every potential vacancy
that crops up) and Bobby Robson (who links his own name with every potential
vacancy that crops up) are waiting patiently in the wings to step into the
breach if required. Burley looks set to replace Alex McLeish at Rangers,
while Robson could get a role at Pompey.
Also out of work and well-rested after his axing at the hands of the
FAI is Brian Kerr, and the Irishman has made no secret of his ambition to
manage a top club on this side of the Irish Sea. Kerr has had plenty of
time to weigh up his options, and after stating a few weeks ago that “I
don’t see myself working in Ireland again”, it’s clear the ex-Ireland boss
has his eye on a move into English football.
But while Kerr would relish the chance to try his hand at managing in
the Premiership, it’s unlikely that any chairman in the top flight will
be willing to take a punt on a man who has yet to gain any significant experience
at a major club. Tellingly, Kerr’s name has not even entered the running
for the Portsmouth post, even amongst the most outrageous rumour-mongers.
More likely is that Kerr will be in the frame to pick up the pieces at
a club in the Championship, and he will no doubt have his eye out for positions
vacated by upwardly mobile managers that have been called up to the top
table. With Sheffield United’s Neil Warnock favourite to take Perrin’s place
on the south coast, Kerr will surely send his CV to Bramall Lane for the
Blades’ consideration. Unfortunately, even that may be too lofty an aspiration
for Kerr, particularly with Warnock’s well-liked assistant Stuart McCall
deserving his chance.
The reality for Kerr is that he may have to pay his dues at a more unfashionable
club under tight financial constraints, where he will be forced to make
the most of his ability to work with raw, young talent. Struggling Championship
sides such as Millwall, Coventry and Brighton could give Kerr the platform
to build his reputation.
But if he is willing to drop down a further rung of the ladder, Kerr
has potentially most to gain from a stint in League One. Gary Megson’s security
of tenure at Nottingham Forest, currently sitting a disappointing 10th in
the table, is being eroded with each poor result (they finished last weekend’s
defeat at Huddersfield with nine men and needed a replay to beat non-league
Weymouth in the first round of the FA Cup) and change is inevitable if they
continue to languish outside the promotion race.
Forest, short of cash and short of confidence, would be an ideal fit
for Kerr. They have some talented young players and are a big enough club
for Kerr to justify taking them on (they are the first European Cup winners
to fall to the third tier of their country’s league). Success at the City
Ground, against a backdrop of low expectations and lower transfer budgets,
would certainly increase Kerr’s standing in the eyes of those doing the
hiring and firing at top-flight clubs and bigger things would surely follow
for the jovial Dubliner.
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