LMA CHIEF WILKINSON DISAPPOINTED WITH
CHELSEA
League managers' chief Howard Wilkinson claims Chelsea should have
sorted out the issue with Avram Grant's coaching qualifications
before they appointed him as Jose Mourinho's successor.
Grant, 52, has qualifications from his home country Israel but
according to UEFA sources they are only equivalent to the A licence
- he needs the UEFA Pro Licence to manage in the Premier
League.
The Premier League may decide that, in view of his experience as a
former manager of Israel, Grant qualifies for a special
dispensation certificate but Wilkinson, chairman of the League
Managers' Association (LMA), believes such issues should have been
sorted out before the appointment was made.
Wilkinson, speaking at a UEFA coaches forum in London, said: 'I
don't want to get involved in personalities. This is not about
Avram Grant, this is a matter of principle.
'We do not have any issue about the rules being tweaked, we are not
against that if the move in general is to have better-qualified
coaches working in this country.
'But one thing that disappoints us greatly is when clubs don't
check beforehand.
'If BA employ a pilot they are not going to say afterwards, 'By the
way, do you have a pilot's licence?' It's not a bad idea to make
sure he has got a licence before you give him the job.
'It would help if these big corporations spent a bit of time and
energy determining these sorts of factors first.'
Wilkinson said he was still waiting for the Premier League to
clarify the position on Grant.
Former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier, now technical director of
the French football federation, said every coach in France had to
have the Pro Licence and that Grant should also have the
qualification.
Houllier said: 'If you do not have a driving licence you cannot
drive. If you do not have the certificate to be a doctor you cannot
practise.'
FA director of football development Sir Trevor Brooking supported
the idea of all top-flight managers having the Pro Licence and
called for all league managers to have a coaching
qualification.
Brooking said: 'The Football League have no mandatory requirements
and we would like to see them at some level.'
- credit: ESPNsoccernet
