Football lovers who are strongly interested in head coach analysis and the tactical side of the game are generally aware of specific managers and the tactics they tend to employ.
For example, while Pep Guardiola prefers a possession-based approach and slick football, managers like Sean Dyche tend to focus on direct counterattacks and a more physical style.
It’s what makes the beautiful game so fascinating, with each manager generally favouring different methods.
Of course, there is a strong argument to suggest that English football, in particular, contains an increasing amount of teams that tend to play in a similar way these days.
For instance, since the aforementioned Guardiola’s arrival and Manchester City’s subsequent success, playing out from the back and the emergence of ball-playing centre-backs have become far more common in the modern game.
Football tends to swing in cycles, though, and when the former Barcelona manager eventually departs England, we might see managers up and down the country adopt a different tactical approach.
Like Guardiola, English managers have also made their mark on a number of historic clubs in recent times.
While foreign influence on the English game is evident, the sport in this country is still filled with English masterminds who are keen to do things in their own way.
These clubs are being steered by some of the best English managers around, with fans making bold football predictions and touting these respective coaches for big jobs given the precise know-how they have showcased for a good while now.
In essence, English managers are making somewhat of a resurgence, although there could certainly be more of them.
Right now, though, a plethora of exciting English managers are standing out throughout the English football pyramid system.
Coaching in this country has hugely improved in recent times, and these great English minds are showing that it isn’t always because of foreign influence either.
Let’s take a look at some of them below.
Coventry are lucky to have Mark Robins
Perhaps one of the most underrated managers in the country at the time of writing, Mark Robins should undoubtedly receive far more plaudits than he tends to.
The job the former Huddersfield Town and Scunthorpe boss has done at the Sky Blues since 2017 has been quite remarkable, taking the club from League Two to the Championship while also instilling an attacking style of play filled with goals and recruiting shrewdly every season.
It’s surprising that Robins hasn’t therefore been linked with bigger jobs, although it would probably take an offer he can’t refuse to leave Coventry City and the ongoing project there.
Both Mark Robins and the club appear to be perfectly matched as they continue to build on last season’s play-off shootout heartbreak against Luton Town.
Michael Carrick’s a manager with a seemingly bright future
While things might not be going to plan in a highly competitive Championship league so far this season, there is no denying that Michael Carrick has shown that he has a bright future in the management game since taking over at Middlesborough.
The former Manchester United midfielder took Boro from the Championship relegation zone to the play-offs last season and appears to be stabilising a club that clearly needed it when he took over.
With an established identity and fans behind Carrick’s overall plan, the ex-England man could be snapped up by a bigger club in the future, although he still has a lot to learn.
Rob Edwards is performing miracles at Luton Town
Luton Town are in the Premier League, and it’s primarily because of Rob Edwards.
While his predecessors laid the foundations, and Luton is a well-run club overall, nobody could’ve predicted a top-flight promotion last season.
Edwards masterminded it after things didn’t go to plan at arch-rivals Watford, making him even more likeable to Hatters fans.
The former centre-back has been a critical figure in Luton’s fantastic journey, which has seen the club go from non-league football to the Premier League in a relatively short space of time.
It has been 31 years since Luton last graced the top flight of English football, and while they’ll do exceptionally well to stay up this season, the Hatters are more than capable of doing the unthinkable with Rob Edwards at the helm.
Eddie Howe is easily one of the best around
While more experienced managers like Roy Hodgson and Neil Warnock deserve a mention, Eddie Howe is a manager who will be around far more in the future.
The former Bournemouth boss is leading the charge at Newcastle, and while he has plenty of funds at his disposal, he’s doing it in an admirable manner by recruiting domestically and bringing through academy prospects like Lewis Miley.
The Toon Army have stuttered somewhat this season, but Howe’s reputation hasn’t taken much of a knock.
The fans still love their leader, the players clearly enjoy playing under him, and Howe grows more and more into the role with every game.
Let’s also not forget that this is a manager who guided Bournemouth from League Two to the Premier League.
The 46-year-old is now embarking on his next chapter at a club with ambitious plans to dominate English football in the future.
Thankfully, for Newcastle’s hierarchy, they appear to have the right man for the job.
Eddie Howe, we salute you.
