7 English managers working abroad

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There has been a mixed reaction to Steven Gerrard’s appointment as the manager of Glasgow Rangers, but no-one can deny that it has brought great exposure and a new-found foreign interest in the Scottish Premiership.

English players are notoriously poor travellers. Very few of them try their hands overseas, and even fewer succeed, but that isn’t the case when it comes to managers right now.

Of course, Scotland isn’t really abroad, and all of the managers that feature in this seven are in much more far flung locations than Glasgow.

Here are our 7 English managers working abroad

7. Stuart Baxter – South African National Team

We kickstart this seven with Wolverhampton-born head coach Stuart Baxter, who is currently in his second stint in charge of the South African national team. Even in his playing days, Baxter wasn’t afraid of setting sail and leaving Blighty behind. His club career took him from Australia to the USA via Sweden. His managerial career has been even more varied, covering eight countries and three continents. He took charge of the South African national team for the first time in 2004, after a couple of years as the head coach of England’s under-19 side. He re-assumed the role in May 2017, and has so far enjoyed mixed fortunes. He oversaw the nations dismal failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, but also guided them to success in the Four Nations Tournament.

6. Steve Coppell – Jamshedpur FC

Portsmoth Director of Football Steve Coppell looks on prior to the Sky Bet League Two match between Portsmouth and Northampton Town at Fratton Park on December 29, 2013 in Portsmouth,…

Older viewers will remember Steve Coppell as a lung-busting creative force who was among the best wingers of his generation at Manchester United, only to have his career cut short thanks to a knee injury at 28. Younger viewers may know Coppell better as the man who set a record points tally when his Reading side won the Championship, before finishing eighth in their first season in the Premier League – which saw him named as Premier League Manager of the Season.

More than a decade on from that success, a 62-year-old Coppell is now in his second job in the Indian Super League. The former Kerala Blasters boss is currently the head coach at Jamshedpur, who are fifth in India’s recently-created league.

5. Warren Joyce – Melbourne City

Warren Joyce had a long and respectable career in the third and fourth tiers of English football, where was a deep-lying playmaker. His first taste of management came as player-manager, where he orchestrated a quite remarkable great escape to keep the club in the Football League. He then coached at Leeds United, Tranmere Rovers and Royal Antwerp, before a lengthy spell as reserve team manager at Manchester United. He stepped back into the fire taking over the top job at Wigan Athletic in November 2016, but he was sacked only four months into the job. With his reputation slightly bruised at home, Joyce joined Melbourne City in June 2017, who are part of the City Football Group that also own Manchester City and New York City. Under Joyce’s stewardship, the club are currently third in the A-League.

4. Stephen Constantine – Indian National Team

Indian football coach Stephen Constantine (L) addresses a press conference by the Indian football team as footballer Sunil Chhetri looks on in Bangalore on November 11, 2015. India play…

Part of a growing number of English managers currently plying their trade in India, such as Dave Booth and John Gregory, Stephen Constantine was very much a trendsetter. Long before the Indian Super League came into creation, he first started managing the Indian national team in 2002, after impressing with the Nepalese national team. As well as brief stints coaching at Millwall and Bournemouth, Constantine has also managed the national teams of Malawi, the Sudan and Rwanda. He has been back managing the Indian national team since 2015, where he has seen them climb up the FIFA World Rankings, but not yet qualify for a World Cup.

3. Nigel Pearson – OH Leuven

A no-nonsense centre-back during his playing days with Shrewsbury Town, Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough, Nigel Pearson is probably a manager few people expected to try his hand overseas. He won promotion from League One and the Championship with Leicester City – either side of an impressive stint at Hull City – before guiding the Foxes to Premier League safety against all the odds. He was sacked after that final success, and replaced by Claudio Ranieri, who won the Premier League in his first season in charge of the club. After a disappointing spell in charge of Derby County without his trusted sidekicks Steve Walsh and Craig Shakespeare, Pearson returned to football in September 2017. He joined Belgian second tier side OH Leuven, who are owned by his former bosses at Leicester City, but failed to win promotion in his first season with the club.

2. Graham Potter – Ostersunds

Graham Potter, head coach of Ostersunds FK claps the fans after UEFA Europa League Round of 32 match between Arsenal and Ostersunds FK at the Emirates Stadium on February 22, 2018 in…

For more than half a decade Graham Potter’s impressive work in Sweden at Ostersunds went largely unnoticed back home in England, but following his club drawing Arsenal in the Europa League, he is now pretty well-known. A former full-back who turned out for the likes of Stoke and West Brom, Potter made his first steps into management at the University of Hull. He joined Ostersunds who were playing in the fourth tier of Swedish football in December 2010. To give some perspective on that, Sweden’s fourth tier teams have an average attendance of a little over 200 fans per game.

He won back-to-back promotions in his first two seasons in charge, before winning promotion to the top flight at the third time of asking. Victory in the Swedish Cup saw the side qualify for the Europa League, where they got out of their group before getting knocked out by Arsenal.

1. Anthony Hudson – Colorado Rapids

A man who was linked with the managerial position at Sunderland, Anthony Hudson’s reputation in the game has been rising gradually over the last few years. Although he was born in the United States, Hudson grew up in England and was raised by English parents. Following an unremarkable playing career, he first began managing Real Maryland in the US. After spells with Tottenham and Newport, he took over as Bahrain manager in 2013, having spent three years as their U23’s manager. He then took over as New Zealand boss, where he earned praise for his work with the U23’s again – and so nearly qualified for the 2018 World Cup with the senior side. Hudson has been managing MLS side Colorado Rapids since November.