Torquay manager is bound for better things

Torquay chairman Mike Bateson has registered them in and seen them check out with the regularity of the guests of local fictional hotelier Basil Fawlty.

Up until the summer of 2002, nine managers had passed through during his then 13 seasons' stewardship. Relatively speaking, the present incumbent, Leroy Rosenior, has achieved almost residency status after three-and-a-half years at Plainmoor.

Bateson believes it is inevitable the Londoner will depart, too, in time - upwards, to greater distinction.

"It would be good to see Leroy going off to manage in the premiership," he says. "I think he could do that. I'd like to see him go on one day. He's got the ambition. Sadly, I do believe that he will get a better job and lower-League football will lose out."

It was Rosenior who galvanised Bateson's club to secure promotion in 2004, the first time in 32 years that Torquay had emerged from the basement division. They returned this season, the victims of complex mathematical calculations that condemned them on the final day of last season.

After an ignominious start to this campaign - due to a desperate spate of injuries - they are under threat of descent to the Conference. However, performances and results have improved significantly of late, including in the FA Cup, offering optimism for the new year.

Rosenior would be a pioneer if he achieved what his chairman believes is within his compass. Ruud Gullit, at Newcastle, and Jean Tigana, at Fulham, may have broken through any race barrier, real or perceived, in the premiership, but no black British manager has achieved it.

Rosenior is a rarity in being one of four black managers in the top four English divisions - in an industry that has 30 per cent black footballers.

The others are Chester's Keith Curle, Lincoln's Keith Alexander and the Swindon caretaker manager, Iffy Onoura. The last-named, it emerged last week, has agreed to work under the "consultancy" of Ron Atkinson for the benefit of a TV documentary. That's "Big Ron", the viewers' popular pundit, who became "Racist Ron" in one unguarded moment, which forced his resignation from his ITV role.

Was Atkinson unwittingly articulating the subconscious views of many chairmen and other decision-makers in football?

Former leading striker Les Ferdinand, one of the game's best ambassadors, opines that "there will never be a black British manager in charge of the England team - certainly not in my lifetime".

"Black managers face the same problems black players did 30 years ago. A lot of Caucasian coaches don't have the same qualifications as black coaches, and they still get jobs."

Rosenior also believes the colour of his skin could impede his progress.

"It's not a racist thing," he has said. "It's how people perceive you. Some chairmen want to look at someone they can relate to rather than [thinking about] coaching ability."

Rosenior, a former Fulham forward who also represented QPR, West Ham, Charlton and Bristol City, where he moved on to become a coach, was fortunate that, in Bateson, he chanced upon a chairman with whom he could forge a relationship.

"Leroy first applied for a job here way back," recalls Bateson. "Initially, he didn't have the experience. But I went through managers quite quickly at one stage, and each time he was on the phone, asking to be considered.

"He was young, fresh, with a good sense of humour, which you need. It can be the worst job in the world when you're in the position we're in."

Whenever a vacancy arises in English football management, it is massively oversubscribed. Some chairmen prefer to opt for familiar names, even those who have failed elsewhere. It creates a kind of bed-blocking, which yields insufficient opportunities to younger men.

Ferdinand and Rosenior are among those who contend that selection is even more rigorous for young black managers and coaches.

Not all concur, however.

"I've never come across any prejudices in football, and I'm not sure there are any. What's more important is to have the right credentials," Curle said.

Bateson endorses Curle's view.

"I don't see any bar to black managers. I would have thought with the number of black British players, there's no reason why one of them couldn't progress to management of the England team.

"Over the years, I've spoken to one or two of the older chairmen who are what you might call a bit colonial, but most now would not be influenced by colour. They want the best man."

- INDEPENDENT