My generation is ‘frightened of management’ – Carragher

Jamie Carragher believes the “demands of the game” are putting more and more of his peers off from trying their hand at management.

Of the 20 managers currently employed in the Premier League, only seven were former players in this country – and Carragher believes the fear of failure and over-zealous chairmen means many of his peers are being put off at trying their hand in management.

“There have been 19 sackings already this season and, more and more, the demands are becoming impossible,” Carragher wrote in his weekly Daily Mail column. “I would never say never about going into management but it has little attraction at this moment.

“Other players of my generation appear to feel the same and are shunning the profession.”

Carragher, who has also tipped former Manchester United and Everton boss David Moyes to get another Premier League job, despite his sacking at Real Sociedad this week, believes the game’s top players don’t want to risk their reputation on being fired: “Is it because they are aware of the stigma that is attached to being sacked? When you have had a lot of success through your career, it is only natural to want to preserve your reputation.”

He continued: “There is a stigma attached to being sacked in our game that doesn’t seem to apply to those working on the continent. The conclusion we are quick to draw is that just because it hasn’t worked out in one place for someone then it won’t work anywhere else for them, either.

“They become damaged goods, with no attention being given to their previous work and achievements. Have a look back at the major dismissals in England over the past 25 years and you will see that nearly all those men have not been given a chance to recover.”