England Women

[Rover the Top]

Mark Sampson named as new manager.

Is it disappointing that they haven't found another female manager?

[Dan]

It's disappointing, but a lot of clubs have a man in control of the women's team. I've always thought that was a bit strange personally.

For me, it's similar to having a foreign manager in charge of your national team. It shouldn't really happen. The women's team should be made up of and managed by women, a national team should be made up of and managed by people from that nation.

[theadore]

not really disappointing - but I guess in terms of promoting women in the game this is one of the few high profile roles available. Don't know anything about Sampson but he at least has good experience within the womens game which is the most important thing for the role.

[Rover the Top]

It's disappointing, but a lot of clubs have a man in control of the women's team. I've always thought that was a bit strange personally.

For me, it's similar to having a foreign manager in charge of your national team. It shouldn't really happen. The women's team should be made up of and managed by women, a national team should be made up of and managed by people from that nation.

I don't think it's particularly strange that at this stage in the development of the women's game, the clubs are still having to turn to male coaches. It's similar to the situation with the PFA, the number of qualified male coaches is much greater than the number of female coaches.

However, I agree with you about the national women's team. I think the manager should also be from the demographic that the players represent.

[Gibbon]

I don't see why it should matter if the manager is male or female as long as their the best person for the job. Same goes for the men's team.

[Rover the Top]

Because it's the women's team? It matters whether the players are male or female, you can't simply pick the best person for the job. So why is it different for the manager?

[Gibbon]

Er...I was obviously talking about the managerial position which is clearly not governed by the women only rule. Where would you like it to stop? Do they have to have a female bus driver too? Female physio?

There are clear physical reasons why female footballers have a segregated sport - there's no reason why that should apply to managers or any other facet of the game.

[Rover the Top]

Which bit of the question "why is it different for the manager?" made you think I didn't realise you were talking about the manager? I also thought it was pretty clear that I was challenging the logic of the existing rules. A team's manager is active in the sport, their decisions are part of the game, they are involved in the sport just like the players. It's blatantly obvious that the bus driver doesn't have any influence over the results. So, if it's deemed acceptable to segregate based on nationality or gender, then I think that should apply to everyone participating in the sport. If you don't think the differences that justify separating the sport at playing level apply at managerial level, then why are there no women managing male teams?

[Gibbon]

If I had my way, there would be.

[Ethiaa]

Igor?

[Gibbon]

That would be ideal, yes.

[Rover the Top]

So England's women's team have managed to out-do the men in blowing their World Cup chances. They went behind to a penalty for an idiotic, blatant two-handed push, although it could be argued the foul was just outside the box. They got level with a spot kick of their own after the ref fell for a dive Tom Daley would be proud of from one of the England players. But then threw it all away with an own goal in injury time. Japan won 2-1 having only had the one shot on target...

[Ethiaa]

Yeah, but WHAT an own goal.

[Rover the Top]

Richard Dunne would be proud of it, that's for sure...

[Dan]

It's the silly push that's cost them to concede the penalty. In fairness it looks like it probably was outside the box, and she's obviously tried to shove her over before she got into the box and became more of a threat, but it wasn't the best plan. The freak own goal was incredibly unlucky, but they shouldn't have been in the position to lose to that by then. They'll be disappointed to say the least, hopefully they can grab third place on Saturday and at least finish on a high.