Thomas Tuchel’s appointment as England’s third foreign manager has prompted debate over why we have not produced one of our own as well as fresh doubts over the pathway to the top jobs for the country’s ambitious young coaches.
But the last month or so could not have gone much better for one English manager, with 40-year-old Matt Bloomfield’s Wycombe Wanderers team winning eight successive games and sitting top of League One – above the so-called Hollywood clubs, Birmingham City and Wrexham.
If that was not good enough, Bloomfield was also afforded a private audience with former England manager Gareth Southgate, who not only agreed to have dinner with him but also paid the bill. No wonder he is feeling anything but discouraged right now.
“I was really fortunate that I had a mutual acquaintance who was able to put me in contact with Gareth and who knew how much I admired him and how much I loved what he did in the job with England,” said Bloomfield.
‘He gave up time for someone he hadn’t met before’
“I sent him a message and then gave him a call. He knew it was coming and he was willing to give up his time and have dinner with someone he hadn’t met before. I offered to pay, but he wouldn’t let me, so he even paid for dinner! I hope there’s another dinner one day, so that I can pay and return the favour.”
While Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham may have been less than convincing in his support of English coaches recently, Southgate clearly still sees the potential.
“One thing that really shone through was that he cares,” said Bloomfield. “Cares about English coaches. Cares about helping others. It just shows the class and the calibre of the individual. When someone is willing to give up their time for somebody who they’ve never met and there’s nothing really in it for them. I was fascinated to learn and hear a little bit more about his leadership and approach to management.”
‘Coaching course was £14k — I haven’t got that behind sofa’
Learning is something Bloomfield values. The only thing he negotiated into his first-ever management contract was for his former club Colchester United to fund the £13,700 fee to take the Uefa Pro Licence course, which he successfully completed in June.
“I didn’t have an agent to negotiate for me, I just wanted the opportunity to do the course,” said Bloomfield, a former midfielder who made over 500 appearances for Wycombe. “I’m really grateful the Colchester owner agreed to it because it’s a lot of money.
“I’d have found a way if Colchester hadn’t agreed, but I certainly didn’t have £13,000 down the back of the sofa. I’ve got a young family, played most of my career in League One and League Two, I only had one year in the Championship at a relatively small club. So it was about figuring out a way to pay for it.
Bloomfield left his role in charge of Colchester to join Wycombe in February last year. “I didn’t necessarily need the course for the job I was going into,” he said. “But I always knew where I wanted to go and if I was to get there, then I needed it and I needed to stand out from the rest who hadn’t been fortunate enough to find the money or the time to do it.”
Bloomfield’s dedication to self-improvement has also seen him pick the brains of Yaya Touré and Leighton Baines, who were on the Pro Licence course with him, as well as Sean Dyche, who gave a presentation.
Bloomfield preferred not to offer an opinion on whether the England manager should be English, but was impressed by Tuchel’s first press conference and does not feel discouraged about his own prospects in management despite the FA’s decision to go foreign.
“Tuchel is incredible,” said Bloomfield. “Look at the cups he’s won, the calibre of clubs he’s managed. I don’t think it’s for me to say whether it’s right or wrong that we go English or go foreign for a coach of our national team. I watched his press conference and I thought he came across really, really well. It doesn’t discourage me, absolutely not. It’s about believing in yourself. He’s someone we have to be able to learn from.”
On whether or not he believes there is a pathway for English managers such as himself to try to reach the top level, Bloomfield replied: “I have to believe, because if not, what’s the point? I have to believe that if I’m good enough at what I do, then you make your own future.”
Armed with a budget he described as being “mid-table”, Bloomfield has Wycombe punching well above their financial weight at the top of League One this season.
Wycombe’s form is among best in Europe
Birmingham, backed by Tom Brady, spent over £10 million on striker Jay Stansfield and Wrexham have the Hollywood pulling power of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. But Wycombe’s form over the past 10 games has been so strong that, across the top three divisions in the world’s top five leagues, only Bayern Munich and Paris St-Germain have taken more points.
“I’ve been at this level long enough to know that the guys with the biggest budgets usually finish at the top,” said Bloomfield. “They can recruit the best players and have the biggest squads. You would still expect Birmingham and Wrexham to be right up the top of the league, but for us it’s an incredible challenge.”
Wycombe’s top scorer, Richard Kone, played for Ivory Coast in the 2019 Homeless World Cup and joined the club on a free transfer in January having waited for documents allowing him to work in England. He is the third top-scorer in League One with eight goals and has two more in cup competitions.
“He’s an inspiration to us all because he’s had a tough life and he’s playing a big part in our football club,” said Bloomfield. “I had been aware of him for a few years. He was playing in the Essex Senior League at Athletic Newham. I tried to strike a personal relationship as well as professional because I realised he needed an opportunity. We saw he had fantastic talent. He’d had a tough life, but I just saw a really incredible young man. He has a really high ceiling.”
Judging by Bloomfield’s career in management to date and some of the people he has been taking advice from, Kone is not the only person at Wycombe with a high ceiling.
