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Touches briefly on his time at Southend
Sol Campbell: I could have helped England at Euro 2020 – but no one’s called me
Former international has been rejected for 16 jobs in 11 months despite strong start as a manager, he tells Henry Winter
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/...-at-euro-2020-but-no-ones-called-me-hgc66zg3r
Sol Campbell has been to six tournaments with England, defending with such distinction that he was named in the all-star XIs at the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004. Drawing on his experience of 73 internationals, Campbell looks at the England centre backs heading into Euro 2020 and would love the opportunity to work with them.
Campbell wishes Gareth Southgate’s side well this summer, of course, and is well aware of the manager’s defensive coaching qualities, but feels his own experience is being wasted. “No one’s called,” Campbell reflects, sadly.
“I’d love to help, but they’re happy with what they’ve got. I’m always up for my country. I loved playing for England, loved passing on my knowledge, because I’m a very detailed guy. I’ve played since Lilleshall [the FA’s national school, which he attended at 16]. I know England inside out.
“I see a lot of things that maybe some people don’t see in the player, the positioning, the movement and the timing. I can correct things quite easily. I don’t miss a trick — I’m always on it. That’s what players need at the highest level. They need a little bit of fine-tuning when it comes down to the tournaments. Why not have expertise, someone who comes in [just for tournaments]? Doesn’t even have to be full-time. It’s just those fine details, those nuggets, that information that can make the difference.
“We’ve got a chance [of winning]. We’re exciting going forward, everyone’s good in midfield. The art of defending needs more focus. It might come down to single goal – that single moment in the box when you need to be really on it and if you’re not, a really clever forward, making that clever run, gets the space that makes a difference. Then they lock up shop and it’s really hard.”
When did he last speak to Southgate, his old England team-mate? “Years ago,” Campbell replies.
Campbell was invited by head-hunters to discuss the England Under-21 vacancy, which is yet to be filled. “It was fantastic to be involved in the whole process but I just wasn’t what they were looking for,” he says. “Good luck to them for the future.” He admits to a frustration that he received no real feedback.
It’s a familiar theme. Campbell earned widespread praise for rescuing the apparently doomed Macclesfield Town, in Sky Bet League Two, in 2019, but beyond a difficult spell at troubled Southend United, then in League One, the phone has stopped ringing. “Of course I’m frustrated, but I can’t beat myself up,” he says. “I love football. I’m conscious I don’t want to fall out of love with football because of this. You can quite easily do that. I don’t know what they are looking for. I’m shooting in the dark.”
In the past 11 months Campbell has applied for 16 jobs, ranging from League One to the lower end of the Premier League and up in the Scottish Premiership, and had only one interview, at Sunderland. “It really hurts,” he says, of the repeated rejection. “It hurts when you don’t even hear back from people. Your CV just goes into a black hole.”
Now 46, the former Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Portsmouth, Notts County and Newcastle United defender has recorded an hour-long documentary, Being Sol Campbell, airing on Thursday evening on talkSPORT. “I just wanted to paint a picture of the real me,” he explains.
Campbell was one of the few England players of his generation who would regularly leave the team hotel at a tournament and explore the city he was in, even if was simply to have a coffee and absorb local life. A reflective character, with a range of interests including art and politics, he has rarely been properly understood. Given that he’s a Double winner with Arsenal, and was regularly outstanding for England, Campbell deserves greater appreciation for his footballing career.
He feels more appreciated abroad. “If I go to France or South America they just know me as a performer in the football sense,” Campbell says. “They look at how I’ve done it for such a long time and against top, top players in their own country, and [how he would] nullify them, or go toe to toe. I didn’t win all the time but on average I gave fantastic performances for my country and they’ve seen that. Sometimes I feel it’s almost they are too used to you in this country and don’t really appreciate you.”
It still rankles that he captained England only three times during his international career, from 1996 to 2007. “It was a lot about PR at that time,” he says. “For whatever reason I didn’t fit the image. You started being captain and then you become vice-captain and then no captain and your career goes one way. But on the field you act like a captain and talk like a captain.” In his 2014 autobiography, Campbell claimed that he would have been “England captain for more than ten years” if he were white.
Campbell feels his colour inhibits his managerial opportunities. By contrast, some of his white former England team-mates now enjoy high-profile managerial roles. “I’d love that,” he says. “I’m happy for the guys who’ve had their opportunity to start building their career. Why can’t I build a new career? I should be allowed to. I don’t need the best budget, I don’t need the whole team full of stars. I’ve never had a budget! I can’t be judged on two teams who’ve struggled with finances.”
Campbell took over at cash-strapped Macclesfield on 27 November, 2018. “Macclesfield was difficult from the outset,” Campbell recalls. “It was crash, bang, wallop. There were little fires everywhere you had to put out, then new ones popping up. Everything was against us, but they had spirit. I got some organisation and helped that spirit and improved them, improved their fitness and their understanding about football.
“I was tested every day with guys coming in with financial problems, mental problems, football problems. I was manager, analyst, Samaritan. You have to show the human side and tell them, ‘I don’t know when, but you will get paid.’ But it’s difficult to convince someone who’s waiting on that money and is choosing between rent, mortgage, bills or child maintenance. Emotions are everywhere. They could see how passionate I was, how I can sympathise with their situation.”
Campbell guided them from the bottom of League Two to safety on the final day of the season. “That experience was great,” he says, smiling. “Yes, we stayed up, fantastic. I was crying with my wife because there was so much pressure on me, being a first job. And saving them. It was so draining mentally and physically that I started crying because it’s my passion, my love, and I put so much into it.
“But the following year it was just so difficult for me to stay. There were financial constraints, players being sold, players refusing to train, players refusing on the day not to play.” He left on 15 August, 2019.
Two months later Campbell was appointed at Southend, in League One. “I thought it was a little bit more stable, but I only found out in the last week of the January transfer window that there were embargoes and, ‘We’ve sold loads of the players.’ ”
Campbell remembers losing his promising young goalkeeper, Nathan Bishop. “I was on the way to a game [away to Doncaster Rovers on January 28, 2020], and came off the coach and our keeper had gone to Man United! OK! ‘Can I play him?’ [Campbell asked the club]. ‘No, he’s a Man United player now.’ ”
The pandemic forced the cessation of the League One season and brought Southend’s relegation on points-per-game. Campbell left on 30 June, 2020 and, since then, near-silence. Does he feel that the glass ceiling for black managers that Cyrille Regis spoke about a decade ago is still in place? “I like to think the glass is almost a thin pane now, not a thick piece,” Campbell says. “I feel there are movements, but that we can’t just see through it. You can’t all be successful but the more opportunities that are out there [the more chance there is that] a black manager will one day win the Premier League.”
Nuno Espírito Santo’s departure from Wolverhampton Wanderers has reduced the number of black managers in English football to six. “The numbers don’t lie,” Campbell says. “The numbers aren’t looking good. There are a few clubs trying to make a difference, but not everyone thinks the same. People are scared of change. That’s the trouble. But change is good.”
Sol Campbell: I could have helped England at Euro 2020 – but no one’s called me
Former international has been rejected for 16 jobs in 11 months despite strong start as a manager, he tells Henry Winter
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/...-at-euro-2020-but-no-ones-called-me-hgc66zg3r
Sol Campbell has been to six tournaments with England, defending with such distinction that he was named in the all-star XIs at the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004. Drawing on his experience of 73 internationals, Campbell looks at the England centre backs heading into Euro 2020 and would love the opportunity to work with them.
Campbell wishes Gareth Southgate’s side well this summer, of course, and is well aware of the manager’s defensive coaching qualities, but feels his own experience is being wasted. “No one’s called,” Campbell reflects, sadly.
“I’d love to help, but they’re happy with what they’ve got. I’m always up for my country. I loved playing for England, loved passing on my knowledge, because I’m a very detailed guy. I’ve played since Lilleshall [the FA’s national school, which he attended at 16]. I know England inside out.
“I see a lot of things that maybe some people don’t see in the player, the positioning, the movement and the timing. I can correct things quite easily. I don’t miss a trick — I’m always on it. That’s what players need at the highest level. They need a little bit of fine-tuning when it comes down to the tournaments. Why not have expertise, someone who comes in [just for tournaments]? Doesn’t even have to be full-time. It’s just those fine details, those nuggets, that information that can make the difference.
“We’ve got a chance [of winning]. We’re exciting going forward, everyone’s good in midfield. The art of defending needs more focus. It might come down to single goal – that single moment in the box when you need to be really on it and if you’re not, a really clever forward, making that clever run, gets the space that makes a difference. Then they lock up shop and it’s really hard.”
When did he last speak to Southgate, his old England team-mate? “Years ago,” Campbell replies.
Campbell was invited by head-hunters to discuss the England Under-21 vacancy, which is yet to be filled. “It was fantastic to be involved in the whole process but I just wasn’t what they were looking for,” he says. “Good luck to them for the future.” He admits to a frustration that he received no real feedback.
It’s a familiar theme. Campbell earned widespread praise for rescuing the apparently doomed Macclesfield Town, in Sky Bet League Two, in 2019, but beyond a difficult spell at troubled Southend United, then in League One, the phone has stopped ringing. “Of course I’m frustrated, but I can’t beat myself up,” he says. “I love football. I’m conscious I don’t want to fall out of love with football because of this. You can quite easily do that. I don’t know what they are looking for. I’m shooting in the dark.”
In the past 11 months Campbell has applied for 16 jobs, ranging from League One to the lower end of the Premier League and up in the Scottish Premiership, and had only one interview, at Sunderland. “It really hurts,” he says, of the repeated rejection. “It hurts when you don’t even hear back from people. Your CV just goes into a black hole.”
Now 46, the former Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Portsmouth, Notts County and Newcastle United defender has recorded an hour-long documentary, Being Sol Campbell, airing on Thursday evening on talkSPORT. “I just wanted to paint a picture of the real me,” he explains.
Campbell was one of the few England players of his generation who would regularly leave the team hotel at a tournament and explore the city he was in, even if was simply to have a coffee and absorb local life. A reflective character, with a range of interests including art and politics, he has rarely been properly understood. Given that he’s a Double winner with Arsenal, and was regularly outstanding for England, Campbell deserves greater appreciation for his footballing career.
He feels more appreciated abroad. “If I go to France or South America they just know me as a performer in the football sense,” Campbell says. “They look at how I’ve done it for such a long time and against top, top players in their own country, and [how he would] nullify them, or go toe to toe. I didn’t win all the time but on average I gave fantastic performances for my country and they’ve seen that. Sometimes I feel it’s almost they are too used to you in this country and don’t really appreciate you.”
It still rankles that he captained England only three times during his international career, from 1996 to 2007. “It was a lot about PR at that time,” he says. “For whatever reason I didn’t fit the image. You started being captain and then you become vice-captain and then no captain and your career goes one way. But on the field you act like a captain and talk like a captain.” In his 2014 autobiography, Campbell claimed that he would have been “England captain for more than ten years” if he were white.
Campbell feels his colour inhibits his managerial opportunities. By contrast, some of his white former England team-mates now enjoy high-profile managerial roles. “I’d love that,” he says. “I’m happy for the guys who’ve had their opportunity to start building their career. Why can’t I build a new career? I should be allowed to. I don’t need the best budget, I don’t need the whole team full of stars. I’ve never had a budget! I can’t be judged on two teams who’ve struggled with finances.”
Campbell took over at cash-strapped Macclesfield on 27 November, 2018. “Macclesfield was difficult from the outset,” Campbell recalls. “It was crash, bang, wallop. There were little fires everywhere you had to put out, then new ones popping up. Everything was against us, but they had spirit. I got some organisation and helped that spirit and improved them, improved their fitness and their understanding about football.
“I was tested every day with guys coming in with financial problems, mental problems, football problems. I was manager, analyst, Samaritan. You have to show the human side and tell them, ‘I don’t know when, but you will get paid.’ But it’s difficult to convince someone who’s waiting on that money and is choosing between rent, mortgage, bills or child maintenance. Emotions are everywhere. They could see how passionate I was, how I can sympathise with their situation.”
Campbell guided them from the bottom of League Two to safety on the final day of the season. “That experience was great,” he says, smiling. “Yes, we stayed up, fantastic. I was crying with my wife because there was so much pressure on me, being a first job. And saving them. It was so draining mentally and physically that I started crying because it’s my passion, my love, and I put so much into it.
“But the following year it was just so difficult for me to stay. There were financial constraints, players being sold, players refusing to train, players refusing on the day not to play.” He left on 15 August, 2019.
Two months later Campbell was appointed at Southend, in League One. “I thought it was a little bit more stable, but I only found out in the last week of the January transfer window that there were embargoes and, ‘We’ve sold loads of the players.’ ”
Campbell remembers losing his promising young goalkeeper, Nathan Bishop. “I was on the way to a game [away to Doncaster Rovers on January 28, 2020], and came off the coach and our keeper had gone to Man United! OK! ‘Can I play him?’ [Campbell asked the club]. ‘No, he’s a Man United player now.’ ”
The pandemic forced the cessation of the League One season and brought Southend’s relegation on points-per-game. Campbell left on 30 June, 2020 and, since then, near-silence. Does he feel that the glass ceiling for black managers that Cyrille Regis spoke about a decade ago is still in place? “I like to think the glass is almost a thin pane now, not a thick piece,” Campbell says. “I feel there are movements, but that we can’t just see through it. You can’t all be successful but the more opportunities that are out there [the more chance there is that] a black manager will one day win the Premier League.”
Nuno Espírito Santo’s departure from Wolverhampton Wanderers has reduced the number of black managers in English football to six. “The numbers don’t lie,” Campbell says. “The numbers aren’t looking good. There are a few clubs trying to make a difference, but not everyone thinks the same. People are scared of change. That’s the trouble. But change is good.”
