Barnwell: England for the English

Barnwell claimed he was not against all foreign managers.

He said that Arsenal manager Wenger and Liverpool's Houllier were welcome additions to the English game.

"They have a better chance of success because of their experience of the English and their knowledge of the players," he said.

"If the England job had been given to Wenger, brilliant. If they had wanted Wenger as a foreign manager, I would have accepted that.

"Coaches like him and Houllier are very articulate, much more so than most of our managers and players.

"I am simply against the bad foreign managers we have had in the past. We have had a few over the years."

Barnwell also attacked the FA for not spotting talented young English managers early enough.

"Steve McClaren and Peter Taylor are two of the best. How many Peter Taylor's are there? Did they know about him at Dover? We should develop our own."

Barnwell, who made his name as a midfielder with Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United, has had experience abroad himself. He first broke into management at Peterborough and went on to manage Wolves, Notts County and Walsall. But the 62-year-old also had spells in Saudi Arabia and Greece.

Yet he admitted he would limit the number of foreigners in our game, including managers, and wants to see mandatory coaching certificates for all Premiership managers brought in by 2003.

"I don't want to put Ruud Gullit out to dry, but I think it is wrong that someone like Ruud can manage here but not in his own country.

"David Platt wasn't allowed to pursue his career as a manager at Sampdoria. We should get in to line with other countries. The idea is to level up and not to level down."

Meanwhile, Barnwell confirmed that he believed there was a hidden agenda in George Graham's sacking from Tottenham.

Graham is seeking £1.5m in compensation and has instructed Barnwell's LMA to file an application with the Premier League to set up an independent arbitration panel, as revealed in Standard Sport yesterday.

"There was a veiled threat that George Graham had done something indiscreet with the money from the players' fines. That was not the case," Barnwell said.

"There is a hidden agenda there. The club wanted a change. George might not get compensation, it is under discussion. I hope that Tottenham will have a conversation. There has been no response, or only a limited response so far."

Barnwell was less critical of West Ham following Harry Redknapp's sudden departure.

"Obviously, it would appear that his time was up. West Ham are a very honourable club. We didn't have any problems."

Barnwell also backed his members' rights to voice their opinions over referees.

He admitted that "one or two times" managers had over stepped the mark in criticising match officials, but said that it was unrealistic to ask them not to comment on referee's performances.

"A manager is entitled to his opinion on incidents," he said. "But this should be limited only to saying he had a poor game, or made a bad decision. Managers shouldn't attack his personality."

One of Barnwell's biggest concern, however, is football phone-ins.

"They are a horrible modern phenomenon," he said.

"We spent a fortune keeping hooligans out of football. Now they are giving the same hooligans the opportunity to express themselves over the airwaves.

"David Mellor starts off 'What manager is for the chop this week?' I would shut it down."