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Lee Johnson on managing abroad: ‘It's crunch time for English coaches, we need success stories'
Next season's Premier League will probably start with only three English managers or head coaches. The lowest number of English bosses to feature across a full Premier League campaign is six.
This pattern is not exclusive to the Premier League. In the Championship, fewer than half the head coaches are English. Of the 96 clubs in Europe's top five leagues, there are just four: Strasbourg's Liam Rosenior joining the Premier League trio of Eddie Howe, Scott Parker and Graham Potter. And last year, the Football Association (FA) chose German Thomas Tuchel as the most suitable candidate to coach England.
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Lee Johnson is trying to reverse the trend. Appointed permanent head coach at Belgian second division club Lommel this month following a successful interim stint, Johnson has called on fellow English coaches to be 'brave' and to consider moving abroad. 'We need more success stories,' Johnson told The Athletic. 'It's crunch time for English coaches. Everyone dreams of managing in the Premier League, but no route guarantees it.'
Johnson's managerial career began in 2013 at Oldham Athletic. Aged 31, he was the youngest manager in England's top four divisions. Six clubs and over 500 matches later, he is still younger than 16 Premier League head coaches. 'I feel the pressure of being an English coach, there is a label which doesn't have the respect because of the lack of names. That can change, but only once we start winning.'
English coaches abroad are notable by their rarity. Will Still, appointed Southampton head coach this summer, was at Reims and then Lens in Ligue 1. Still, however, was born and raised in Belgium. Rosenior enjoyed a strong first season at Strasbourg, qualifying for the UEFA Conference League. 'There needs to be more structural support,' Johnson adds, 'but more coaches must be willing to believe in themselves and take that risk.'
English coaches are part of an unforgiving culture. Through the lens of English football, managerial careers rise and then fall. Success leads to opportunities at higher ranked clubs, but one disappointing stint leads to a move backwards, often down a division — the drop is often irreversible.
This managerial stock culture is different elsewhere, most notably Italy, where head coaches are regularly hired and fired and often coach multiple clubs at the same level. Earlier this month, Ivan Juric was appointed head coach at Atalanta — who finished third in Serie A in 2024-25 — following a difficult season at Roma and Southampton. While neither culture is perfect, Johnson believes the mentality of owners within England needs to change.
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'Chairmen and owners need to start viewing coaching hardship as a virtue,' Johnson says. 'Every club is different and so contextual with their own specific circumstances, certain coaches are just a better fit for that club's environment. Once a manager has had 150 games, they have experienced behind-the-scenes politics, the ups and downs with players and fans, and how to handle the media.'
Johnson's coaching career through Oldham, Barnsley, Bristol City, Sunderland, Hibernian and Fleetwood Town broadly reflects the English view on coaching: a trajectory rising through the English divisions before a reverse. Yet Johnson, whose father Gary enjoyed a four-decade managerial career, says it is natural that coaches learn more from defeats. 'Now, I have a point to prove on a personal level too, there is extra motivation.'
In March, Johnson was appointed head coach of Belgian second division side Lommel until the end of the season. Winless in 13 matches, Lommel were in danger of relegation. 'The approach had to be simplicity, clarity and conciseness,' says Johnson. His first game was a 1-0 win at league leaders Zulte Waregem, and he got a win against third-place Molenbeek. Earlier this month, Johnson's appointment was made permanent.
Johnson's move to Belgium came after 15 months out of management, the first meaningful break in his coaching career. 'It felt like being on a treadmill,' Johnson says, speaking of the daily pressures of a multitude of managerial responsibilities. 'It's only when you are away from that cycle you realise you needed time to reflect, to rest, and to give the energy to your family.'
The break gave Johnson time to help his teenage daughter with studying but he also enjoyed a range of eclectic coaching-related activities; visiting the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and leading grassroots coaching seminars before travelling; speaking to sports psychologists at FC Copenhagen in Denmark and scouting at youth tournaments in Nigeria.
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'The Nigeria trip was particularly beneficial,' Johnson says. 'I'd never been to Africa but it helped me understand the culture, what players need to go through, the hunger and work they need, but the luck too.' That experience is now directly useful at Lommel, where there are five African-born players.
'You have to stay curious, and I know this may sound a bit cringey but those opportunities give you a chance to work on yourself, the man-management skills and understanding you need for management,' Johnson added. 'There are great coaches who struggle to manage.
'You need to know how to speak with players when you leave them out of a squad or substitute them, but also having more empathy with players and colleagues, to understand how that time and energy can deliver results rather than conflicting with coaching time.'
Lommel are part of the City Football Group (CFG), the ownership group who are majority-owned by Abu Dhabi whose flagship club is Manchester City. Since CFG acquired the club in 2020, there have been a succession of English managers, including Liam Manning, Brian Eastick, Steve Bould and Ryan Garry.
During his year out of management, Johnson helped coach fringe players at City. He has long been close to CFG'S managing director of global football Brian Marwood, dating back to Johnson's youth career at Arsenal. 'Connections are important,' Johnson admits. 'After Fleetwood was when my stock was lowest, I still believed in myself, and so did CFG — I am very grateful for that.'
Multi-ownership groups in football are not without controversies, but Johnson was keen to point out how Lommel's relationship with City helped them defeat Molenbeek. Lommel were without full-backs for that match, so Johnson worked on a tactical plan to shut down space centrally by inverting players in those positions. This was how Pep Guardiola had deployed John Stones during games, so they leaned on City's idea for their trigger to pull off the multi-player move.
'For 25 minutes or so we were absolutely brilliant, because we used that manoeuvre five or six times,' Johnson explains. 'It was a small detail that made a big difference. There are tactical, scouting, performance or data benefits that we can lean upon to tweak our own style.'
Lommel present unique challenges; their side's average age in 2024-25 was 21.9 ('the youngest in the world for a senior side,' claims Johnson) with 16 nationalities. 'Finding ways to communicate is key but not always straightforward,' Johnson admits. 'Sometimes it must be through videos and gesticulating, or through positive body language. Me and the staff must make players feel at home. If players are emotionally stable, they have more self-confidence and can take risks in games, which is when their talent comes out.'
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Johnson draws parallels to his objectives at Lommel to his time at Bristol City. 'When I joined, the objective was to stay up in the first season, reduce the age the following season and the third was moving forward; we reached the Carabao Cup semi-final, beating Manchester United en route, and challenged for the play-offs.'
With Johnson's managerial career spanning over a decade, a lot has changed including the generation of players, technologies available to coach them and tactical shifts. Johnson speaks of the need to 'stay curious' in coaching; he encouraged the use of virtual-reality headsets to replicate in-game simulations during training drills, drones for training sessions and pitchside tactical monitors. 'You assess and trial what adds value, not because it's a gimmick.'
Johnson's approach to innovation is the same as his messages to English coaches. 'Football is evolving and so must coaches. We should never stay in our comfort zone.'
(Header image: Maarten Straetemans/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)
