Top players must earn stripes as managers - Alan Smith
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Written by Simon Austin — February 28, 2017
FORMER England striker Alan Smith says it would be ‘disrespectful’ to expect to be fast-tracked as a manager just because he was a top player.
John Terry, who is currently studying for his Uefa B Licence, called for top players to be allowed to do shorter courses to get their badges. "We need to make it easier for them [top players] to get into coaching roles by not doing the full length of the FA coaching course,” he said.
But Smith, 36, who won 19 England caps and is now at Notts County, argues that playing, coaching and managing are three completely different skills.
“People are managers because they’ve earned their stripes, and I’ve not done that yet because I want to keep playing," the midfielder told TGG.