Golden Generation of failed managers sums up the problem with privilege and celebrity culture

The managerial stocks of Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard have never been lower, yet another chairman will soon fall into the same old trap.

Failing upwards. It’s a modern phenomenon. Take Steven Gerrard. He turned Aston Villa into a mid-table and even relegation-battling side when in reality the players are good enough to make European places. While Unai Emery is a very good manager, it’s embarrassing for Gerrard that he has been so successful. It all goes to prove just how average Gerrard was.

The same goes for Frank Lampard at Everton – and now seemingly Wayne Rooney.

So where next for this trio of failed managers? It seems only the riches of Saudi Arabia are available to them. It is the last refuge of the failed former manager. Perhaps. Or perhaps they might think of learning the trade at a less exposed level, by which I mean somewhere in the fourth tier or lower. But that seems unlikely. Managers who have not been big players must look on and feel very aggrieved that they are being looked over in favour of a big name who has not proven themselves in the slightest.

READ MORE: Rooney sacked by Birmingham after biggest cock-up of season ends in another iconic player failing

Let’s be honest. These players have great respect from the next generation, but it is clear that is not enough. You have to have more than that. It’s been said that in all three cases they lack empathy, and that makes players not respond. I prefer a more obvious solution. None of them are actually any good. Simple as that.

A manager’s job is multi-faceted. If you are bad at any of those composite parts, it can cause you to fail badly. So you have to recognise your own limitations, but of course these are players who have been told they are too good to take advice from anyone.

Basically, if you’re a former player and a club offers you a job, don’t take it! There needs to be some self-awareness here. Obviously to the rest of us there is no link – or at least not inevitably – between a great player and even a good manager.

Owners, however, don’t employ the same wisdom. One suspects, they love the high profile such people give the club. And that is the major concern. But it is very embarrassing when it all turns to shit. However, that will not stop another stupid chair from making the same mistake again.

People say Rooney should have been given more time but that is the flipside of privilege. You’ve got to be good now, not tomorrow. You’ve been given the job unfairly so now don’t expect to be treated fairly. Them’s the breaks.

In fairness, Rooney really does want to be an authentically good manager. He just isn’t. Fair play to him for giving the Championship a go. Next time he might steal the bread out of the mouth of a fourth-tier manager. The ghost of people like Lampard hangs like a bad smell over every weak position and you know eventually, someone will appoint him and it will end in tears. The fact that Birmingham City’s fans were not enamoured with Rooney should tell owners that we are not as stupid as they are. There is little more obnoxious sight in the game than the already over-privileged flexing their muscles once again. It feels like these people are just not deserving.

They won’t accept this, of course, having spent a lifetime being adored. So you will be treated to the sight of the Golden Generation failing once again sometime soon. Being a manager is much more than wearing a gilet or big padded coat. No amount of reputation as a player will protect you. The only thing that will is winning and winning often.

We are in an era when successful managers are often drawn from the journeyman class. Pep Guardiola is nothing more than an exception that proves a rule, along with Mikel Arteta. That should tell the bosses something profound, but it doesn’t for some reason.

Maybe they interviewed really well. I suspect not, given the people involved. The fact remains that we will not see the likes of Lampard being appointed the new manager of MK Dons or teams of that ilk any time soon, and that is a symbol of the culture of celebrity and the culture of football.