KADEEM SIMMONDS discusses Hasselbaink’s new job as QPR manager and looks at whether black managers can bounce back into a job on the touchline as easily as their white counterparts

 

THERE is no need to go over the statistics again. It is not a secret that there is an alarming lack of ethnic minority managers in the top four flights of English football.

 

So while some sections of the media were lauding Queen Park Rangers’ decision to hire Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, I took a step back and analysed the situation further.

 

First of all, the number of ethnic minority managers did not go up, it’s the same. So it is not like we have a new black manager to talk about, more a case of one replacing another.

 

Chris Ramsey was doing a decent job and the season was still early, Charlie Austin was just returning and it’s likely that his goals will put the club back into the promotion race.

 

But what does this mean for Hasselbaink? Don’t get me wrong, it is a great career move from him.

 

The Hoops are a side with ambitions of being a Premier League powerhouse. There is nothing wrong with that. Given that they are based in London with room to expand, there is no reason why they can’t be the next Crystal Palace.

 

However, there is no stability at the club and I believe that Hasselbaink’s choice may have been made out of necessity.

 

Chair Tony Fernandes has shown little patience with previous managers. The moment things start to go south, he pulls the plug and starts again.

 

It gives Hasselbaink no room for failure. Should he fail to get the club promoted this season, it is unlikely they will keep him on next season.

 

If he does manage to survive the summer, he will be given a clear mandate for the season. Promotion or start looking for a new job.

 

The majority of mangers in charge of big Championship clubs have the same objectives. But their situation is different to that of Hasselbaink.

 

They wouldn’t have to wait that long for another opportunity to manage a club in the Football League. Because the sad reality is that, regardless of how badly a white manager does at a club, they are more likely to be shortlisted for another job before a black manager.

 

Should the Dutchman not get QPR promoted and be sacked as a result, who knows how long it will take him to find a new employer. He only has to look at Paul Ince to see that your achievements with a League One or Two side mean nothing if your last job was a failure.

 

Ince successfully gained promotion from League Two to League One with MK Dons but was unable to replicate that success with a Blackburn side which had a host of problems at boardroom level.

 

You look at the names that are linked with Fulham job. Garry Monk, who has had a terrible few months at Swansea which culminated in the sack. David Moyes, whose last two jobs have lasted no more than two years.

 

The same names will come up again and again. Will Hasselbaink’s name be added to that list if it doesn’t work out at QPR or will we be sitting here in five years’ time wondering where it all went wrong?

 

The man replacing the Dutchman at Burton, Nigel Clough, has returned after a number of mixed jobs at Nottingham Forest and Derby, in the hope that this time things will be a lot better.

 

Again, will Hasselbaink be given the luxury of being able to return to Burton in a few years if things don’t pan out the way he hopes?

 

Ince did return to MK Dons but he never replicated the success he had in his first stint. Hasselbaink may not want to return to the club where he made his name, just as Brendan Rodgers decided when he turned down the Swansea job last week.

 

I am also sceptical of the terms that agreed to.

 

You only have to look at the contract he was handed to determine that this is not a long-term investment in him as a manager.

 

A rolling contract signals that they are unsure as to whether Hasselbaink is indeed the right man for the job and, if he isn’t, they can get rid of him a lot easier on the current terms than if they had given him a three-year contract.

 

I am no way saying that he made the wrong choice, it is more that he had no other alternative. Ethnic minority mangers are rarely given a shot at a club with so much potential. No offence to Burton but it is hard to imagine them being in the Premier League in five years’ time.

 

It would be an amazing journey if that were to happen, but it is more likely that Burton are going through a purple patch and this is as high as they will climb. QPR has more appeal to a manager with ambition and Hasselbaink has plenty of that.

 

When it comes down to it, Hasselbaink was in no position to turn this role down. This opportunity might not come up again and he had to grab it with both hands. It is a shame that this is where we are in 2015, where a football manager has to accept work regardless of whether it is the right move for him and offers no job security.

 

This isn’t sour grapes from me. Other managers can turn down work because something will come up in a matter of weeks or months.

 

The same cannot be said for ethnic minorities.