MATT BARLOW: There is revolution in the dug-out as young number crunchers sweep aside the old guard...  a new breed of coaching talent - focused on data and youth development - is upon us

There have been five managerial appointments in the Championship since the start of October with all but one under the age of 40, the other only 41, and all but Wayne Rooney with no discernible playing career.

Thirtysomethings are in charge of eight second-tier clubs, bringing the average down to less than 44. Only three are over 50. In League One, newbies include Des Buckingham at Oxford United at 38 and Michael Skubala at Lincoln City at 41.

There is a new breed of coaching talent upon us and it is one forged this side of the revolutions in youth development, coach education and data.

The radical Elite Player Performance Plan, combined with the arrival of financial fair play regulations, saw money poured into academies.

At around the same time, the Football Association were opening St George’s Park as a permanent home for England teams of all age groups and their coaching hub. Little more than a decade on and career coaches are flourishing.

It is certainly easier to get that first foot on the ladder and, from there, learn and study, to put principles into practice, improve with experience and see opportunities ahead through the FA’s coaching network, the club academy system or a blend of the two.

Steve Cooper of Nottingham Forest and Rob Edwards of Luton Town are in the Premier League from these beginnings, although the final step into senior first-team football remains difficult and fraught with chance.

Also evident within this generation of coaches is a willingness to venture overseas in search of opportunities, and the era of the multi-club ownership model adds another dimension.

Within this fresh cluster of appointments in the EFL, Bristol City lured Liam Manning from Oxford, who replaced him with Buckingham.

Both have spent time working within the rapidly expanding, increasingly influential City Group, something that leaps more convincingly from the c.v. than it did before Ange Postecoglou’s arrival in the UK.

Kevin Muscat, another working inside City Group at Yokohama F Marinos in Japan, was among the leading candidates for the Millwall job before it went to Joe Edwards, whose own coaching journey started within Chelsea’s acclaimed academy.

Rooney took charge of DC United in the USA, although the former Manchester United and England star defies the profile in other ways because many of these coaches have trained to coach rather than converted from professional playing careers. Kieran McKenna at Ipswich was 22 when he started coaching in Tottenham’s youth ranks. Cambridge’s Mark Bonner, at 38 the longest-serving League One boss, has been coaching for 20 years.

Another factor woven into this pattern is football’s data revolution, which has created a more analytical approach to recruitment in all roles, not just players.

Those searching for suitable managers have more information to go on. How do they like to play? What is their philosophy? Will it fit the vision of the club or the players in the building?

Those making the appointments are increasingly committed to data and liable to lean towards those who believe in it, too, and they are likely to be, although not always, younger.

And, it must be said, often cheaper, academy upbringings hinting at an ability to develop young players, and therefore save money in the post-Covid world where costs are cut to the bone in lower leagues.

That seems to be the general drift — although there will always be exceptions.

Other pathways remain valid, and football is fickle enough to pursue anything promising instant success while some individuals simply have what it takes to defy the cycles of fashion.

Mark Robins has performed miracles at Coventry City, Nigel Clough has 25 years of management behind him and Steve Evans has cast his usual spell at Stevenage.

When Evans was appointed in March 2022, Stevenage were 22nd in League Two, two places off the bottom of the Football League. After Saturday’s 3-0 win at Fleetwood Town, they are sitting fourth in League One.

Up from 90th to 48th in English football in fewer than 20 months. No wonder Rotherham United are tempted to buck the trend and bring him back to the Championship.

RECORD BREAKER 

Italian managers are not renowned for their faith in youthful footballers but AC Milan set a record for the youngest player to appear in Serie A when Francesco Camarda made his debut aged 15 years and 260 days on Saturday. 

MOTTY'S FA CUP CONNECTION 

Trust the FA Cup to serve up a neat connection to John Motson, with Barnet at Newport in the second round on Saturday.

Ricky George scored a hat-trick when Barnet, then of the Southern League, thrashed fourth-tier Newport 6-1 back in November 1970. No League team have suffered a heavier defeat against non-League opposition in the competition.

Ronnie Radford was in the Newport side that day, and the next season both he and George were scoring for Hereford United as they beat Newcastle in a third-round replay. Motson, who died in February at the age of 77, was in the commentary box on BBC duty that day.

A Barnet supporter and a friend of George, they had travelled together to the game that would propel them into football folklore along with Billy Meadows, another former Barnet player then at Hereford. 

After arguably the greatest FA Cup giantkilling, they drove back to London and enjoyed Match of the Day at Meadows’ house with fish and chips and a few cans of lager.

SOUTH AMERICAN INFLUENCE 

The starting line-ups when Argentina beat Brazil last week featured a dozen players based in the Premier League, which is more than in England’s games against Malta (8) and North Macedonia (11). The South American influence grows.

Brazil suffered another blow from their closest enemy when Argentina then dumped them out of the Under 17 World Cup, 3-0, with all the goals from Claudio Echeverri, widely tipped as the next big River Plate export.

The less said the better about England’s defeat by Uzbekistan in Indonesia.

FREE-FALLING MAGPIES 

Defeat for Newcastle’s Under 21s at Crewe in the Football League — or BSM — Trophy last week extended their winless run in the competition to 17 games.

Their last win came against Grimsby in November 2018 when it was still sponsored by Checkatrade. Six of the 16 Under 21 teams invited into the competition are now in the knockout stage.

MORRELL THE CARD COLLECTOR 

Joe Morrell collected his fifth red card of 2023 as Portsmouth’s 27-match unbeaten run in League One crashed to a halt. Four came in Pompey colours and one for Wales. Ollie Yates, who sent off Morrell against Blackpool at Fratton Park on Saturday, is in a deep-red phase, dishing out five in his last seven outings.

Mansfield’s unbeaten run also ended. They lost in stoppage time at Swindon.

But Farnham Town’s perfect start in the Combined Counties Premier South continues, with 13 wins out of 13.

HORROR RECORD LOOMS 

Sheffield Wednesday, with six points from 17 games, must have an eye on the ignominy of a post-war second-tier low of 23 points, an unwanted record held by Rotherham since 2016-17. 

Barnsley went down with 18 points in 1953 but it was two points for a win and a 42-game season.