Tuesday 25 April 2017 16:55, UK
Chris Powell hopes Chris Hughton's success as Brighton manager can help inspire budding black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) football coaches to follow their dream.
Hughton and Carlisle's Keith Curle are the only black managers remaining in England's top four divisions, with Marcus Bignot having recently left his role with Grimsby Town.
But Hughton's success at the Amex Stadium, having guided Brighton into the Premier League for the first time earlier this month, provides the kind of positive role model future BAME managers need, according to former Charlton and Huddersfield boss Powell.
Speaking to Sky Sports at Kick It Out's Raise Your Game Conference at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, Powell said: "People in all walks of life like to look up to people that they want to be, and look at their positions.
"Sometimes for black and Asian aspiring coaches, male and female, if they see someone else like them doing the role they feel more comfortable and feel like they can do it.
"I looked up to Chris Hughton, and now I look at the marvellous work he has been doing at Brighton and his previous clubs.
"He was someone I always looked up to at Tottenham as that was the team I supported as a boy, so straight away I had an affinity.
"Lower down, the late great Keith Alexander, with Lincoln, Peterborough and Macclesfield. Okay, it was lower down but it was still the position I wanted to be in. I'll never forget when I met him, right at the end of my career, I was in awe of him. This was the guy in the position I wanted to be in - he really inspired me. Terry Connor and Leroy Rosenior too, they were all doing what I wanted to do.
"These guys had gone through a lot of barriers and hoops, they had broken through the glass ceiling, so it inspired me to get on the coaching route and I was given the opportunity at Leicester City."
Powell is keen to return to the managerial ranks as soon as possible, having left his assistant manager role at Derby County back in March when manager Steve McClaren was fired and replaced by Gary Rowett.
But he concedes managers of any ethnicity will have to bring success to their club, more than likely through results on the pitch, to build a long-term career in coaching.
He added: "Ultimately you have to do well at your job, regardless of your background.
"Sometimes you have to look at the holistic approach and see what you have done at that particular club - it's all relative. People want success, but that success is not always what you see on the field.
"Sometimes developing the club and players helps, and I've done that, as have other managers.
"We do have issues but it's about making sure when you have an opportunity to be interviewed that you project yourself correctly, you show people you are capable of doing the job - sell yourself. I want others to be in that position - it's not easy, I understand that."
