Joey Barton: No England golden generation and Sir Alex Ferguson wasn't a great coach
Joey Barton does not feel England have had a 'golden generation' and suggests Sir Alex Ferguson was not a great coach.
Last Updated: 11/10/13 7:51pm
England have won just one major international tournament - the 1966 World Cup on home soil - and have only reached the semi-finals of a World Cup or European Championship twice since.
The past decade or so has seen the group of players that contained the likes of David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney branded as the 'golden generation'.
However, the once-capped Barton disputed that tag in a wide-ranging discussion at the Leaders in Football conference at Stamford Bridge on Thursday.
"I don't think we've had great players," said Barton. "People go on about the golden generation.
"I don't think we've had it because they haven't won anything, so they're not a golden generation.
"Without getting side-tracked, what I was going to say is we've had good players who we've given to good coaches, which have mostly been good, foreign coaches, who've developed our good players to become better."
The Queens Park Rangers midfielder also suggested that coaches require more recognition after offering his view that former Manchester United boss Ferguson was not a great coach.
He added: "We don't honour coaches in this country, we honour managers, we love managers.
"I am not here to disrespect Fergie. He is a great manager, the icon, the pinnacle of British management.
"But he couldn't put on a coaching session to save his life. I've spoken to people about him and he can barely lay out cones. This is not a coach, this is a manager.
"This is the difference - there is a big, big difference between a coach and a manager."
Meanwhile, Barton also believes that the newly-formed Football Association Commission will not benefit the England national team in any way.
England's governing body has unveiled a 10-man commission in a bid to turn around the fortunes of Roy Hodgson's squad, but Barton has called it 'a waste of time.'
Barton said: "How long do we have to talk about how bad it is? I mean this Commission thing. What's the point?
"I am an extremist and I am at this phase in life where I am struggling with democracy. I don't think it works.
"I think we need a totalitarian figure who knows what he wants and goes with it because at least he is accountable.
"It is quite a smart move if you're Greg Dyke (new chairman of the FA) because now you have put other people in front of you to deflect the criticism when it no doubt comes your way when we fall short at the next World Cup, the next European Championship.
"The Premier League have made a smart move in terms of isolating themselves.
"Why would you want to be a part of it when you've got such a great product?
"I just don't get it - the Commission. I don't get it. The whole point of hiring Greg Dyke surely was because he knows what he is doing or at least has got an idea?
"Don't turn around and say 'I am going to bring nine other people from all different fields of the game and hopefully we'll make a group decision'. It is never going to work."
As for the English club game in general, Barton added: "It is a scary time as an Englishman who cares passionately about football.
"You only have to look at the amount of foreign owners now - how many owners are English?
"The Football Association is archaic; it is completely and utterly out of its depth.
"It does not even run the major league in our country. The FA's responsibility is to care about English football. They have no power apart from banning players and stuff."
