If you are an aspiring manager in English football and you are black, you get used to one thing: when an opportunity comes your way, it’s going to be the managerial equivalent of a hospital pass. Sorry, but it’s true. With a few exceptions, you don’t get the better opportunities. You get the football version of mopping up the toilets. Chris Ramsey, the only black manager in the Premier League, is a classic example. Ramsey is a fine coach who has been overlooked for countless jobs. Chris Ramsey (right) and Kevin Hitchcock watch QPR hammer West Brom to keep their survival hopes alive . Ramsey takes nots during his side's biggest win of the season which gave their survival chances a boost . He took the QPR position after Harry Redknapp, a talented, experienced manager with a good track record of rescuing clubs in trouble, saw the writing on the wall and got out. Ramsey was asked to board the sinking ship and, guess what, it has not been an easy job to refloat it. Before the victory at West Brom, QPR were sliding deeper into trouble and there were already those seeking to blame it on Ramsey. Just as predictably, there were also those saying Ramsey’s struggles were an indication black managers tend to fail on the rare occasions they are given a chance. John Barnes' troubled reign at Celtic ended after an infamous Scottish Cup defeat by Inverness Caley Thistle . If Ramsey is sacked, people will say it was about results, not race. And they will be wrong. Because race was why he had to take the job in the first place. People tend not to like inconvenient truths about why there are so few black managers in the English game. Some got angry again when John Barnes suggested a manager on a bad run will get sacked sooner if he’s black. He was right. The fact Ramsey has been labouring to turn things around at QPR does not mean he is not a good manager. It just means that when your only chance in the game is to accept a hospital pass, the odds are you’re going to get hurt.
Chris Ramsey, the only black manager in the Premier League, is a classic example .
Ramsey is a fine coach who has been overlooked for countless jobs .
He took the QPR position after Harry Redknapp saw the writing on the wall and got out .
Ramsey was asked to board the sinking ship and, guess what, it has not been an easy job to refloat it .