Playing the coach in front of your peers deserves a badge of courage | David James

David James, top right, trains with fellow goalkeepers Robert Green, front, and Joe Hart while on England duty. Photograph: Alex Livesey/Fifa via Getty Images

West Bromwich Albion may sound an unlikely place for a footballer to spend their summer holiday, but, along with my old Liverpool team-mate Robbie Fowler and around two dozen others from the football fraternity, that is exactly where I passed a happy fortnight this year. We weren't on a footballers' jolly, we were there to gain our Level B coaching badges.

I have to admit I was a bit anxious about the whole thing beforehand. On a two-week residential course, I am prone to cabin fever; I'm not the best at getting on with people over a long period of time. So on the first day, when we were told by one of the coaches: "You will make friends for life here," I remember thinking: "Yeah, right." Robbie Fowler is about as close as I get to a friend for life – having known him for so many years – and I hardly ever speak to him.

But I soon discovered a really nice bunch of lads (I mean "men", I have vowed to stop using the term "lads" when I really mean grown-ups) representing a diverse range of ages and football experiences. One thing in particular that really impressed me was how those on the course were not there to get paid and continue the "football lifestyle", they were genuinely interested in coaching.

Together we ended up learning a lot. While in the past the emphasis has been on fast-tracking players through the badges with an over-reliance on the misconception that experienced players make accomplished managers, this year, the FA have launched a new and more in-depth course to try to give would-be coaches and managers a better grounding in the job.

At first, myself and a few others were rather sceptical of this new structure; there was a fair bit of moaning on hearing that, in other parts of the British Isles, the exact same qualification would take considerably less time to complete. My former Manchester City team-mate Antoine Sibierski was one of those on the shorter course and I made sure we kept in touch via text to compare how he was getting on. But, in the end, I have to admit the new course makes a lot of sense. It wasn't rushed, so what we learned really sank in. We got to experience coaching situations, rather than just read about them in a textbook with the aim of passing an exam.

Football culture has long assumed players already have the tools to be managers. With that kind of attitude, it is easy to see how English managers of the past might have gone through the old system believing they already know everything, with the qualification itself viewed as a mere formality. I'll admit that I have spent much of the past 10-15 years in goal watching training sessions and thinking I could put on something much better myself. I must have spent hours moaning to colleagues about how things could be improved. But when it comes down to doing it yourself, it is a very different story.

For the uninitiated, putting on a 25?minute coaching session is a nerve-racking experience. I genuinely felt anxious going up in front of my peers and telling a bunch of outfield players what to do. Some may argue this is exactly the sort of thing new managers learn on the job, but if you walk into a dressing room and lose their respect on the first day, I know – as a player – that it is very difficult to turn that situation around.

Of course, economics has to come into it. If you're a current player doing your badges you can afford the course fees, you can afford to take your time over things, but the situation is less straightforward for someone out of work, who just needs a wage to pay the bills. With the economic climate as it is, and English managers seemingly unfashionable to employ, competition for managerial places is ridiculously high. We were told that for a recently advertised lower league position there were more than 50 applicants. That in itself makes you realise why some might be in a rush to get straight on the career ladder. But if former England managers such as Steve McClaren and Sven-Goran Eriksson are plying their trade outside the Premier League, what realistic hope is there for the rest of us – unless we really up our game?

In addition, rumours abound that the employment process in football continues to operate far too informally – jobs for the boys and all that. Hopefully, the FA's new emphasis on quality will greatly improve the standard of managerial candidates coming through in English football, but I can't help thinking these qualifications should come with a grading. As it stands, you can either pass or fail your badges. But if candidates were graded on the strength of their performances, managerial appointments might be based on quality, rather than who you are mates with.

David James has donated his fee for this column to charity

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