Neil Warnock prepares to take on Sean Dyche suspecting the Burnley boss will never have the opportunity to manage a top-six club.
Warnock considers Dyche “as good as it gets in English managers” after steering the Clarets from the Championship and in to Europe.
“I think it will be very difficult for a British manager to end up at one of the top-six clubs,” Cardiff boss Warnock said ahead of Burnley’s Premier League trip to the Welsh capital.
“Sean is as good as it gets in English managers and he does it the hard way.
“But the owners are looking for top foreign managers to come in, and you can’t blame them as they’ve paid billions.
“If you can get Pep Guardiola then you get him, don’t you?
“If you can get Jose Mourinho then you pay for him. They are up there on merit.”
While Warnock has reservations that an English manager will be appointed at a top-six club anytime soon, he does believe that the next generation offers hope.
The 69-year-old veteran says he has been impressed by the starts former England stars Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have made to their respective managerial careers at Rangers and Derby.
“I think they will get more opportunity than lesser names among the English lads,” Warnock said.
“But they will have to win things and I can tell you, it’s not easy. You are up one minute and down the next.
“You need experience and these lads haven’t got any.
“But the directors and boards at their clubs will give them enough ammunition because of who they are. A lesser player, they wouldn’t give them the money.
“But I am pleased that people like Gerrard and Lampard are having a go – rather than just have a go at the rest of us on television!”
The pressure is on Warnock and his players with Cardiff still seeking a first Premier League win.
Cardiff have dropped into the relegation zone after successive losses to Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City, conceding 12 goals in those defeats.
“A lack of confidence goes you when you lose games,” Warnock said.
“It’s how quickly they can get out of that. How can we lift the players because they do get down, especially if they have not been at this level?
“They are learning as they go and there are so many different styles they have to face.
“We won’t come up against what we have in the last few games, but the only way we are going to be successful is to eliminate our mistakes at the back and take our chances at the other end.”