During Paul Ince's rise to the rarefied heights of the Premier League, John Barnes has been struggling to even get recognition in the foothills of the game. Ince became the top flight's first black English manager when he was appointed as Mark Hughes' successor at Blackburn on Sunday.
Barnes, on the other hand, has been applying for vacancies in the lower leagues without success.
It is a situation that has left England's finest black player perplexed, frustrated and angry.
"I've applied for numerous jobs and sometimes I haven't even had the courtesy of a reply to my application letter," Barnes told BBC Sport.
"Perhaps I could understand it if I was applying for jobs at the top level but these were clubs in League One."
While the 44-year-old is delighted by Ince's appointment, he is sceptical about whether it will herald a new dawn for black bosses.
His experiences, as well of those of other aspiring black managers like Luther Blissett, have persuaded him that there is not equality of opportunity.
"I believe the situation for black managers is like it was for black players back in the 1970s," he stated.
"Black players used to be put out on the wing because it was deemed they could run fast but not think too well.
"They weren't trusted to be a playmaker in central midfield or to wear the captain's armband.
"Now I think there is an analogous situation in management. Chairmen don't believe we can do the top managerial jobs.
"I look at someone like Luther Blissett, who is a former England international and has played abroad at the top level.
"He has been applying for manager's jobs in the Football League for 15 years and not got anywhere. This is all about opportunities."
Although Ince's appointment has been heralded as a major breakthrough for black managers, there is still a dearth of coaches of non-white bosses in the game. Keith Alexander, who succeeded Ince at Macclesfield, is the only other black manager in the Football League.
Even more startling is the statistic, provided by Warwick Business School, that there are only seven other black coaches of any capacity in the league.
This constitutes only about 1% of the total number of coaches - despite more than 20% of players being black.
Perhaps drawing on his own experiences at Celtic, Barnes says it is unfair to hold Ince up as a pioneer for all black managers.
He said: "If he doesn't succeed, does that count against all black managers? I don't think so, just as if he does succeed it doesn't mean all black managers are good."
While people like Gareth Southgate or Roy Keane got to manage in top flight football, the likes of Paul Ince, who was just as good as those two, perhaps better, had to settle in League 2.
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