Hourihane Devaney and Stead

No not a firm of solicitors but the coaching staff to Clarke.

What are your thoughts on them?

Devaney has been coaching us for a while and had stints as interim manager which he has struggled with.

Stead is a former striker and played at the highest level but does not seem to be able to get a tune out of any of our front men whilst he has been here.

Hourihane signed as player/coach but hardly kicked a ball and then decided to retire from playing. Tecnically talented midfielder with an eye for goal during his time here. Touted by many as our next manager. We have a number of talented midfielders on the books yet some of our set plays from corners and free kicks leave a lot to be desired.

 

Conor should get himself fit to play again - I still don’t understand what happened at the start of the season when he suddenly hung up his boots.

Devaney and Stead may be on their way out, with the head coach, at the end of the season. Neither have looked the part for me.

 

None of us know how good any of them are really.

I know there was an article in the chronicle trying to suggest Hourihane was some set piece mastermind but I think it’s more likely that having Pines & Roberts to attack set pieces is the real difference.

I’ve always been of the belief that if you rate a manager enough to recruit him then you want his staff to come with him as it’s a team effort.

No one is ever going to have me believe that Clarke working with two strangers both touted as possibly being the next manager & then working with the last managers assistant is anything close to a good scenario.

 

Hourihane's legs have gone. No amount of training will sort that. We don't need another midfielder who is tidy on the ball but lacking mobility.

 

Seems to have been thrown together, bound to be conflict - who's the top coach? Is it Stead who was assistant under the last manager? Is it Devaney who's been there the longest and been temp head coach during transitions? Is it Hourihane who its public knowledge is going to be the next head coach, but has the least experience? recipe for disaster imho, and the output on the pitch would tend to agree.

 

Is Hourihane still getting paid as a player? Player/coach was what he was signed as. I should imagine a players wage is more than a coaches wage.

 

The set play on Saturday was so crap (or badly executed) that 10 seconds later they had equalised. Why try fancy stuff when all the big men were waiting for a cross? except Russell who was one of 3 standing over the ball.

Our free kick turned the game in their favour.

 

The club said he had renegotiated and signed a coach only deal as that was his desire.

 

Exactly, a manager brings in his own coaches. Devaney doesn't want to leave the club, I feel, so won't apply for the top job until he's ready to retire. Same with Hassell, they are paid well and don't want to relocate as they love the area.

 

I was in the West Stand lower on saturday when we had a free kick in their half on the West Stand side and Hourihane came out into the technical area and spoke to a player, Nwakali I think it was. That set piece debacle led directly to Huddersfield's 2nd goal. I'd love to know what was said....

 

Agree 100%. I get the whole 'club led' thing, but Id rather give a manager the people he wants and trust that you'll keep him for more than 18 months than reduce the risk of more payoffs if you sack him.

 

Everyone on here was saying Hourihane was responsible for scoring from set plays earlier on in the season but when we **** one up like Saturday is he responsible?
People saying devante coles goalscoring was helped by stead. Wish he could help watters and Humphrys.
Not saying there bad or good but they can only work with what they have there not miracle workers.

 

Surprised Stead is still here, given NC is back in the US

 

I don't think we would miss any of them.

Devaney: Highly regarded as a player for us and rightly so. In coaching it just hasn't worked out. He's been part of numerous coaching teams that have struggled and the few different times he's been installed as caretaker he's always looked out of his depth.

Stead: He's our striker coach and yet we've not scored more than one goal in a game, in our last half a dozen and he hasn't been able to sort out how our attacking players miss so many chances to kill games.

Hourihane: My second favourite player ever after Redders, but I don't see what he's brought to the club since joining. Apparently in the space of a few months his legs went from getting promoted as a near ever present, to deciding to retire. Was it his Villa contacts that got us Gauci who's not looked any better than Slonina.

 

I've had £500 on Huddersfield to win 2-1 don't f cuk this up.

 

I spoke to someone who knows far more than me about football coaching and said if Davers is given a senior coaching job god help you. The Stead one seemed a cost cutting option on the back of sacking Collins. Hourihane is a very clever man for me he set his return up on leaving us. All the love of the club chat was aimed at getting a coaching job when his playing days were done. His he a good coach I've no idea but if I was Clarke I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him.

 

What I ask , is does Clarke listen to them, I have seen him walk away from Hourihane several time outside dug out on match days

 

I think Stead’s happy to stay. He’s a Yorkshireman so it’s probably a good club for him to be at

 

How are we able to pass judgement on their abilities as coaches? We don’t know what goes on in training, or what each coach wants from the players, what formation/tactics they prefer, etc. We don’t know the relationships they have with the players or each other. The only comments I could possibly make are that I was never impressed with the U23s as a whole when Devaney was in charge, especially their discipline. However, he seemed to improve the style of play when he came in for Collins at the end of last season and even made Cosgrove look like a footballer. So who knows?

 

Told at every presser by Clarke that they "are working hard in training and ready to go again "

so what are they doing?

if it's great Mon-Fri how come 3pm Saturday they turn into a bunch of clueless strangers?