Conor Hourihane

Reading the articles about him, it seems he's probably more interested in coaching than playing now, so a player coach role probably suits him. I don't necessarily think he'll be looking for, or even able to command one last big pay day.

All the local journalists seem to think it's happening (without explicitly saying so), and I'm fairly certain he's on holiday with the Derby squad at the minute. I honestly think it's probably been agreed in principle, and will be announced once he's back and his Derby contract has expired.

 

I'll be honest I can't remember a time when Doug O'Kane reported anything that wasn't close to completion and usually when he reports on "announcements due" they always ended up being concrete. He held off on speculation when talking about potential managers, never said they were set to be confirmed just that discussions had taken place (which the club confirmed they had talked to multiple candidates) and others were also up for the job. Rumour merchants like nixon are definitely to be ignored. Doug is honest when the club aren't talking to him and reports when they have spoken to him.

 

Agreed. I do still think he has a soft spot for us though, and I'd absolutely love to see him back at Oakwell - hopefully we can offer him the right balance of playing and coaching to swing the decision.

 

Personally I don't see why any movement would happen whilst he's in the sun. Twitter hopefuls and nixon stock building has perpetuated it. In terms of more lucrative offers of course there are but he's also indicated he wants to carry on his coaching journey this year and with the way our academy has been built up recently with u18s success the option to have a split wage between player and coach with some sort of appearance bonuses and a pathway into full-time coaching may be more attractive than 1 (more) last payday.

He won't have links into coaching like those he has built up this year with our u16s other than villa, he won't ever be playing for villa and will no doubt have more coaches to compete with. On paper we could genuinely be considered the better option right now especially If his future is more important than money.

If he feels he can't play at championship level with derby but still wants to play I don't see any league 1 clubs that can realistically offer him a final season with a decent role in coaching that's better than our academy (and don't mention Birmingham to an ex villa fan favourite )

But until we see the official announcement it's all hypotheticals.

 

The choice of playing for Derby is no longer an option. He was not retained.

 

I'm running on the assumption that he had conversations earlier in the year with derby that he wasn't going to renew and that his initial move to them was because he felt L1 is now his level.

 

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/sp...derby-county-conor-hourihane-barnsley-9308508

 

The only thing that will probably stop it is money, i just cannot see us paying anywhere near what he will want. Yes i do think conor will take a cut, he will have to. But just how much cut

 

I am god smacked at times when people seem to know how much money folks want to do a job without actually knowing them lol, assuming is as bad as rumour mungling to me. Hope no offence taken mate

 

Hourihane ain't coming. You heard it here first. I heard it from a mate who knows someone who has a girlfriend who is friends with a bloke who had a cat which used to keep mice and rats under control down at Oakwell. Dont lump on.
P.s. Sorry but continual rumours and counter rumours and people 'in the know' are driving me potty!
P.p.s. Feel free to bump this thread in a week or two and thank me for getting stuff correct.

 

If someone offered you 50 grand a year and someone offered you 70 grand (figures only for example) which one would you take

 

Depends on how secure you are and what you hope to achieve, do you want 70 grand to be a binman or 50 grand to be a head chef.

 

I think most players still sign in person, are there for the promotional shots etc

 

Depends. Do I have to relocate? What’s the commute like? How much responsibility? What’s my long term prospects?

There’s a million reasons I might take the £50k job.

 

Absolutely. Even if he signed a contract while away on his holidays the club won’t announce it until he’s at the ground, taken photos, first interview etc.

 

Conor has maybe one year of playing left if he is lucky, 2 at the most. He is half way through his coaching badges and clearly sees his long term future as being still in the game in a coaching capacity.

Therfore, his next, and probably last playing contract is not going to be his priority. If we are offering him a playing contract on £x per week but more importantly, an offer to finish his badges and start in the coaching game with us at the same time, and a.n.other club is offering £x plus a bit more than us, just for playing, short term deal, then frankly he would be mad to not take our offer. He will be looking at the bigger picture and his long term future.

 

Manage him properly and his experience will be so useful to us. When I was down there, players like Darren Moore only came in 3 days a week, and one of them was for physiotherapy, massage etc. Do similar with Connor and we’ve got a very good signing there.

 

He would be doing similar job where ever he goes. As for location i would imagine his home will be more northern than southern. Therefore it all boils down to pennies