I think the club gave up

No - he’s a replacement for Dean Whitehead.

Head Coach is Clarke.
Assistant Head Coach is Devaney.
Assistant Coach is Stead.
Assistant Coach is Hourihane.
Goalkeeper Coach is - Bittner.

That’s 3 or 4 levels of pay bands.

Mark my words, Devaney’s not on a massive amount, so the other 3 won’t be either.

A large squad inc. U21s stepping up needs that number.

 

Nah tha talking! McSeveney's team was the worst I've ever seen at Oakwell. In fairness to Jim he stabilised the club's finances and cleared the decks for Clarke, unfortunately the football was less than stellar hence the 'Iley Out'!

 

not according to our website and what they posted on Facebook etc.

Barnsley Football Club can confirm that Conor Hourihane has agreed to take on the role of Assistant Head Coach permanently.

 

Fair enough.

My point still stands though - there’s not a lot of money invested in them. It’s not a big cost to the club. And I don’t think this is the reason why we are sh!te at the moment either.

I’d also add, having a good, youthful and trusted backroom staff is important. To an extent, you know Devaney and Hourihane want the best for the club, and aren’t here to jump ship to the next thing quickly.

Whilst Stead is a local lad, he has no connection to the club, and would be the most likely to move on at some point as well. Perhaps Hourihane is there to provide that cover for when it happens.

 

That may be so. How is that budget generated?

Transfer receipts and the largesse of the board.

I think we would all agree that the budget has not been well spent. I am not sure that a new head coach every season helps. Again reality does not help. If the Head Coach does well they are head hunted by bigger clubs, if they "fail" they get the boot.

Better recruitment and player development plus a smidgen of patience mat be an answer. Patience is in very short supply in football generally.

 

We are losing 8m a season currently the addition of more roles seems pointless to me until we get our budgets under control.

Stead is only a coaching assistant and Hourihane is now an assistant head coach that suggests the responsibilities are different.

People point fingers saying that the managers isn’t developing players but really that’s on the whole coaching department too - it seems to me like the whole Hourihane thing is being painted as the next best thing in the coaching world but really he’s just an ex-player learning on the job so is just a trainee coach really. I think I would be miffed seeing someone brought in and then elevated to assistant head coach who’s only been here the same length of time as our head coach in reality and still brand new to the role.

 

A move back to the USA to link up with Collins?

 

Same here BUT there is definitely an unconscious bias in favour of the "bigger" clubs. You see it every week with major decisions going their way.

 

It did cross my mind - as it would give him a cracking place to live, and also reasonable job security as well.

However, I believe with his family in Holmfirth, he was always more keen to stay local this time, and maybe not jump ship back to US.

Who knows - either way wouldn’t surprise me!