Brighton confirm De Zerbi backroom team after trio get work permits
Three staff have arrived with De Zerbi, while two stay on
Written by Training Ground Guru — October 1, 2022
BRIGHTON have confirmed Roberto De Zerbi’s backroom staff after a trio of assistants were granted work permits.
Italian De Zerbi, 43, was appointed Head Coach almost a fortnight ago on a four-year contract. He has previously managed Palermo, Benevento, Sassuolo and Shakhtar Donetsk. He replaces Graham Potter, who left for Chelsea at the start of September and took five staff with him.
A trio of assistants have arrived at Brighton with De Zerbi after being granted work permits:
- Enrico Venturelli (Assistant): The 42-year-old first worked as De Zerbi’s assistant at Shakhtar Donetsk, having previously worked for Fifa and Uefa in operations. He was a project manager at three Olympic Games: Sochi 2014, Rio 2016 and Pyeongchang 2018. He is fluent in Italian, English, Russian and Spanish.
- Ricard Segarra (Head Goalkeeping Coach): The Spaniard, 52, worked for Barcelona’s Under-18, U19 and B teams before departing for Galatasaray in January 2022.
- Agostino Tibaudi (Fitness Coach): The 57-year-old is hugely experienced. Joined Roberto De Zerbi’s staff at Sassuolo and continued to work with him at Shaktar Donetsk. Prior to this he had worked with Sampdoria, AC Milan, Cagliari and for a season under Claudio Ranieri at Chelsea.
Meanwhile, two staff will stay on at the club to complete De Zerbi's staff:
- Andrew Crofts (Development Coach): Re-joined club in July 2019 as an over-aged Under-23 player. Promoted to U21s Head Coach in 2021 and when Graham Potter left for Chelsea at start of September 2022, he was appointed interim first-team boss, although he didn’t actually manage a game because of games being postponed due to the Queen's death. Albion Chief Executive Paul Barber said Crofts would be a “conduit” between the U21s and first team in new set-up.
- Jack Stern (Assistant Goalkeeping Coach): Joined Seagulls in January 2022 from FC Cincinnati. Previously worked at West Brom's Academy before moving out to the MLS, with Montreal in 2014. Joined Cincinnati four years later.
Following Crofts' promotion, Shannon Ruth has taken on sole charges of the U21s (the duo were joint Head Coaches), with Gary Dicker elevated from U18s Head Coach to U21s Assistant.
