Bulletin Board
Who’s in, who’s out and what’s available
August 13, 2025
DeFreitas leaves Man City to take up role at Derby County
Ryan DeFreitas has left his role as First Team Performance Analyst at Manchester City to become First Team Opposition Analyst at Derby County.
DeFreitas had been in the role at City for three years having previously spent more than nine years at Leicester City as Lead Academy Performance Analyst. He arrives at Pride Park as the latest new appointment by John Eustace, who was appointed as Head Coach in February 2025.
DeFreitas’s departure is the latest in a string of changes in City’s backroom team over the summer.
They include former Liverpool Assistant Pepijn Lijnders being named Pep Guardiola’s new number two, and James French following him from Anfield to become Set Piece Coach, while Assistants Juanma Lillo and Carlos Vicens and First Team Coach Inigo Dominguez all left the club.
Chris Elderkin was promoted to Head of Physical Performance to replace Donough Holohan, and Federico Genovesi was promoted to Director of Performance in other changes.
August 8, 2025
Thomas appointed Assistant Head of Academy at Doncaster
Ebun Thomas has been appointed Assistant Head of Academy and Head of Coach Development at Doncaster Rovers.
Thomas joins from Gillingham, where he had worked for three years and was Head of Coaching.
Category Three Doncaster have had an Academy revamp following the departure of long-serving Head of Coaching Steve Welsh.
His role has now been split in two, with Thomas responsible for “creating staff for the future and supporting their development”.
This will involve “designing and implementing the syllabus and coaching philosophy for the Academy and ensuring alignment across the phases and coaches.”
Meanwhile, Josh Law has joined from Barnsley, where he was YDP Lead, to become Head of Player Development. Law will “manage the tactical and technical development of youngsters within the Academy in line with the club’s playing philosophy with the aim of creating players of value for the first team.”
Doncaster’s Head of Academy is Stuart Swift. The club placed 71st in TGG’s Academy Productivity Rankings for 2023/24.
August 6, 2025
Ryan leaves Wolves for post in Dubai
Wolves' Head of Player Development Darren Ryan has left the club to become Head of Youth Development at Dubai Irish FC.
Ryan was named as permanent coach of the Wolves’ Under-18 side in July 2017 and had been in his last role for the past four seasons. He had also worked as an Elite Player Development Coach for Wolves and a Coach Mentor for the Football Association. While at Molineux, he coached the likes of Morgan Gibbs-White, now at Nottingham Forest, and Dion Sanderson, currently on loan at Derby County.
He played professional and semi-professional football for a number of clubs including Shrewsbury Town, Chester City, Stockport County, Rochdale, Barry Town and Newport County.
On their Facebook page, Dubai Irish said: “This is a huge step forward in building one of the UAE’s most progressive youth football environments.”
TGG Members: Wolves staff profiles
July 30, 2025
Ex-Wolves Performance Head Pearson takes Saudi job
Former Wolves’ Head of Performance Insights and Data Strategy Mathew Pearson has become the Head of Performance Analysis at Saudi club Al-Qadsiah.
Pearson left Wolves earlier this month after more than eight seasons at Molineux, having taken on his final role at the club in September 2020.
At Al-Qadsiah, he will be responsible for leading a club-wide Performance Analysis department and “creating a best in class analysis provision” for their men’s, women’s and Academy teams.
Pearson has worked in the Middle East before, spending more than two-and-a-half years with the Qatar Football Association across their senior team in World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers and also their Olympic team.
He has also worked for Tranmere Rovers and Blackburn Rovers.
July 30, 2025
Wolves appoint Jerome as First Team Sports Scientist for Data
Ben Jerome has left Blackburn Rovers to become First Team Sports Scientist (Data) at Wolves.
Jerome, who had only been at Ewood Park since January, has also worked for Watford, Colchester United and Ipswich Town.
He joins an analysis team at Molineux, which already includes Performance Insights Data Scientist Edward Maw, First Team Performance Analyst John Boston, First Team Assistant Performance Analyst Tom Hocking and Lead First Team Performance Analyst Ed Ames.
July 22, 2025
Ismael confirms Lowe’s departure from Blackburn
Blackburn Rovers Head Coach Valerien Ismael has said that First Team Coach David Lowe will be leaving the Championship club.
Lowe has been at Ewood Park since 2011 and has had various roles, including a brief spell as caretaker manager when John Eustace left last season.
Ismael succeeded Eustace in February and told the Lancashire Telegraph it was natural for Head Coaches to have their own coaching staff. “It’s something that the club is clear with him. You work closely with the people you want, but I think it’s normal. We have no problem with David. It’s just the situation in football. You move in, move out and we move on,” he said.
Lowe spent his first six years with Blackburn as Head of Youth Development, but was promoted to Assistant First Team Manager under Tony Mowbray. Before joining Rovers, he coached for Wigan Athletic and Derby County.
He played more than 600 senior games as a winger for Wigan, Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Wrexham.
July 22, 2025
Hayes joins QPR as PDP Head of Methodology
Anthony Hayes has joined QPR as Head of Methodology for their Professional Development Phase programme covering the Under-17s to the Under-21s.
Hayes will be responsible for implementing the club’s game model and coaching methodology for those players, specifically focusing on delivering the coaching and games programme for the Under-21s. He will also oversee all aspects of individual player development in those age groups to align them with the club’s performance pathway.
QPR will be the sixth club Hayes has worked for and the fourth in London. He spent five years at Brentford and was Head of Coaching for his final eight months before moving to Charlton, where he stayed for nearly seven-and-a-half years – working as First Team Assistant Manager in his last 15 months. He then had brief spells as First Team Coach at Sunderland, Assistant Manager at Gillingham and Under-21s Coach at Crystal Palace.
The R’s are not the first club to appoint someone in such a role. Earlier this month, Birmingham City named Ian Jones as their new Head of Methodology and Alignment for their men’s, women’s and Academy teams.
QPR advertised this job on TGG – if you want to do the same with an opening at your club, please contact us.
July 21, 2025
Beale returns to Aston Villa as Under-18s Head Coach
Richard Beale has returned to Aston Villa to become Head Coach of the club's Under-18 side.
Beale was previously Villa’s Youth Team Manager from July 2019 to March 2020.
His coaching career started at Villa’s neighbours Birmingham City, where he stayed for 15 years – with almost all of that time spent as Senior Professional Development Phase Coach.
After leaving Villa, he spent just over a year as Assistant Manager of Solihull Moors before joining West Bromwich Albion as Senior Professional Development Phase Manager in June 2021. He left The Hawthorns last month.
July 21, 2025
Gilpin promoted to Assistant Director of Performance at Wolves
Stephen Gilpin has been promoted from Head of Performance Services for the Academy and Women's teams to Assistant Director of Performance at Wolves.
He will be number two to the club’s new Director of Performance, Phil Hayward, who was promoted into the role last month. Hayward is part of Wolves’ new five-man Football Leadership Team.
Gilpin joined Wolves in June 2023 from Rotherham United, where he was Head of Performance Services in his second spell at the club. He had also worked as the Millers’ Head of Medical and was also First Team Physiotherapist at both Sheffield Wednesday and Hull City.
He is also the co-founder of Prostate United, which he launched with Ross Burbeary in 2018 to raise money for Prostate Cancer UK. The challenge broke the £1 million barrier last November.
July 16, 2025
Toure joins Man City first-team staff
Kolo Toure has permanently joined Pep Guardiola’s first-team staff at Manchester City after a successful secondment during the FIFA Club World Cup this summer.
The 44-year-old Ivorian was Assistant to Under-18s Lead Oliver Reiss last season, helping the team reach the national final of the Premier League U18s, where they lost to Aston Villa.
Toure has previously been Assistant to Brendan Rodgers at Celtic and Leicester City and had a brief spell as Head Coach of Wigan Athletic.
City Director of Football Hugo Viana said: “We’re delighted to permanently add Kolo to our first-team coaching staff. Not only does he bring his immensely precious experience at football’s elite level, but he also has a deep connection with Manchester City and a deep knowledge of the club.
“We’ve also been hugely impressed with his work and success with our U18s, and by adding him into our senior staff permanently, this will only strengthen the transition for players in our Academy into the first team.
“His massive personality of optimism and positivity is hugely infectious and we’re already looking forward to his work moving forward.”
Guardiola has now completed his first-team staff for the coming season, with Pep Lijnders and James French having already joined as Assistants.
July 16, 2025
Darlington appointed Interim Academy Director at Everton
Carl Darlington has been appointed Interim Academy Director at Everton following Gareth Prosser’s move to Al Jazira.
Darlington has worked for Everton since October 2022 as Head of Coaching. Prior to that he was with the Football Association for 17 years, latterly as their Head of Coach Education.
Writing on LinkedIn, the Welshman said: “Proud to step into the role of Interim Academy Director at Everton. I’m truly honoured.
“We will continue building on the strong foundations laid by Gareth Prosser following the clear direction he set with the full support of our Academy management team and wider staff.
“Their dedication plays an integral role in driving the high standards we hold in developing the next generation of Everton talent.
“It’s a privilege to contribute to a club with such a proud tradition of youth development.”
July 15, 2025
Stewart joins Liverpool as Goalkeeper Development and Pathway Lead
Colin Stewart has joined Liverpool’s coaching staff in the new position of Goalkeeper Development and Pathway Lead.
The Scot previously spent almost a decade with Rangers, before leaving in February this year. His first two years with the Scottish giants were in charge of their Academy goalkeeping programme, before he was promoted to First Team Goalkeeper Coach.
The former pro keeper has also worked with the Scottish FA for more than a decade as a Goalkeeping Coach Educator, delivering courses across the country.
At Liverpool, he will support Xavi Valero, who returned to Liverpool this summer as Head of First Team Goalkeeper Coaching.
In addition, Stewart will oversee the loan strategies for keepers who are in the process of stepping up from youth to senior level, serving as a link between the men’s squad, loan management team and U21s group.
July 14, 2025
Genoa Assistant named U21s Head Coach at Southampton
Genoa Assistant Tonda Eckert has been confirmed as the new Under-21s Head Coach at Southampton.
The 32-year-old German replaces Calum McFarlane, who is leaving after two years to join Chelsea. Eckert has previous experience in England, having been Assistant to Gerhard Struber at Barnsley in 2020/21.
He knows Southampton Technical Director Johannes Spors and Assistant Technical Director Elliott Stapley from their time together at Genoa. The Italian club was previously part of the 777 Group, where Spors and Stapley held senior roles before joining Southampton.
Eckert has also coached at Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig at Academy level.
July 11, 2025
Hannon appointed Head of Sports Nutrition at Man Utd
Marcus Hannon has been appointed Head of Sports Nutrition at Manchester United as the club continue their summer staff rebuild.
There have been a huge number of departures from United over the last year as the club cuts its headcount. In February, Chief Executive Omar Berrada informed staff of a fresh wave of redundancies, saying that up to 200 were set to lose their jobs, following on from 250 in the summer of 2024.
One recent exit was Performance Nutritionist Thomas Maynard, who had worked for United for 21 months, and who is now Performance Nutritionist for Al Ain in the UAE. In his place at United has come Hannon, who has been Lead Performance Nutritionist for the Qatar FA and for the Aspire Academy for the last two years.
Prior to this, Hannon was Head of Nutrition at Aston Villa from 2020 to 2022. At United, he will work closely with Will Carvalho, who joined from Brighton to become their Head Performance Chef last month.
Hannon presented on TGG’s Recovery Webinar, giving expert insights into ‘nutrition in a congested fixture schedule.’ You can buy the Webinar as a one-off or watch it for free if you’re a TGG Member.
July 10, 2025
Shah promoted to Head of Methodology by Tottenham
Zaheer Shah has been promoted to the new role of Head of Football Methodology at Tottenham.
A Head of Methodology is responsible for overseeing implementation of a game model and coaching methodology across a club.
Data and video is usually key to doing this and Shah has a background in analysis, having been a First Team Performance Analyst at Spurs since 2019.
Prior to this he worked for Brentford for six years, going from Academy Intern to First Team Performance Analyst.
July 9, 2025
Mangan goes from Stockport to Botafogo in Brazil
Stockport County Assistant Andy Mangan is moving to Brazil as part of Davide Ancelotti’s staff at Botafogo.
Ancelotti, 35, was appointed Head Coach of the Brazilian side yesterday (July 8th), marking the first managerial role of his career.
One of his first acts has been to bring in Mangan, a 38-year-old former striker who played for Tranmere Rovers and Shrewsbury Town. The duo know each other from their time together doing their coaching badges with the Football Association of Wales.
Ancelotti and his father Carlo had attempted to bring Mangan onto the staff at Real Madrid last season, but the Englishman’s work permit was rejected.
The other members of Ancelotti’s Botofogo staff are Spaniard Luis Tevenet, 51, who has worked at Levante and Atlético Madrid, and Italian, Luca Guerra, 36, who has worked with the Ancelottis at Bayern Munich, Everton and Napoli.
Davide Ancelotti was our guest on Episode #19 of the TGG Podcast.
July 2, 2025
QPR promote Hemingway to Head of Analysis
QPR have promoted Lead First Team Performance Analyst Saul Hemingway to be their new Head of Analysis.
Hemingway has moved swiftly through the ranks at Loftus Road since arriving as First Team Performance Analyst in February 2023 from Manchester United. He was promoted into his previous role last summer and has now moved up again. He has also worked for Manchester City, Middlesbrough and Salford City.
Meanwhile, QPR have appointed Alou Diarra as First Team Coach as part of new Head Coach Julien Stephan’s backroom staff, which also includes Steve Bould. Diarra has previous coaching experience with Lens and Troyes. As a player, he won 44 caps for France and played in the 2006 World Cup final against Italy. He spent some of his playing career in England with West Ham United and Charlton Athletic.
June 26, 2025
Former Wolves Set Piece Coach joins Sparta Prague
Former Wolves Set Piece Coach Jack Wilson has joined Sparta Prague in the same role.
The Scot was Wolves’ first dedicated Set Piece Coach, but departed last October after just seven Premier League games with the club.
Prior to this he was Performance Analyst for Set Pieces at Manchester City and Assistant First Team Performance Analyst for Brentford – the pioneers of specialist set piece coaching and has also worked for the Irish FA, Hearts and Dundee United.
Writing on LinkedIn, Wilson said: “Really excited to be joining Sparta Prague as Set-Piece Coach! An amazing club with great people. I can’t wait for the games to get started!”
Earlier this month Newcastle United Under-21s Lead Diarmuid O’Carroll joined Sparta Prague as First-Team Coach.
June 22, 2025
Lucas leaves Preston to join Perth Glory
John Lucas is leaving Preston North End after three years to become Performance Director at Perth Glory in Australia’s A League.
Writing on LinkedIn, Lucas said: “So opportunities don’t come along too often, especially ones which are just too good not to accept. I’ve loved the last three years at PNE and was very fortunate to work with some brilliant staff and players during that time [at] a truly a fantastic football club.
“So excited for this next chapter. A complete new challenge ahead and exciting times approaching.”
Lucas joined PNE as their Head of Performance in May 2022 and has also headed up the fitness departments at Salford City and Plymouth Argyle.
June 19, 2025
Hyde returns to Watford in Academy role
Watford have appointed their former midfielder Micah Hyde as the club's new Academy Head of Coaching.
Hyde, who has been a Senior Professional Development Coach in QPR’s Academy for the past five years, replaces Jimmy Gilligan, who left earlier this month after four years as the club’s Academy Head of Technical Development.
As a midfielder, Hyde made 286 appearances for the Hornets, including in the Premier League.
Academy Manager Richard Johnson is a former team-mate and said: “I’m looking forward to rekindling the partnership with Micah and to the continued progress of the Academy.”