Ruud Van Nistelrooy has confirmed Brian Barry-Murphy will be coming in as his assistant coach at Leicester City.
The former Manchester City Under-23 coach is set to be confirmed as part of Nistelrooy’s backroom team before the Boxing Day trip to face Liverpool.
Like previous Leicester manager Enzo Maresca, Barry-Murphy spent three years working with Manchester City’s young talents under Pep Guardiola but left his position in the summer.
The Irishman began his playing career with hometown club Cork City in the League of Ireland, before being signed by David Moyes at Preston North End.
He also played as a defender for Sheffield Wednesday, Bury and Rochdale, where he was player-coach before becoming manager in 2019.
At Manchester City, he helped with the development of Cole Palmer, Romeo Lavia and Oscar Bobb as he led the under-23s to two PL2 titles and is highly regarded as a coach for playing a progressive, possession-based style, heavily influenced by Guardiola.
“Pep changes the way you think about football. I used to hear people say that and think, ‘Really?’” he told The Athletic in September.
“It sounds a bit dramatic, like. But he does. He makes sense of the way you have to work repetitively every single day to bring to life the things you want to see on the day of a game.
“It’s so simple in terms of how he implements it, but it’s so difficult in terms of how obsessive he is about repetition and preparation. He’s incredible, incredible.”
Van Nistelrooy had brought in only Jelle ten Rouwelaar as assistant and goalkeeper coach but has been looking to bolster his backroom team.
“I think it’s not official yet, but I can confirm that 99.9 per cent it is done on the contracts,” Van Nistelrooy said in his pre-match press conference.
“I’m very happy to add him to the coaching team.
“I think it’s a very important factor in the translation of the game model into the training pitch, developing the team, the units, and the individuals to the maximum, and he’s excellent in that, so I’m very happy that we can add him to the team.”
GO DEEPER
Brian Barry-Murphy on leaving Manchester City, his football vision and what comes next
(Charlotte Tattersall/Getty Images)
