Cardiff City are on the verge of appointing former Manchester City academy coach Brian Barry-Murphy as their new manager.
The Irishman is currently assistant manager to Ruud Van Nistelrooy at Leicester City, but with uncertainty over the Netherlands coach’s future at King Power Stadium, Barry-Murphy has decided now is the time to take his first job as a number one since he was in charge of Rochdale in 2021.
Sky Sports News has been told that Leicester have reached an agreement with Cardiff over a compensation package, and discussions with Barry-Murphy over his contract at the Cardiff City Stadium are at an advanced stage.
Nathan Jones and Aaron Ramsay were on Cardiff’s shortlist of candidates, but it’s expected that a deal with Barry-Murphy will be announced in the coming days.
Who is Cardiff’s imminent new boss Barry-Murphy?
Barry-Murphy worked with Pep Guardiola and Enzo Maresca at Man City
Sky Sports’ Sam Blitz:
Barry-Murphy may have spent four years away from being a No 1 coach but he has certainly had some education in football since then.
Since leaving Rochdale, Barry-Murphy then moved to Manchester City where he worked as the head coach of their Elite Development Squad, effectively their B-team. He oversaw the development of players such as Cole Palmer, Liam Delap and Morgan Rogers – who are now all at European-level clubs.
Barry-Murphy played an attractive style of football at Rochdale for a League One club – which is what may appeal to Cardiff’s hierarchy – but the Irish coach moved to City’s youth set-up to justify that his methods can work for a dominant team and with high calibre of players.
“I was always convinced of a way of working and a way of improving players on a team,” Barry-Murphy told Sky Sports earlier this season.
“When I went to Manchester City, I wanted to show that this way of working was possible to enable players to go and win games and win trophies, which we did at Under-21 level.”
Barry-Murphy then left City in search of a first-team role and ended up as Ruud van Nistelrooy’s No 2 at Leicester. The young coach was recommended to Van Nistelrooy by his former Malaga team-mate Enzo Maresca – who was Pep Guardiola’s assistant when Barry-Murphy was at City.
“I felt as if I was a pretty good coach, I thought I knew a lot. But when you work with Guardiola you think: ‘I didn’t quite know as much as I thought'” added Barry-Murphy. Cardiff are getting a head coach who has worked with the very best.
What are the other EFL manager movements?
Tom Cleverley is set for a new job after being sacked by Watford
Plymouth Argyle are close to appointing Tom Cleverley as their new manager.
It’s understood his vision and ambition to get Plymouth back into the Championship impressed the club’s hierarchy.
He was seen as the outstanding candidate. The likes of Jack Wilshere, Des Buckingham and John Herdman were being considered for the role.
The club are now finalising terms with the former Watford boss and they are hopeful of completing his appointment soon.
In the Championship, Sheffield United‘s board are reviewing Chris Wilder‘s position as head coach as they plan for next season.
Chris Wilder’s position is being reviewed by Sheffield United
Sky Sports News understands there is a split across the Sheffield United board about which direction to take, with some members backing Wilder and others feeling a change should be made.
An extensive review has been in place since the season finished, and it is expected that in the coming days, the club’s new owners will make decisions on what their strategy will be for the summer with regard to recruitment and Wilder’s position at the club.
Hull have confirmed the appointment of Sergej Jakirovic as the club’s new head coach.
The 48-year-old former Bosnia and Herzegovina international has signed a two-year deal at the MKM Stadium, with the club holding an option to extend that by a further 12 months.
