With the return of former club captain Lee Carsley to Coventry City as the new under 18's coach, the Academy manager Gregor Rioch has said that he believes that he has the attributes needed to become a good coach.
Carsley, who returned to Coventry City for a second stint at the club and was made club captain by former manager Aidy Boothroyd, was released by Andy Thorn at the end of the season. Carsley then decided to call it a day on his playing career.
He has spent the last five years working hard for his coaching licence and badges and will now put that work to good use with the under 18's.
Carsley offically starts his new job at City's Academy today coaching the under 18's and is part of the reorganisation needed to comply with Premier League's Elite Player Performance Plan which will be introduced in the near future.
The idea behind the plan is to rate football academies around the country on their coaching resources and will be ranked from One, the highest to four. Coventry City are aiming to secure a Category Two rating.
During his career Carsley had two spells at Coventry City and played a total of 71 times. He won 39 international caps for the Republic of Ireland and appeared in two World Cup Finals, in 1998 and 2002.
Gregor Rioch, who manages the Academy said to the CT: “We are absolutely delighted to have Lee on board."
"His pedigree as a player is beyond question and while good players don’t necessarily make good coaches, Lee has all of the attributes required to be just that."
“He’s played at the highest level, playing in a World Cup and being a regular international. He has that credential and that breeds respect from the young players we have here and our apprentices can relate to Lee in where they want to be in their own careers.”
Carsley, who has a UEFA A Licence said, “I couldn’t think of a better place to learn my trade of being a coach than Coventry City. The Academy has a great reputation of producing players that are playing in the first team and hopefully try to learn as much as I can off the likes of Gregor Rioch, Richard Stevens and Mark Noon.”