Roy Keane says he is no nearer to being able to announce the identity of his new assistant manager. The Blues boss revealed that he was looking for a deputy at the end of last season.
Keane says he has spent his time trying to add players to his squad, deals which eventually fell through: "No news on a number two, I’m afraid. I think I’ve been a bit busy trying to get players in to focus on that role, but we’ve got four or five weeks ahead of us before I can focus on that.”
Former Reading and Watford boss Brendan Rodgers, who Keane became friends with while studying for coaching badges, has been strongly linked with the job.
Specialist skills coach Steve Foley left the club in May, while first team coach Tony Loughlin, fitness coach Antonio Gomez and goalkeeper-coach Jim Hollman were putting the players through their paces on the first day of pre-season training yesterday.
Coach Ian McParland will also remain at the club next season but won’t be back until the end of the week having undergone a double hip replacement operation in May. Chris Kiwomya will coach the reserves, having run the U18s last season.