Town have confirmed Kieron Dyer’s return to the club as U23s coach with general manager of football operations Lee O’Neill believing the former England international’s knowledge and experience will benefit the Blues’ youngsters.
Dyer will be working with Terry Butcher, who himself returned to the club earlier in the year, as well as Jason Dozzell and Adem Atay, as well as head of coaching and player development Bryan Klug and O’Neill, who is also Town’s academy director.
"Obviously we are delighted that Kieron is back at the club,” O’Neill told the club website "We know what Ipswich Town means to him and he has a lot of knowledge and experience that we feel can benefit the development of our young players here.
"Kieron will be lead coach for the U23s, with Terry and Jason working with him as well as Adem, Bryan and myself so we have that continuation from U18 to U23s. It will be a team effort.”
Gerard Nash, who was the U23s coach, is moving on to a new position with the first-team squad.
"Gerard will be freed up now to do analysis on the opposition for the first team as well as watching the progress of our players out on loan,” O’Neill continued. "He will also be involved with the coaching at PDP [Player Development Programme] level.”""
Dyer, 41, was the Blues’ U18s coach until August last year when he left to look to gain a wider insight into coaching, spending time at Vincent Kompany’s Anderlecht among other clubs.
"I've been away from the club for about 18 months developing my education," Dyer said.
"Tactically I feel like I have a better understanding of the game so when this opportunity came along I wanted to take it.
"There are some very talented young players here and I'm looking forward to helping them on their journey.
"This club has always produced good footballers from the academy so we'll be looking to continue that - I can't wait to get started."