New Blues academy manager Ben Chenery says he’s been blown away by the support he has received from first-team boss Kieran McKenna since he took on his role in the summer.

Chenery, 48, rejoined the club in August after Dmitri Halajko switched to director of football operations following Gary Probert’s move to Liverpool.

Asked about his relationship with McKenna, who cut his teeth in the academies at Tottenham and Manchester United, Chenery said: “Very good. Kieran was very good to me when I here previously. Kieran previously worked at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and has a really keen academy eye, an excellent academy eye.

“He’s very thoughtful with the academy, he’s a great support for the academy, he does CPD [Continuous Professional Development] with the academy, him and his staff, they’re fully invested in us.

“They support and they help. Any question we want to ask, Kieran answers. I’ve been blown away with how much support he gives this academy.

“And that’s quite unique, I think, in lots of ways. We are blessed as the football club’s academy to have someone as first-team manager like Kieran, who has that eye, who’s worked in academies and understands.”

He says McKenna is fully aware of the young players coming through the system: “Kieran knows, his staff know. We have technical board meetings.

“We can feed up to the board and we feed up to Kieran and [chief operating officer] Luke Werhun in terms of the players that we see, what’s coming.

“He has a really big interest and he’s really keen and he doesn’t miss much at all. He’s really thoughtful, really astute and he knows where we are as an academy and what’s coming and where we need to get to.”

Like McKenna, Chenery is looking forward to the new training ground, which is currently under construction, opening next year having been hugely impressed by the facilities at Tottenham during his two-year spell working there prior to his move back to the Blues.

“When I left here I went somewhere where the training ground was like Disney World. It’s literally beautiful, it’s amazing, it’s fantastic, a fantastic training facility. Perfect.

“And I came back here and I was blown away really because a lot of clubs when I hear they’re moving to cat one and they’re going to try and get cat one facilities, a lot of clubs say this is going to happen and then it takes time.

“And this club’s just done it. For every single pitch to be a Desso pitch [a hybrid of natural grass and artificial turf], that’s enormous for a football club to have that.

“And then the new building the first team are going to have and what we’re going to be left with as an academy are exceptional.

“You walk around here and it’s nonstop. There are things happening, building happening every single day, the club aren’t stopping and that’s blown me away - if we are going, we’re going, we’re not stopping.
“And I think that’s real testament to the football club and [chairman and CEO] Mark Ashton leading at the very top in terms of ‘we’re doing it and we’re doing it properly’, and they are.

“I’m very proud to work here, very privileged to drive through the gates every single day and to see where we are going.

“I think we’re going to be a really attractive option for many players because it’s going to be a supremely exceptional development environment.”

The academy will be using the facility which the first team currently use, which was initially the academy building when it was built in the late 1990s.

“There’s going to be some changes, not to the footprint but internally in terms of the layout and the outlook and when we knock through and where we enhance areas,” Chenery continued.

“But ultimately it’s going to be a huge academy environment building, which will allow us to grow as an academy, which is important if we want to keep improving year upon year and be perceived by our competitors as a really forward-thinking academy.

“And we’ll have the opportunity to grow within this space, we’re nowhere near the ceiling. I’ll be exceptionally proud to have a facility that we’ll have, hopefully, from September, October time all being well. But that’s obviously governed by making sure the first team have exactly what they need first.”

Photo: TWTD

warfarinman69 added 10:43 - Oct 15 Ben's a great guy. He also has a good knowledge of the local non-league scene, which must help with loans for young players. The future of the academy is in good hands.
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MVBlue added 11:39 - Oct 15 Starting to think i'd love a tour of the academy setup not just a stadium tour
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runningout added 11:54 - Oct 15 that’s his job :-)
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Bert added 12:05 - Oct 15 …..and Darkhorse still believes we don’t have the right set up and personnel. Whether it is the academy, backroom staff, players, training facilities, stadium etc we are light years ahead of many other clubs and that is after two decades of decline and penny pinching by previous owners.
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readtheleaguetable added 13:48 - Oct 15 Glad to know that they’re not “near the ceiling”. There would be way too many head injuries. Seriously, though, it sounds like the club is well on its way to a great set-up for the ‘yoots’.
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