Individual roles of Sheffield Wednesday's new coaches explained by new boss Dave Challinor
The Owls have a new coaching team
The individual roles of Sheffield Wednesday’s new coaching team has been explained.
Clint Hill and Anthony Sweeney have both joined manager Dave Challinor at Hillsborough this week. The pair previously worked alongside him at Stockport County.
Hill, 48, a former defender who played in the Premier League with QPR, was at Tranmere Rovers with Challinor in their playing days. Sweeney, 43, is a Hartlepool United favourite who played against Wednesday in the 2005 play-off final. He was also a coach under Challinor at Hartlepool.
When asked about their individual roles, Challinor told The Star: “Without going into too much, we'll split different parts of the game up into six different bits. Clint will take care of three. Sweens takes care of three. Based around their expertise. I do all of them. So if there's any ever point that one of us isn't here, nothing's lost.
“Clint obviously played as a defender, played in the Premier League, and played over 450 Championship games. So he can have influence on all of our defenders, young and old. Whether it's influence on Rico, on Coops, on Ernie, Gabe, it'll be really good. It'll be really important to them. So obviously he'll have more of a focus on them individually and collectively as a unit. But we all try and look at all the different bits.”
Challinor continued: “They are two people that I trust really, really with everything. I have worked with them for a long time in different clubs at different times. They bring a really enthusiasm around how they coach and how they put across the detail, obviously real experience, especially with Clint, the level that he played at for as long as he played, and already I feel that their relationship, people comment on it around the training or their relationship with lads and how they deliver. I think they'll be really well-received. I thought that would be the case, and so far so good.”
While Andy Holdsworth will continue individual development work with those aged 18 and above, and Giles Coke will focus on the under-21s, Matt Hamshaw will remain part of the first-team set-up. Challinor and Hamshaw faced each other last season when Stockport County and Rotherham United went head-to-head in League One. As was the case under Henrik Pedersen, Hamshaw will focus on set-pieces.
On Hamshaw, Challinor smiles: “He did remind me of what he said to me at one previous game. I won't use expletives, but he said ‘I don't know how you do this job!’ Matt is brilliant. I’ve known him a long time through football circles. He is a great guy, obviously knows the football club, is local. He is really passionate about it, and a really good person and coach. So I am delighted to be working with him.”