CV's Weekly Coaching News

It’s been another quiet week at the top end of the coaching game, as clubs and leagues across Europe and beyond prepare for the start of the new season. One league that has started is the Scottish Championship, where 2023/24 runners-up Raith Rovers sacked Ian Murray after an opening-day loss to Airdrie. Better news for former Liverpool centre-back Daniel Agger (above), who has become assistant coach to the Denmark national team. The 39-year-old previously spent two years as head coach of Danish second-tier club HB K?ge; he will work alongside Morten Wieghorst, who took caretaker charge in the wake of Kasper Hjulmand’s post-Euro 2024 departure. ? ? Also on his way out after tournament disappointment is Tony Gustavsson. The Swede (below) led Australia Women to the delayed 2020 Olympic semi finals in his first campaign as manager, and repeated the feat at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, where they lost to Sarina Wiegman and England. He leaves after a poor 2024 Olympic campaign, however – their only win before a group-stage exit was a joyfully shambolic 6-5 defeat of Zambia. Elsewhere in international men’s football, Derek King has become caretaker head coach of 100th-ranked Trinidad & Tobago, and Atsushi Nakamura has taken on the stewardship of Bhutan, who rose one place to 182 in FIFA’s latest list.

It has been a week of change at League One Lincoln City, where former Cambridge and Stevenage midfielder David Bridges joined Michael Skubala’s team as assistant head coach. Calum Oakenfold has become the club’s head of academy and coaching, with Jon Pepper joining as technical director for the academy and Lincoln City Women. Another club making academy moves is Premier League Nottingham Forest, where former players Lewis Grabban (professional development phase coach) and Wes Morgan (national scout) have both returned. ? Birmingham City Women have named former Republic of Ireland Under-17 coach Chelsea Noonan as a new assistant head coach to work under Amy Merricks. Kevin Balvers has left his role as Arsenal’s first ever football methodology analyst, to become methodology manager at PSV, while Neil Greig has left his position as head of medical at Brentford to become head of performance support at Chelsea Women. Oh, and Umberto Louzer is the new head coach of Brazilian Série A bottom club Atlético Goianiense; he replaces the sacked Vagner Mancini, who lasted a whole month in charge. It’s the league’s 27th managerial change of another ‘busy’ season in coaching’s most treacherous environment.

SCOUT REPORTS?/ MIKEL MERINO

Plenty might have forgotten his spell at Newcastle United, but after a series of eye-catching displays from the Spain bench during a victorious Euro 2024, Mikel Merino is again attracting Premier League attention. Here, our UEFA-licensed analysts have assessed what the Real Sociedad midfielder could bring on a potential return to English football. Check out all our player scout reports?here