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Biweekly Staff Roundup: August 8-22

24 Aug, 2025
Biweekly Staff Roundup: August 8-22

As transfer deadline day approaches and coaches put the finishing touches to their squads for the new season, there's an understandable focus on playing personnel, with directors and recruitment specialists honing in on which gaps need to be filled the most.

However, even in August, there's still plenty of staff changes taking place behind the scenes, from new academy directors being brought into the fold at Premier League clubs, to set-piece specialists landing in fresh new roles. In our last biweekly staff roundup of the summer, we'll be focusing on the most interesting appointments that have been made in professional football in the last fortnight.

Matt Hobbs, Crystal Palace

It's been a busy summer behind the scenes at Crystal Palace; the south London side were still revelling in the glory of their FA Cup win when the resulting qualification for the Europa League was snatched away from them, and they were demoted to the Europa Conference League due to UEFA club ownership rules.

Meanwhile, there's been a ton of transfer speculation around current players like Marc Guehi and Eberechi Eze, which newly appointed Sporting Director Matt Hobbs will be looking to remedy as soon as possible.

Joining Selhurst Park just two months after leaving the same role at Wolverhampton Wanderers, Hobbs brings with him a strong reputation for recruitment and player development, with The Athletic labelling him "the driving force behind [Wolves'] January 2023 transfer window, which included the successful signings of Craig Dawson, Mario Lemina and Joao Gomes." Palace fans will be desperate for similar magic down in south London.

Stephen Torpey, Manchester United

On 21 August, Manchester United announced the appointment of Stephen Torpey as the club's new Academy Director, overseeing all levels of United's youth development system. Torpey previously impressed at Brentford, leading the rebuild of the club's academy programme after the controversial implementation of a B team system for several years.

His work launching a full Under-9s to Under-18s programme in west London caught the eye of recruiters at Old Trafford, as did his prior experience in academy coaching at Manchester City and Liverpool. Director of Football Jason Wilcox was full of praise for Torpey, stating "Stephen's record of youth development is outstanding; throughout his career he has played a significant role in the development of some of the most talented players in the country."

Stephen Rice, Brentford

Keith Andrews' surprise promotion to Brentford head coach left the club's set-piece coaching role vacant for several weeks, but ahead of the Bees' second Premier League game of the season, a fresh face has been brought in to replace Andrews: fellow Irishman Stephen Rice.

Having previously worked for the Irish Football Association for a decade, taking up various roles including the men's national team's Under-21s assistant coach job, he's also got experience in scouting and analysis, and previously had a glimpse at the cut-and-thrust of the Premier League while working as Crystal Palace's Under-23s senior professional development coach.

With Brentford conceding from a corner just five minutes into their curtain raiser against Nottingham Forest, Rice already has his work cut out.

Max Porter, Arsenal

On 18 August, Arsenal announced the appointment of Max Porter — a long-time Gunners employee who has worked with a number of age groups at the club — as Under-21s head coach for the new season.

Supported by Professional Development Lead Phase coach Ken Gillard, he'll be tasked with managing the U21s through their upcoming PL2 season while ensuring Mikel Arteta has plenty of Premier League-ready young talent to draw on when needed. According to former Arsenal defender-turned Academy Manager Per Mertesacker, "Max has got the qualities needed to be a successful leader and coach.

The environment he creates for staff and young players is always one of high challenge and ultimate care." He continued: "Max is driving the highest standards and is a brilliant colleague and coach."

Andrew Hughes and Steven Naismith, Scotland

Two experienced former pros with Premier League experience have been assigned a new task working with the Scottish men's national team under experienced manager Steve Clarke.

Andrew Hughes and Steven Naismith, who between them racked up over 900 professional appearances in England and Scotland, have entered the fray ahead of Scotland's set of crucial autumn World Cup qualifiers.

Hughes currently works as set-piece coach at Leicester City, while Naismith most recently managed Hearts; the former will take on a similar role at Scotland and Naismith will replace John Carver as assistant coach to Clarke. With massive matches against Denmark, Belarus and Greece coming up, Scottish fans will be praying the pair hit the ground running.

Robbie Thomson, Falkirk

Staying in Scotland, Premiership side Falkirk have brought in a new head of goalkeeping, turning to former Raith Rovers man Robbie Thomson as the new season gathers pace. The 32-year-old holds a UEFA A Goalkeeping License, having moved straight into coaching after retiring in 2024, and with Falkirk likely to be towards the bottom end of the Scottish top-flight this season, those skills are likely to come in extremely handy.

Keiron Lovelady, Cardiff City

Newly appointed Cardiff head coach Brian Barry-Murphy has brought in a promising young coach and analyst to his backroom staff to assist with the challenge of achieving promotion back to the Championship from League One.

The man in question is 27-year-old Keiron Lovelady, who comes in as First Team Coach and Analyst after just half a season working at Turkish Super Lig side Adana Demirspor. According to Training Ground Guru, Lovelady was the youngest coach working at first-team level in any of Europe's top 10 leagues when he joined Adana, and was favoured by Barry-Murphy due to the time the pair spent together working in Manchester City's academy previously. 

James Brayne, Sunderland

Sunderland enjoyed a magical return to life in the Premier League on opening day, smashing West Ham United 3-0 at the London Stadium and offering fans serious hope that top-flight survival could be achieved in 2025/26.

The appointment of new dedicated set-piece coach James Brayne is designed to further aid that goal, with head coach Regis Le Bris already identifying this area of the game as something he would like his team to improve on.

Brayne recently helped guide Charlton Athletic back to the Championship under Nathan Jones, and he's also worked at Birmingham City and Manchester City, building an impressive CV across various levels of English football.

Erik Lamela, Sevilla

Erik Lamela gave Spurs fans some special moments during his time at the club — even memorably scoring one of the greatest rabona goals in football history — so recent news of the Argentine winger's retirement would've saddened some supporters.

Still, on 14th August, it was revealed that the 33-year-old will be remaining in the professional game, taking on a coaching role at Spanish outfit Sevilla (a club he played 92 times for before joining AEK Athens last year).

Lamela has no prior coaching experience but will be working under Matias Almeyda, an experienced mentor who formed a strong bond with Lamela in Athens. It's super early in Lamela's coaching career, and it will be interesting to see if he has the qualities needed to develop into a top-level operator.

Dennis Baraznowski, Bristol City

Championship outfit Bristol City have had a difficult summer, with the loss of play-off-securing coach Liam Manning to Norwich City proving a serious blow. Some key changes have taken place behind the scenes, most recently the appointment of Dennis Baraznowski as senior Professional Development phase coach; here, he'll be tasked with overseeing the development pathway from U18 and U21 to first-team at Ashton Gate.

Aged just 32 himself, Baraznowski is a promising young coach who has previously held roles within the Austrian national team's age group set-up, as well as at German club Hamburg and Belgian side KV Oostende (where he was assistant manager). "This is a club which has an excellent academy set up and I feel very happy to take on this role. I am looking forward to working with the staff and players and taking us forward," he told reporters.

Leigh Downing, West Bromwich Albion

Championship side West Brom have revealed that 36-year-old coach Leigh Downing will take over their Under-21s side for the 2025/26 campaign, gaining a promotion from his previous role as Under-18s professional development phase coach.

The step up comes after former U21 manager Richard Beale made the decision to join Aston Villa as U18s lead, a switch which left a gap in West Brom's youth setup. Downing is keen to impress, saying "The club like how I work, have seen the good relationships I've forged with the academy players, and I think we have the same beliefs in how we see youth development."