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Biweekly Staff Roundup: June 27-July 11

11 Jul, 2025
Biweekly Staff Roundup: June 27-July 11

The recent news that Manchester United are still looking to appoint a new head of recruitment weeks after the transfer window opened sparked frustration amongst Red Devils fans.

Their concern is understandable: the truth is, you'd expect most of your behind-the-scenes staff to be in place by July, providing stability and consistency ahead of the new season, and ensuring new prospective players have a good foundation to build from.

But ultimately, professional football is an unpredictable business, and plenty of departures and appointments continue to take place over the summer as new opportunities arise and coaches are tempted to pastures new.

In our latest biweekly staff roundup, we sum up the most significant changes that have taken place in the last fortnight in the world of coaching, analysis, directorship and recruitment.

Keith Andrews, Brentford

Thomas Frank's decision to join Tottenham Hotspur and replace sacked manager Ange Postecoglou was a serious blow for Brentford; he's transformed the fortunes of the West London club in the last seven years.

On June 27, the Bees surprised many within the world of football by appointing an in-house replacement for Frank, the relatively inexperienced set piece coach Keith Andrews (this is his first senior management posting).

Set piece coaches at Brentford tend to do pretty well for themselves, with Nicolas Jover, Andreas Georgson and Gianni Vio all enjoying great success elsewhere after graduating from the role, and Andrews will be hoping he can do the same.

Seen as the continuity candidate and someone who has a strong understanding of the club, Andrews has been appointed due to his commitment to playing "winning football". He's told reporters: "We want to be competitive, we want to have an edge, we want to play dynamic, relentless football, but we want to be organised."

Mehmet Ali, Brentford

Andrews has already been busy putting together his backroom team for the new season, most recently poaching Turkish coach Mehmet Ali from Premier League rivals Arsenal.

Previously employed as the Gunners' Under-21s head coach, Ali makes the step up to assistant first team coach, his first role working primarily with a senior team. Speaking about the appointment, Andrews said: "I could tell from his personality he's someone I'll love working with.

When he presented to us, and we started discussing football, it was clear that we are very closely aligned on the game." He added: "Mehmet has a player-development background with Spurs and Reading.

He had a hybrid role at Arsenal, predominantly working with their U21s but also very closely with Mikel Arteta and the first team."

Edu Gaspar, Nottingham Forest

Back in November 2024, we reported on the shock news that Arsenal sporting director Edu Gaspar would be leaving the club to take on a new role working alongside Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis.

Now, the exact nature of that position has been revealed, as the East Midlands club has announced him as their new Global Head of Recruitment.

He'll oversee all football operations, including recruitment, performance, and player development, and he'll be tasked with expanding the club's international footprint and taking their sporting structure to the next level.

It's a newly created senior position and undeniably a massive coup for Forest, but Edu himself also appears very keen to take on this new challenge. He told club media: "I'm truly excited about this new chapter and honoured by the trust placed in me.

This project connects deeply with my values around innovation and long-term planning. I look forward to building a global football model that is competitive, sustainable, and aligned with our President's ambition."

Robbie Savage, Forest Green Rovers

Former Premier League midfield stalwart Robbie Savage has had a solid start to life in the dugout; after playing a pivotal role in the recent journey of phoenix club Macclesfield FC as sporting director, he transitioned to the managerial role last season and led the team to the Northern Premier League title.

His overall coaching experience might be limited, but that achievement still convinced National League outfit Forest Green Rovers to bring him in as head coach for the 2025/26 campaign. "I know there will be a bit of scepticism because I've only had one year in management," said Savage.

But I'm not scared of that. I've always proved people wrong because I've got a great work ethic."

Martin Mark, Newcastle United

Newcastle's soon-to-depart sporting director Paul Mitchell has been busy assembling a strong team of coaches to support Eddie Howe during the 2025/26 season, which will see the club compete in the UEFA Champions League again after a season away from the elite competition.

The latest man to come in to strengthen the first team set-up is Martin Mark, an impressive 31-year-old set piece coach appointed from Danish side FC Midtjylland.

Currently, assistant manager Jason Tindall takes responsibility for set pieces at St James Park, but the club were keen to bring in someone to handle this area of the game specifically, and Mark's three years focusing on set pieces at Midtjylland made him well equipped for the job.

Cameron Campbell and Fabian Otte, Tottenham Hotspur

33-year-old Former Rangers coach Cameron Campbell has landed a major job at Tottenham Hotspur, joining Thomas Frank's new backroom team as First Team Individual Development Coach.

For a 33-year-old, he has bags of experience, having previously coached at Aberdeen and worked within the Right to Dream programme as Head of Lower Academy, before moving to Rangers and then Leipzig.

He's joined at Spurs by German coach Fabian Otte, an esteemed former Head Goalkeeper Coach at Liverpool, the USMNT, Borussia Monchengladbach, Hoffenheim and Burnley.

Salvatore Bibbo and Mike Williamson, Rangers

Our first staff roundup of the summer shared the news that former Southampton, Swansea and MK Dons boss Russell Martin had taken on his biggest role yet as head coach of Scottish giants Rangers.

Now, he's made further moves to build up his backroom team with the appointments of Salvatore Bibbo and Mike Williamson. The former previously worked for Arsenal, Brighton, and Sheffield Wednesday, and joins as goalkeeping coach, while Williamson comes in as first-team coach, having most recently been employed as manager of Carlisle United.

Florent Ghisolfi, Sunderland

From 3rd July, Florent Ghisolfi has been in place as Director of Football at newly promoted Premier League outfit Sunderland. It's a real coup for the northeast club, with Ghisolfi poached from Italian giants AS Roma.

There are no illusions about the difficulty of survival for Sunderland next season, but their new sporting director brings tons of useful experience to the role, including spells as Sporting Director of RC Lens and OCG Nice in Ligue 1 before his time in Serie A.

He told reporters: "I'm strongly determined to bring my experience and support this group to ensure the squad is ready to take the next step.

Luciano Vulcano, Isidre Ramón Madir, and Neil Cutler, Sunderland

It was a busy first week in situ for Ghisolfi, with several new names appointed to Sunderland manager Régis Le Bris’ backroom team ahead of the new season (their first in the Premier League since 2017/18).

Former AC Milan and Al-Nassr assistant Luciano Vulcano has been brought in as assistant head coach, while experienced coach and analyst Isidre Ramón Madir also joins as an opposition analyst specialist, bringing in crucial know-how from previous roles at Barcelona, Valencia, OGC Nice, and PSG.

The final appointment announced in this batch saw Neil Cutler become the club's new senior goalkeeping coach. A stalwart of the English game, he's previously worked at Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion, and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Barry Nicholson & Glen Johnson, Dundee

New Dundee boss Steven Pressley will be assisted next season by Barry Nicholson, a former Rangers pro who worked with Pressley at Fleetwood Town as head of player development, first team head coach, first team caretaker manager, and head of the Under-21 development squad.

Nicholson has also worked at Premier League outfit Nottingham Forest in the past. He'll be joined at Dundee by Glen Johnson, a former Carlisle United coach who enters the role of goalkeeper coach.

Tanya Oxtoby, UEFA

News also emerged last week that Northern Ireland senior women's team manager Tanya Oxtoby is currently working for UEFA as a technical observer at the Women's Euro 2025.

Based in Switzerland, the tournament has already provided some great drama, including Wales scoring their first ever goal at a major women's tournament. Oxtoby's role, meanwhile, is more about examining the technical side of the game, with a particular focus on coaching and tactical developments.

She recently explained: "The crux of the role is attending the games and observing the tactical trends that occur during each game, and then feeding that back into the performance analysis team at UEFA."