Dunne and Toure return to Manchester City as Academy coaches
Richard Dunne: Won 80 caps for the Republic of Ireland
Written by Training Ground Guru — July 15, 2024
Richard Dunne and Kolo Toure have returned to Manchester City as Academy coaches.
Former club captain Dunne, who played for City from 2000 to 2009, will assist Under-18s Lead Oliver Reiss, while Toure, who played for the club from 2009 to 2013, will assist Jamie Carr with the U16s.
Academy Director Thomas Krucken said: "I am very pleased and excited to be able to confirm our coaching structure for the new season. This is part of our evolution and progression looking to the future and also illustrates that we are keen to promote from within and encourage a clear career progression and pathway.
"We have enjoyed great success in recent seasons, but we want to continue to look to develop and improve. Continuing Manchester City academy's development is vital, and these appointments leave us ideally equipped to meet the challenges of next season and beyond."
As TGG reported last week, Ben Wilkinson has stepped up from the U18s to take charge of the U21s (Elite Development Squad), with Reiss coming in from Hertha Berlin as U18s Lead.
Toure assisted Brendan Rodgers at Leicester City and Celtic before retiring from playing. He was appointed manager of Wigan Athletic in November 2022, but lasted only nine games before being sacked the following January.
Dunne, who won 80 caps for the Republic of Ireland, was critical of the English Academy system in an interview back in 2017.
He said: “I’ve been around to a few Academies and there’s no desire to build a team and let the kids enjoy themselves. England’s senior team is like a factory-produced side - they’re all pretty similar in terms of how they play.
“There are no stand-out players or character about the side. And it doesn’t like look it’s changing. They keep going with the same system.
"From the age of five, they’re all doing the same training and the search is to identify one for the first-team. It’s like a factory and box-ticking exercise.
“Everton have their kids training four days per week and playing a match on a Saturday. Those include one-on-one sessions, yoga, strength and conditioning and then hand co-ordination. And these were U9s! That’s mad stuff.”
Dunne's son, Tayo, made his debut for Republic of Ireland U15s last year and has played with US Cap d'Ail in the south of France.
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