Chelsea’s busy transfer window continues with the confirmed addition of a new coach, with highly rated Anthony Barry joining Frank Lampard’s first-team coaching staff this week — and getting straight to work with preseason now officially underway.
The news was first rumored late last week, and has now been confirmed by the Chelsea official website.
Anthony Barry as men’s first-team coach is official #CFC https://t.co/fLvkzUwY13
— CarefreeYouth (@CarefreeYouth) August 25, 2020
The confirmation doesn’t really tell us anything relevant about the 34-year-old who had been working with Paul Cook at Wigan Athletic until that whole situation went belly up thanks to their descent into administration and subsequent relegation, but it does confirm that Lampard’s personal relationship with Barry played a large role in him joining.
“I’m delighted to welcome Anthony to the club. He’s an exciting young coach and someone I’ve known for a while. I believe he will be a strong addition to the team.”
-Frank Lampard; source: Chelsea FC
In the real world, it’s often about “who” you know rather than “what” you know.
That’s not to say that Barry is unqualified or bad at his job; far from it in fact. Glowing reviews abound about his time at Wigan and work with certain individuals on the team, some of which may have even involved set pieces specifically.
“I’ve known Anthony for a long time, professionally and personally. He’s an absolutely outstanding young man who conducts himself perfectly in everything he does. He’s infectious with his enthusiasm, not just to get better at his job but for football in general. He’ll be a really good addition to Chelsea’s staff.”
“[Lampard] will dip into whatever of Anthony’s qualities that he wants to bring to Chelsea, whether that’s on the training pitch, in the analysis room, set pieces — there are so many different aspects.”
“[Chelsea are] a big club but they’ve got a big personality and a great character coming in. He’ll be really good for the club, and he’ll be surrounded by other really good people.”
-Paul Cook; source: The Athletic
The proof will be in the pudding.
Welcome, Coach Barry! Let’s win some things!
A profile of Anthony Barry, the newest addition to Lampard’s backroom team.
— Liam Twomey (@liam_twomey) August 26, 2020
He’s not a defensive/set-piece specialist, but he was a top student on the Pro Licence course Lampard and Morris were on and everyone at Wigan loved him #CFC https://t.co/iuBJxiKwDc