With the shock exit of Billy McKinley on Monday morning, many Stoke fans were questioning the club’s decision to mutually end the contract of Michael O’Neill’s trusty right-hand man after only 18 months at the club, it came as an even bigger shock when it was reported by Alan Nixon that it had been planned for the end of the season. Stoke fans worries were quickly put to rest however as 2 days later the club have a new assistant manager in 41-year-old Dean Holden, so why are Stoke fans so excited about this appointment and what will the ex-Bristol boss bring to the table?
An ex-teammate of current Stoke City academy director Gareth Owen, Holden retired with Walsall at the start of the 2014/2015 season but had already taken up coaching for a decent period prior to this, with current Aston Villa manager Dean Smith giving him a chance to take charge of Walsall’s U21’s side. Its safe to say that he did an admirable job and caught the attention of a former Chesterfield teammate in current Sunderland manager Lee Johnson, who at the time, had taken the hotseat at Oldham. Johnson called upon Holden at Oldham as a coach , obviously having a lot of faith in his equally youthful, aspiring coach. Following on from this, Johnson moved to Barnsley and Holden eventually departed Oldham after the axe was swung. Holden went on to complete his coaching badges, returning to Walsall for just under 8 months going on to work under Johnson at Bristol, where after Johnson was let go by Bristol, he became caretaker manager, impressed, and got his first permanent gig as a manager. During his stint as permanent Bristol City manager, Holden managed to accumulate 16 wins, 3 draws and 17 losses, gaining a total of 51 points in 36 games. It just seemed as though he was thrown in the deep end by the board and wasn’t ready for the full-time responsibility, at least that seems to be the general conscious amongst Robins fans, who still hold him in the highest regard. Holden was eventually relieved of his duties at Bristol in February of this year, with Bristol in the bottom half of the table. This now brings us onto his appointment at Stoke with the big question being, is this a good appointment by Stoke that should have the fans excited?
In my opinion the simple answer is yes, Holden has proven himself to be a capable number 2 at Bristol, having been a big part of Bristol’s success under Lee Johnson in the championship, helping the Robins to an 8th place finish in the 2018-2019 season. In terms of how Holden’s philosophy and strengths will suit and benefit Stoke as a club and as a squad, Holden holds a big belief in hard work, preparation, attention to detail and making sure that the players are world class when it comes to doing the basics during games and off the pitch. These are all values that Michael O’Neill shares and wants his players to share as well, hinting that Holden will be a suited partner in crime for O’Neill, but that’s not the only reason. It’s fair to believe that the change from McKinley will be based purely from a footballing point of view as Alan Nixon reported it “wasn’t anything sinister”. With McKinley and O’Neill having played and coached together, they could’ve perhaps had the same ideas in footballing decisions. Holden will come in, a relatively young coach at 41-years-old, full of fresh and new ideas. These new ideas will come at a good time for a Stoke City side that has become stale in recent weeks, struggling for goals and shipping too many. Holden may give the squad a new lease of life with these ideas.
The ex-Bolton academy product has proven himself to be an experimental idealist in the past having played many different formations while in charge of the Robins, having emitted various formations from the 5-3-2 that Stoke play at this moment in time, to a more attacking style of 4-4-2, an attacking variant of 4-3-3, a formation of which many Stoke fans have argued is best suited to our current squad and even a 4-1-4-1. This tactical versatility could challenge Michael O’Neill in a positive sense. O’Neill has tended to deploy one of a 4-2-3-1 or a 5-3-2 this season. This will benefit O’Neill, Holden and Stoke as a result, with the 2 learning from one another and most definitely benefitting the club in both the long and short-term future.
Holden’s arrival will also benefit the copious amount of talented youth products currently at the club with Holden carrying a hugely positive reputation for developing youth players, a skill he likely picked up from his first coaching role. Both those who are already in the 1st team such as Campbell, Collins and Souttar. In addition to those who are on the fringes of the 1st team such as promising, young striker Christian Phelps-Norton who recently played 30 minutes against Birmingham and impressed, as well as U23s top goal scorer Ethon Varian, who scored a peach of a goal earlier in the week. The more notable examples of youngsters he has worked with and helped develop in recent years include, Antoine Semenyo who turned up to the Bet365 Stadium a few weeks ago and put on an impressive display against the Potters from the right. Former Chelsea academy player Jay DaSilva, who at 22 is one of the Championship’s finest full-backs and the Robins former star-man Niclas Eliasson who has since gone on to play for Nimes Olympique in the first tier of French football.
Overall, it remains to be seen how well this appointment will turn out to be but for me, the appointment of Dean Holden as assistant manager is a clear sign that the football club is finally heading in the right direction, being built around a manager who has proven his worth. O’Neill’s comments regarding Holden clearly show that he chose him as he was a good fit for the squad Stoke currently have and aspire to improve on in the summer window. Holden as previously stated will bring new footballing ideas and methods, both on and off the pitch and not only has the ex-Walsall defender got a track record for improving young players but his young age of 41 may help him connect with some of the older players in the squad too , as Holden understands the demands of being an aging footballer in the modern game and how to adapt to that. Meaning that senior players such as John Obi-Mikel, James Chester and Steven Fletcher also benefit from his involvement as assistant manager, in addition to what he will bring for the younger players, of whom are arguably our better players in the squad and if Holden can come in and help O’Neill improve those players, stoke could be in with a real shout for play-off contenders next season or even the season after that.
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