Kieron Dyer has been backed to be a ‘really good coach’ by Ipswich Town academy chief Bryan Klug.
Klug, the club’s head of coaching and player development, played a big role in bringing the former midfielder back to the club earlier this season as the Blues’ new Under 23 manager, where he is working alongside fellow Ipswich icon Terry Butcher.
Dyer has made no secret of his desire to manage in his own right one day and, having spent the last year expanding his coaching experience at clubs at home and in Europe, brings fresh ideas to the Blues’ academy.
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It’s that desire to innovate which Klug believes could really benefit the Blues.
“Kieron has been on the fringes of coaching,” Klug said in an interview with the club website.
“He’s been out to Anderlecht (where Vincent Kompany is manager) to work with them. I think he’s going to be a really good coach. I think it’s right to give him a bit of responsibility and let him lead a team, which is what he’s doing.
“He’s not here for the financial rewards but he’s here to learn his trade and he’s doing really well. He’s here because he loves this football club.
“We want the culture at this football club to be that we can always get better, every one of us. I’ve never been afraid to bring in people who I think can bring something new and a new perspective.
“We’re never happy with how we’re doing. I look around and I see a lot of young players in and around the fringes of our team but that’s not good enough for us. They’ve got to be players who go into the first-team and make the team better.
“Our culture is that we can always get better. Kieron is bringing in some new ideas and he’s also working alongside Terry Butcher - that’s fantastic. He’s one of the nicest men but obviously a very experienced coach as well.
“The work he’s doing with the young centre-halves, it’s incredible to think we’ve got that. Again, he’s not here for any financial reason, he’s here because he loves this football club. We’re very lucky to have those people around us.”
Dyer’s return to the club after a year away has seen him replace Irishman Gerard Nash, who has moved into a new role which will see him help bridge the gap between the academy and first-team.
It’s a role Klug sees as vitally important.
“Gerard, over a number of years, has developed into a superb coach,” Klug said. “He’s been involved with the first-team. He’s at his happiest when he’s working with any young player.
“We identified a need between when players go from the academy to the first-team and sometimes come down too. Predominantly, he’ll be working with those players and making sure they don’t fall through the cracks.
“The first-team have their programme, it’s about going game to game. I still feel that there’s a lot of development in some of the players.
“Over the years, there’s been a few players who have had a few games but then their progression has stopped a little.
“Gerard is one of the best development coaches and is highly qualified so that really does suit him. It’s all about getting the best of all the people and resources you have.
“We think there’s a real role for Gerard, getting closer to the first-team. He’s picking up that role and we’ll see where that goes.”
Manager Paul Lambert has instigated a push for a uniform playing style throughout the club over the course of the last two years and, while Klug believes that can benefit the club, he insisted young players coming through also need to be versatile in their approach to the game.
“I’d like to think that over the years the academy has had not one particular style but a way of playing,” he said. “It’s very good for the first-team to settle into a way of playing and it’s our job to produce players who can do that.
“There’s more than one way of playing football, that’s something I’ve learned over many years. When players come out at the other end of the Academy, we like to think that they’d be prepared to play in a way that any manager can want them to play. We haven’t had to adapt too much.
“We know the work that the manager and the first-team staff are doing. By the time the players get to our U18s or U23s, they understand that way of playing. Also, there’s other ways of playing and we ensure that they get a full rounding and education.”
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