Aston Villa promotion hero takes first step into management with League One club

Former Aston Villa midfielder Conor Hourihane has been appointed as Barnsley’s new permanent manager following a successful stint as interim boss.

The Tykes handed Hourihane the reins in March when Darrell Clarke was sacked and originally planned to keep him in the dugout for the remainder of the season before hiring someone else for the long term. Barnsley have decided they’d like to proceed with Hourihane instead, though, giving the Irishman the opportunity to take his first proper step into management.

Barnsley were 10th in League One when Hourihane took over and they’ve actually slipped down to 11th since, but the 34-year-old has done enough to impress during that time.

It didn’t start well as the Tykes were defeated 2-1 away at Mansfield Town on Hourihane’s managerial debut, but there was then an improvement with successive 1-1 draws against Cambridge United and Wigan Athletic. A 2-1 loss to Exeter City and a 6-2 hammering from Birmingham City were disappointing but Barnsley did brilliantly last weekend to thrash Bolton Wanderers 4-1.

That result may have been the clincher for Hourihane, who has signed a two-year contract with the club option of a further 12 months. It’s been a rapid rise for the Villa promotion hero as he only retired from professional football in December to take on a regular coaching role at Oakwell Stadium.

Villa fans will be delighted to see Hourihane succeeding as he played a vital role in the promotion to the Premier League in 2019, scoring seven goals and making 12 assists in 43 Championship matches throughout that famous campaign. The season before was just as strong, too, as he contributed 11 goals and two assists in 41 league games.

Hourihane had great success in League One and League Two with Plymouth Argyle and Barnsley before he joined Villa, establishing himself as a key player for three seasons at each. As his time at Villa came to an end, Hourihane enjoyed loan spells at Swansea City and Sheffield United before eventually leaving for Derby County in 2022.

Barnsley’s chairman, Neerav Parekh, believes Hourihane is the right man to take the club forward. “I have been impressed by Conor over the past five weeks,” Parekh said. “He has been a model professional and ultimately what we have seen is a change in the style of play which is much more in keeping with what we want to see from the team.

“We want an identity within the football club, a hard-working and organised team that supporters can appreciate and get behind and I believe we have seen that in recent weeks. We are playing more attacking football.

“The players are getting on the front foot and looking to get fans off their seats, and we are also seeing academy players being trusted to represent the club too. I am sure supporters will join me in welcoming Conor to the role permanently and I believe that this can be a pivotal appointment for our club as we look to get back to our roots.”

Hourihane, equally as delighted, added: “It’s pretty emotional, to be honest. I’m really honoured. I had success as captain, and now I want success as a head coach - it’s as simple as that. I want to win football matches more than anyone. Step by step, the ultimate goal is to have success.”