Brian Barry-Murphy has revealed why he left Leicester City to take the head coach job at League One Cardiff.
The 46-year-old exited the King Power Stadium just six months after being named as Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first team coach, having built his reputation as elite development coach at Manchester City.
Together van Nistelrooy and Barry-Murphy were only able to mastermind three Premier League wins as the Foxes put up a weak fight against relegation back to the Championship.
And with the season a month into the rearview mirror, City agreed a compensation fee with Cardiff to allow the Irishman to have his second crack at being a No 1, having previously done so at Rochdale.
Speaking to the Cardiff City website, Barry-Murphy explained why he felt the time to move is right.
“It felt really exhilarating this morning when the thought of actually coming to the stadium and getting the feeling of being in the job for the first day. Myself and all my family are really privileged to be in the city,” he said.
“I think it's been it's been a really comprehensive process, which has impressed me greatly. The steps that we went through were real in-depth, detailed football discussions at the start and I got a real sense of the passion straight away for the club and the talent coming through here is something that attracted me straight away to this role.
“Then the more detailed discussions as we progress through the phases just gave me a real sense of the right type of opportunity that I've been looking for. It just felt right at every stage of the process and there was not one moment where I had any doubts whatsoever.
“To finally get this there, where it's confirmed and you can start to really see the vision come to life, it's something that that that makes me, that makes me feel really special.”
Barry-Murphy admitted he has been regularly linked with EFL jobs, having last sat in the manager’s hot-seat in 2021.
“For a prolonged period I've had links to Cardiff, honestly, in the past it never felt as if it was getting stronger than than just an interest, but this time it felt totally different.
“I think, probably one because of where the clubs at and then two because of the opportunity that I sense was here and it felt aligned with my sense of where I am in my career and what I want to achieve, it felt like the perfect fit.
“From the early stages, everything just felt as if this was going to be different and I was looking for that sense of alignment and that sense of meeting a group of people and a club that was sharing the same ambitions as myself. That's taken us to where we are today and hopefully where it is going to take in the future.
“The period at Leicester was a very short period in terms of footballing experience. It was a six-month period where I worked as assistant to Ruud van Nistelrooy. That was slightly unexpected. I had left Manchester City the previous summer with a clear idea to go and test myself at the highest possible level.
“I don't want to over-exaggerate, but I'd been in the shadows of Pep Guardiola over the years where you watch and learn from, arguably the greatest mind in football and you see so many things that make sense of how you see the game and the way you want to do things in the future – and not copy them but you take so much from them and you almost want to put that to the test and bring it to life.
“So going to Leicester was an advancement of that where you get to test that at Premier League level and try and help the players individually and collectively, and support Ruud. It just felt as if this was the chance to to be my own man and to go and help this club move forward where it wants to be.”
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