Steven Gerrard's former No 2 is lined up by Championship club after rejecting move to Turkey
Hull City are close to appointing Steven Gerrard 's former right-hand man Dean Holden as assistant manager after the Englishman turned down the chance to be the boss of Adana Demirspor in Turkey.
Holden, who opened up candidly to Mail Sport in an interview earlier this year, wanted to return to England and is in advanced talks to be the No 2 to Sergej Jakirovic at the Tigers.
Holden has recently had experiences as Gerrard's assistant at Al Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia and spent time in Turkey.
He was offered jobs at both English and United States clubs but is poised to go in at Championship side Hull.
The 45-year-old enjoyed a lengthy playing career - which saw him suit up as a defender for the likes of Bolton Wanderers, Oldham Athletic and Peterborough - before beginning his managerial journey.
Over 16 years, he made 369 league appearances across ten clubs, finishing his career with Walsall in 2014.
Holden began his coaching career at Oldham, where he took on a short spell as manager in 2015.
He later became assistant manager at Bristol City, eventually stepping up to the top job in 2020.
After leaving the club in early 2021, he joined Stoke City's backroom staff and had a brief stint as caretaker boss.
In late 2022, Holden took charge of Charlton Athletic before departing to work with Derek Chisora as an agency manager at OnlyFans.
He then joined Gerrard at Al Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia in February 2024.
On his time in the Gulf nation, Holden said: 'Steven Gerrard sees the game differently, as his assistant I learned so much.
'He empowered me to be creative and come up with ideas, to challenge him. He's a really generous guy and I was grateful for the opportunity – I felt like I got five years of experience from him in a year.
'In any other industry, you would pay for the experiences I had. If you were a doctor, you'd pay to go and observe the best brain surgeon in the world.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
32 minutes ago
- The Sun
Great news for sports fans as booze ads ban AXED sparing fans a ticket price hike and boosting investment in grassroots
PLANS to ban alcohol sponsorship at sporting events have been axed — sparing fans ticket price hikes, The Sun can reveal. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has ruled out barring booze firms, it is understood, to the relief of football, rugby and tennis chiefs. 2 The Premier League agreed a four-year mega-deal with Guinness last season while ABK Beer backs October's Rugby League Ashes. Dropping the 'nanny state' ban will also boost grassroots sport, as cash trickles down from the elite levels. One senior Tory said: 'Sponsorship helps keep football tickets affordable and grassroots sports alive. 'You don't drive harmful drinking down by banning adverts, you just hit fans in the pocket.' However, partial restrictions on alcohol ads will form part of a ten-year NHS plan out next week, it is believed. They may be outlawed before the 9pm watershed in line with junk food and drink as ministers try to tackle growing health problems. Junk food ads are to be banned between 5.30pm and 9pm from October. We told yesterday that more than half of Labour voters opposed an ads ban by meddling ministers. Fury as cost of 12-pack of beer set to soar by £1 thanks to sinister new tax brought in by Labour 2
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Chelsea on verge of £55.5m Jamie Gittens transfer with deal for Dortmund star expected next week
CHELSEA are close to landing Jamie Gittens for £55.5million from Borussia Dortmund. Both clubs, who are at the Club World Cup in the United States, have been locked in talks in the last 48 hours and should reach an agreement next week. 3 Gittens, 20, is ready to end his four-year stint in Germany and return to the club where he was once part of the youth set-up. Chelsea were hoping to secure the England Under-21 international for £50m with add-ons but the deal will cost more. Gittens has struggled with illness and hardly played in the USA. The Blues have already spent £1.4billion to assemble their current squad, but club transfer chiefs are desperate to bring their former youth star back home. to tempt him into a Stamford Bridge return, despite a £42million bid being rejected earlier this month. Gittens - who changed his surname from Bynoe-Gittens on the advice of his father - enjoyed a breakout season with Dortmund. Across 48 games in all competitions before the Club World Cup, 34 of which he started, the England youth star netted 12 goals and added five assists. 3 Join SUN CLUB for the Chelsea Files every Tuesday plus in-depth coverage and exclusives from Stamford Bridge Gittens joins new Dortmund team-mate Jobe Bellingham and Chelsea's Liam Delap in a list full of players who couldn't join England's Under-21s at the Euros this summer. Despite several high profile absences, the young Three Lions have made the Euros final yet again, where they hope to retain their title when they face off against Germany on Saturday night. 15 year old Jamie Bynoe-Gittens shows why he is such a special player at Man City Meanwhile, Blues defender Tosin Adarabioyo insists Cole Palmer CAN handle the hype of being the club's 'superstar'. The pair were pals at Manchester City, even though Tosin, 27, is four years older. Fifa have used the face of Palmer on every poster plugging Blues' games at the Club World Cup, including Saturday's last- 16 clash with Benfica. Tosin said: 'I banter him sometimes and tell him he's a little superstar. But he handles it very well and he knows his focus is on football.'
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Thomas Tuchel will leave England next summer and it could be hard to ignore Lee Carsley
In just over a year, the Football Association faces the prospect of finding Thomas Tuchel's successor. Appointed on a one-tournament contract, the German arrived with a direct brief: win the 2026 World Cup. In contrast to his predecessor, the 51-year-old's remit is straightforward. Sir Gareth Southgate was required to serve as a statesman, tasked with not only managing the senior team but overseeing youth development, internal FA planning and dipping into politics. He was a manager, whereas Tuchel is a head coach, with the freedom to focus solely on next year's tournament. Ending 60 years of hurt would etch the former Chelsea coach in English footballing folklore. Should he join Sir Alf Ramsey in leading England to World Cup glory, it would be the pinnacle, impossible to surpass in the England job. A return to club football would feel inevitable. Anything less than silverware, on the other hand, would represent failure – not just for Tuchel, but also the FA after its third roll of the dice with a foreign manager – and also likely mean the end of his tenure. The future, however, is bright. England Under-21s have provided a glimpse of what is to come during their European Championship defence, fronted by Lee Carsley, who is 90 minutes from matching Dave Sexton's achievement as head coach by winning consecutive titles. Should Carsley do so, he would then be in the frame to succeed Tuchel. In his tenure with the Under-21s, Carsley, aided by a world-class talent pool, has demonstrated his ability to guide England through a tournament. In 2023, the Young Lions won the Euros in Georgia without conceding a goal. Two years later, with a weakened squad because of the Club World Cup, Carsley has guided the side to another final against Germany on Saturday night. Although the pressure at a development tournament does not come close to the frantic nature of leading the seniors, it does offer a peek at Carsley's capability. In Slovakia, he has demonstrated first-class man-management, with numerous fringe players expressing gratitude for making them feel pivotal to the title defence. The squad are tightly bonded, thanks to his culture drive. The ability to build a tight-knit group is often the decisive margin in international football. While the group stage performances dropped below expectations, Carsley has showcased his class in the knockouts. After beating Spain in the final in 2023, England outclassed the same opposition in this year's quarter-finals. Spain set the standard at youth level, and their triumph at the 2024 senior Euros was a product of that. Yet in both matches against them, Carsley has prevailed. Luis de la Fuente led Spain to their Euro 2024 success after nine years coaching the youth teams. Perhaps the FA should follow that blueprint. With a home Euros looming in 2028, many of the players set to form the spine of the England team then – Cole Palmer, Marc Guéhi, Anthony Gordon – have already thrived under Carsley. Tino Livramento and Elliot Anderson impressed at this tournament and look ready to follow suit. When Tuchel departs, the FA will likely return to a domestic appointment; they rarely make similar, successive appointments. Carsley fits the mould: an insider who knows the system, enjoys strong player relationships, and prioritises development – evident in his senior stint, where he handed out eight new caps in six games. Appointing him would be a much-needed endorsement of the St George's Park pathway after the FA overlooked English coaching talent post-Southgate. It could be argued that England played their best football of the year while Carsley was in interim charge, winning five of their games and earning promotion back to Nations League Group A, all while playing exhilarating football. England's first ever defeat by 48th-ranked Greece is a blot on his reputation. However, it could prove a turning point in his managerial career. Carsley was forced to review every element of his tenure as interim head coach because of that dismal evening. From his performances in front of the media to his tactical decisions, he identified the areas he needed to work on and has improved as a result. At this tournament, he has also been polished in press conferences and diligent with his tactics. As he said on Friday: 'If I'm going to keep improving as a coach, I have to make sure that I'm learning from these experiences and not just going through the motions. I took a lot of things from the senior team. 'You wonder whether you're capable of managing at that level. It was something that I enjoyed, that I didn't feel drowned by. I was excited by the games. A period of reflection is needed after this tournament, but those periods are better if you've won.' Should Carsley indeed triumph then it could be hard for the FA to ignore him for the top job. Thomas Tuchel has made his own race across the world to support England's bid to retain their European Under-21 Championship crown. Tuchel, the head coach of the senior team, has been in the United States assessing potential bases for next summer's World Cup and watching some of the Club World Cup. Having been in Orlando to watch Manchester City thrash Juventus in the Club World Cup on Thursday, Tuchel has embarked on a transatlantic dash to get to Slovakia in time for Saturday night's Under-21 final between England and Germany. Tuchel had vowed to get to Slovakia to be at the final if England got there and he has attempted to stick to his word, even though it will have taken him two flights and a car journey to get there in time for kick-off. The journey will take Tuchel over 11 hours and involve three different countries. It shows the German's commitment to supporting Lee Carsley's Under-21 team in the final. England won the tournament in 2023 and can make it back-to-back triumphs by beating Germany in Bratislava on Saturday night.
