Source: Bournemouth_Echo
Cherries: Former players return as coaches
THE future of Cherries' production line is in good hands after two former Dean Court midfielders were appointed to oversee the skills of the club's top talents. Matty Holmes and Shaun Brooks are the men tasked with the important role of technical development officers for all of Cherries' youth teams up to the under-16s age group. The pair join new centre of excellence manager Jason Blake, who was appointed as Derek Old's successor last month. Blake expressed his delight at securing the services of the experienced duo. He told the Echo: First of all, they are ex-Bournemouth players and they know the club, which is very important. They are both players who were very technical and very astute in that side of the game. To have that kind of knowledge and experience coaching in the centre is unbelievable. England schoolboy and youth international Brooks made 129 league appearances for Cherries after being signed by Harry Redknapp in 1987, while Holmes joined a year later and went on to play 114 league games before heading to West Ham, then Blackburn Rovers in a £1.2million deal. Holmes is pleased to be involved with his former club. He said: It's the same sort of job I've done part time for the past few years, but now it's been made more official. It gives me more chance to really develop the younger age groups. Meanwhile, Blake, a UEFA-A licence holder, also offered supporters a glimpse into the future by revealing that there was good reason to be optimistic about the talent within the club's junior ranks. I wouldn't want to put pressure on any individuals by naming names, but I'd like to think we've got some promising players coming through, he added. I'd like to think we've got an environment where we can help develop these young players. Players to emerge from the club's youth system in recent years include Sam Vokes, Brett Pitman and Joe Partington. Schoolboy Jayden Stockley continued the trend when he was handed a contract last weekend.