Manchester United have been forced into another backroom reshuffle after head of player development and coaching Justin Cochrane was lured away from Old Trafford to take up a first-team coaching role at Brentford.
The club had already lost U23 head coach Neil Wood when he was poached to take over at League Two side Salford City last month, while his former assistant, Neil Ryan, also left United to take up a role with the FA.
And in the wake of Cochrane's departure, United have now confirmed their new coaching set-up. The club have announced that Mark Dempsey - who was appointed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer back in 2020 - will take charge of the U23's next season, while United's U18 lead-coach Travis Binnion will take on Cochrane's old role.
Cochrane - who has previous first-team coaching experience from a short stint with AFC Wimbledon - was appointed at United last year and made a huge impression. The highly-rated 40-year-old guided the Red Devils to FA Youth Cup glory for the first time since 2011 during his brief stint at the club.
Dempsey, who will now step up, previously graduated from the United academy back in the 1980s and had managed senior teams in Scandinavia before he was brought back to Old Trafford by Solskjaer. He will be assisted by another former academy graduate, Paul McShane, who is transitioning from a player-coach role with the U23s to a full-time coach role.
Speaking about the backroom reshuffle, Nick Cox, head of United's academy, said: "We are really pleased to confirm the new coaching structure for the professional development phase. The increase in flexibility reflects our bespoke approach to player development, focusing on supporting individuals to reach their potential by working with each specialist coach at the optimal time.
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"Travis, Mark and Paul all played a pivotal role in the academy’s success last season, in which four graduates made their debuts and the Under-18s won the Youth Cup. They possess an outstanding set of complementary skills that will best support this group of players.
"Naturally, we are pleased that Justin has been able to fulfil his ambition of working in a first-team environment. I am proud of the world-class learning environment that we have created for our staff and take great satisfaction in seeing them progress both within the club or through external opportunities.
"The changes implement an ideal blend of long-standing club personnel and outstanding external appointments as we continue to appoint best-in-class staff throughout our world-leading youth development system."
