Gary O'Neil outlines his Strasbourg backroom staff | OneFootball

Appointed on 7 January to replace Liam Rosenior, Gary O'Neil has built a trusted Strasbourg backroom and outlined what each member adds.

According to L'Équipe, the head coach mixed long-standing allies with internal fixtures and new faces.

Tim Jenkins, 45, is his first assistant after working alongside him at Bournemouth in 2022-2023 and Wolverhampton in 2023-2024. A former Liverpool analyst and assistant, he sits at O'Neil's side, bringing calm and a shared outlook. They first met when O'Neil led Liverpool's under-21s and Jenkins worked with the under-18s.

Neil Critchley, 47, arrives with deep development pedigree from Liverpool's academy and a spell as Steven Gerrard's assistant at Aston Villa. He later managed Blackpool from 2020-2022 with promotion to the Championship, then QPR, Blackpool again in 2023-2024 and Heart of Midlothian in 2024-2025. O'Neil says Critchley's experience as a former number one helps him understand the manager's emotions and the group's needs.

Ed Ames, 30, joined a month ago from Wolves after 10 years there and is now chief analyst. O'Neil describes him as devoted to possession play, the assistant who best grasps his attacking principles and who spends hours finding the right sequences to brief players.

Club stalwart Jean-Marc Kuentz, 60, has served Racing for 23 years and assisted ten head coaches. O'Neil credits him with easing the first three months, bridging the language barrier and schooling him on France, Ligue 1, Strasbourg, the fans and prospects Samir El-Mourabet and Abdoul Ouattara. He adds that Kuentz remains young in mind despite being older than the rest of the staff.

Filipe Coelho, 41, moved from Chelsea last summer and did not follow Rosenior to Chelsea. O'Neil believes he will be a number one one day, values his ambition and his links with Lusophone and South American players, and notes he focuses largely on the forwards.

Goalkeeper coach Sébastien Gimenez, 52, arrived from Monaco in summer 2024 with Pascal De Maesschalck, now Strasbourg's technical director. He relays the coach's demands for keeper involvement in possession, has accelerated Mike Penders' development and is praised for sharp set-play analysis.

Source: L'Équipe