"Super" Frank Lampard has emerged as the leading contender to replace Rafa Benitez at woebegone Everton FC. The appointment, should it go ahead, could have some consequences for Stephen Kenny and the Republic of Ireland football team. According to reports, Lampard is keen to bring Chelsea (and Ireland) assistant Anthony Barry with him to Goodison Park.
The Athletic are claiming that Barry's appointment is imminent and that "is likely to be followed" by Barry.
They also report that Lampard's usual right hand man Jody Morris is unlikely to join Lampard at Everton, raising the possibility that Barry could be given extra responsibility by Lampard.
It is unclear how this mooted move would affect his part-time role with the FAI.
Barry joined Kenny's coaching staff after Damien Duff walked away from his role with team. An expert in set pieces and throw-ins, Barry is seen by many as a future manager and has been linked to a number of managerial vacancies in the Championship.
He is hugely regarded at Stamford Bridge, and was one of the few coaches kept on by Thomas Tuchel when he succeeded Lampard last year.
Anthony Barry has been credited with turning the Chelsea set piece around and supporters were not pleased to see the Chelsea legend looking to poach their star assistant.
If Super Frank takes Anthony Barry to Everton pic.twitter.com/6LhG4A6Ra5
— Will (@willreyner) January 28, 2022
Anthony Barry would be such a huge loss for us if he leaves 😔 pic.twitter.com/DDPQa9YV0D
— Tuchel Ball (@TucheIBall) January 28, 2022
Anthony Barry: young genius
In fact, Anthony Barry is slowly gaining the profile of a young genius amongst football writers.
Before Christmas, Jonathan Northcroft penned an interesting feature on Barry's background and revealed that the Chelsea coach had watched every throw-in in the 2018-19 Premier League season for academic research.
Barry’s dissertation was the only one from the course to be published as an academic paper. "The Undervalued Set-Piece" focuses on throw-ins. The research involved Barry watching 60 hours of footage to scrutinise every one of the 16,380 throw-ins taken in the 2018-19 Premier League season
The offer might be too good to turn down for the 35-year-old. Barry is Scouse and played in the Everton academy as a youth footballer. Watch this space.
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