Diarmuid O'Carroll set to land key role with Premier League giants

A picture of Diarmuid O'Carroll
-Credit: (Image: Getty Images)


Diarmuid O'Carroll looks set to be appointed as Newcastle United's reserve/under-21 team boss after the Premier League outfit agreed a compensation package with St Mirren.

O'Carroll, who is assistant to Steven Robinson at the Buddies, was absent for their 2-1 win over Hearts on Saturday. They had previously worked with together at Motherwell, Morecambe and now again at St Mirren.

O'Carroll, who won Irish League titles with Crusaders and Cliftonville, is highly regarded in footballing circles. The 37-year-old is also a key member of Michael O'Neill's coaching panel with the Northern Ireland senior men's set-up.

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Newcastle have been without a permanent U21 boss since Ben Dawson's departure in the summer. Strengthening the academy ranks is said to be a key priority for the powers that be at St James Park.

It looks like O'Carroll's appointment is set to be confirmed in the coming days. “We’ll make an official announcement over the weekend or Monday,” said Robinson, when asked about O’Carroll’s impending exit.

“I don’t want to jump the gun because I’m not 100 per cent sure. He is speaking to someone else (about) an Under-21 position. We’ve shown that we’ve got that staff in place to step up if that should happen. But I think it’s a matter that we deal with on Monday morning when we get the full facts.”

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