Tranmere’s youth coach Kenny Shiels is snapped up by Kilmarnock

Jul 1 2010 by Nick Hilton, Liverpool Daily Post

TRANMERE lost the services of head of youth Kenny Shiels after the Ulsterman took up a senior post at Kilmarnock yesterday.

Shiels is to work as coach and number two to Mixu Paatelainen, who took charge of the Scottish Premier League side last month.

Paatelainen, a former Finnish international striker, believes Shiels is the right man to help him keep Kilmarnock in Scotland’s top flight against a background of tight budget cuts at Rugby Park.

Shiels’s departure leaves another vacancy in the Tranmere backroom staff headed by manager Les Parry. Rovers have an opening for a youth and reserve team coach now that Shaun Garnett is stepping up to the assistant manager’s role. They will need a new man to oversee the club’s school of excellence set-up.

Shiels joined Tranmere three years ago, having made his reputation in Ireland as a coach at both youth and senior level.

Headhunted by Rovers, he initially took charge of the club’s school of excellence set up. Later he was appointed head of youth as a Warwick Rimmer, who headed Rovers youth set-up from 1987, geared down into semi-retirement.

Shiels also doubled as youth coach for much of last season after Garnett found himself committed to first-team duties at weekends as part of Parry’s senior coaching regime.

Parry said: “Kenny did fantastically well for us in the second half of last season when I had to take Shaun Garnett away from him.

“He worked like a Trojan, doing both the school of excellence and the youth coaching jobs and I think he thoroughly enjoyed it as well. He will be a big miss for us.

“However, to go to a club as big as Kilmarnock is an outstanding opportunity for him. We could have made it a little bit difficult for him to go. But there is no point. He had his heart set on it.

“I will be sitting down with the board of directors to discuss the staffing structure soon.”

Shiels said: “I am leaving with a heavy heart because this is a big family club and I had a really good working relationship with the people here. Tranmere is a club with good people in place. Les, Shaun and everyone else on the staff are working very hard.

“Although I am sad to leave, I feel as though I have left my imprint on the youth set-up and there is a good structure and a good future here.”

Shiels added: “I have had a couple of offers in the past year or so and this one felt like the right one at the right time. You always want to work somewhere where you can have an impact. I have been clubs in past where we have worked hard to get them up the divisions. It is a journey I have been on before, albeit in Ireland.

“To be appointed head coach with a club in the SPL is good for the profile and an advancement in my career.”

Rovers have reason to be optimistic about the prospects of the latest generation of young players progressing through the youth system at Prenton Park, Shiels believes.

He said: “I’m encouraged by the quality of some of the lads coming through here. The new intake of scholars and the boys at under 15 and 16 level look good. The emphasis here is on player development rather than playing to win games and I can see a few lads getting through to the professional ranks in the next few years.”

Shiels added: “It is increasingly difficult to attract players here when you have Liverpool, Everton, Blackburn and Bolton casting their net on the Wirral. Half of the clubs in the Premier League are little more than an hour and a half away and that is where the parents want their kids to go.

“That can be a problem for us but we can also use it as a tool to show that a club like Tranmere can give young players a better chance of a first team opportunity. It is tougher for youngsters to get through in the Premier League, where a lot of players are bought in, often from abroad.”

Tranmere chief executive Mick Horton added: “I’m sad to see Kenny leave the club but we cannot stand in the way of this move.”