Newcastle United make fresh appointment as former Sunderland man joins coaching staff
Newcastle United have made another appointment behind the scenes at academy level.
Newcastle have appointed former Sunderland caretaker manager Robbie Stockdale as the new Under-21s assistant manager. It comes after Diarmuid O’Carroll was appointed as the new Under-21s lead coach back in September.
Former Sunderland manager and Newcastle’s head of strategic technical football partnerships, Jack Ross had been assisting O’Carroll while he settled in on Tyneside but now Stockdale has been appointed in a new permanent role.
The former Middlesbrough and Scotland midfielder joins after leaving his assistant role at League Two club Barrow last month. Stockdale brings a wealth of experience as both a player and a coach to Newcastle’s second-string side.
He made 74 Premier League appearances for Middlesbrough before having stints at Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham United and Rotherham United in the second tier. After a spell at Hull City and a loan move to Darlington, Stockdale joined Tranmere Rovers before finishing his playing career with Grimsby Town in 2011.
Grimsby was also where Stockdale started his coaching career before moving to Sunderland’s academy in 2012. He also had three separate stints as first-team caretaker manager. He left Sunderland following Ross’ appointment as manager.
Reflecting on his time at Sunderland, Stockdale said: “I had some not so great players and attitudes who were refusing to play, but I had nowhere to go with that as there was no-one above me.
“But I had some really top ones as well - John O'Shea, it was going to be his last game for the club - and people like that who did things properly. I'll always be thankful for that, because it made my week a lot of easier.”
Now Ross has played a role in Stockdale’s new academy role at Newcastle.
Changes at Newcastle United’s academy
Stockdale’s appointment is the latest of several to have taken place away from the first-team at Newcastle this season.
O’Carroll was appointed following Ben Dawson’s departure to join Leicester City in the summer while Chris Moore replaced Graeme Carrick at Under-18s level. Jack Brazil was also appointed as the club’s new Under-16s lead coach following Ian Bogie’s departure last year.