The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Dark Blues axe 16 academy coaches
12 believed to be willing to continue working on voluntary basis
Dundee have cut the jobs of 16 academy coaches in the latest round of cost-cutting measures at Dens.
Courier Sport understands 12 of those made redundant have agreed to continue to work with the Dark Blues’ age group teams on a voluntary basis.
However, former Dee captain and manager
Barry Smith – who combined his youth coaching duties with a job as assistant to Jim Duffy at Dumbarton last season – is amongst those to have left the club.
The roles of Dundee’s head of academy Stephen Wright and technical director Gordon Strachan are understood to be unaffected by the changes, with both expected to take on coaching duties in the coming weeks and months.
The Dark Blues have been hit hard by the Covid19-triggered shutdown of Scottish football, with a loss of over £500,000 reported by managing director John Nelms.
First team staff and players have accepted pay cuts of 50% until October’s Championship kickoff date, dropping thereafter to 25% until the end of the season in May.
Dundee have axed 16 academy coaches as part of their cost-cutting measures due to the coronavirus shutdown.
However, the Courier understands 12 of those youth coaches have volunteered to continue their work for free over the coming months.
Former Dark Blues skipper and manager Barry Smith is one of those who has left Dens Park.
Head of academy Stephen Wright and technical director Gordon Strachan’s roles are unchanged, though both are expected to take on more coaching responsibility in the future.
Courier Sport revealed last month redundancy consultations had begun between academy staff and the club.
Those discussions were held by club secretary Eric Drysdale.
It was Drysdale who made the phone calls earlier this week to inform staff of their redundancies.
However, the majority of those affected have made it clear they want to continue to help the youngsters in the Dens youth set-up, whether they are paid or not.
The Dark Blues have been hit hard financially by the Covid-19-enforced lay-off, prompting first-team staff and players to accept a 50% wage cut until play restarts in October, with the cut dropping thereafter to 25% until May.
That was after managing director John Nelms announced a loss of around £500,000 due to the early end of the 2019-20 campaign.
With income severely depleted since March and no competitive action for another six weeks, the club needed to cut its cloth accordingly.
After cutting their playing budget significantly, the next part of the costcutting plans centred on the club’s youth set-up.
The Courier revealed last month some youth staff would be willing to volunteer, with former Dens centreback Robbie Raeside saying he had made that suggestion to his bosses.
A majority of those involved have followed Raeside in making that commitment.
Former skipper and manager Smith, meanwhile, who returned to the club last year to help coach its future generations, has opted to leave.
During his 11-year playing career at Dens Park, the hall of famer appeared 433 times for Dundee, behind only Doug Cowie in the all-time list.
During that time he helped the club win the First Division title in 1998 and reach the Scottish Cup final in 2003, where the Dee lost 1-0 to league champions Rangers.
After hanging up his boots, Smith took a role coaching the U/19s at Dens before being parachuted into the manager’s role following administration in 2010 and the departure of Gordon Chisholm.
Smith’s Dundee were hit with a 25-point penalty by league chiefs but, despite that, they kept their place in the First Division, forever remembered as the Deefiant season.
His time in charge of the club then saw the Dark Blues brought up from the second-tier to the Premier League thanks to the demise of Rangers.
He was sacked, however, after a poor first half of the season.
He would go on to manage Alloa, Aldershot, East Fife, Raith and Brechin before returning as a youth coach last year. He combined that role with being assistant manager to Jim Duffy at Dumbarton.