Neil Critchley: Aston Villa appoint Blackpool boss as assistant head coach
- Published
Neil Critchley (right) was under-23 boss at Liverpool while Steven Gerrard was a youth coach at the club
Blackpool boss Neil Critchley has left the club to join Premier League side Aston Villa as assistant head coach.
He replaces Michael Beale, who was named as QPR head coach on Wednesday.
Critchley, who previously worked alongside Villa boss Steven Gerrard in the Liverpool academy, was appointed Blackpool boss in March 2020.
He guided the Seasiders to promotion to the Championship via the play-offs in 2020-21 and they finished 16th in the second tier this season.
"Neil has been a consummate professional ever since arriving at Blackpool and really bought into what this club and town are all about," owner Simon Sadler told the Blackpool website.
"He has built up strong relationships with the staff, players and supporters and made some special memories for us all.
"Naturally, we are disappointed to lose him, but thank him for all that he has achieved during his time at Bloomfield Road and wish him well."
Gerrard called the 43-year-old "a fantastic coach" and said he was his first choice to replace Beale.
Critchley twice took charge of Liverpool's first team prior to leaving for Blackpool.
He oversaw a 5-0 Carabao Cup quarter-final defeat by his new employers Villa, when the majority of the senior squad were away at the Club World Cup in Qatar in December 2019, and then led the team's youngest-ever starting XI to a 1-0 FA Cup fourth-round replay win over Shrewsbury in February 2020 when the first team were on the Premier League's winter break.
Aston Villa finished 14th in the Premier League in 2021-22 after Gerrard left Rangers to take over from Dean Smith in November.
Gerrard's former assistant Beale had worked under him with the Scottish Premiership giants before following him to Villa, alongside fellow first-team coach Gary McAllister.
'A hard act to follow ' - Analysis
Andy Bayes, BBC Radio Lancashire Sports Editor
Neil Critchley's departure from Blackpool is a major surprise and will come as a massive disappointment to his players and the Seasiders' fans who had a unique bond with the 43-year-old.
Nothing seemed to suggest that he was unhappy in his role and he appeared to be planning for the long term.
Appointed in March 2020, he was in charge for only two matches before the League One season was curtailed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and after a slow start to the 2020-21 season, some feared the talented coach of youth footballers would not be able to replicate his methods in the EFL.
How wrong they were. He steered his team to promotion via the play-offs in his first full season and consolidated them back in the second tier last season with a 16th-place finish, never once looking like being in a relegation fight.
The vacancy at Bloomfield Road is an attractive one, with a new training ground on the way and an ambitious owner keen to take the club forward.
Critchley, who only signed a new four-and-a-half year contract back in November 2021, will be a hard act to follow.
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