WHEN NEWS BEGAN to filter through yesterday morning of Andy Cousins’ appointment to a senior recruitment and scouting position at Chelsea, there was a fair degree of surprise in certain quarters.
At Stamford Bridge, the feeling has been more triumphant at the Dubliner’s imminent arrival.
They have got their man.
Cousins is an understated figure, doesn’t court publicity and is not one for self-promotion.
You will not, as one source explained, see him detail his “every move or success on Instagram.”
It’s part of the reason discussions with the Chelsea hierarchy remained largely under wraps since leaving his job as Head of Football Operations at Stoke City in March.
That’s a role which he stepped up to last year having previously been lead analyst under former manager Michael O’Neill since his appointment in November 2019.
Cousins departed on good terms with joint-chairman John Coates, who it’s understood recognised and appreciated the depth of work he carried out in his three and a half years there – helping to raise upwards of £30 million in sales for a club that was facing perilous Financial Fair Play consequences following relegation from the Premier League with a bloated, costly squad.
Sound familiar?
Ireland international Nathan Collins’ emergence from Stoke’s academy is perhaps the most high profile single transaction, captaining the side at the age of just 18 before joining Burnley, and then on to Wolverhampton Wanderers for £20m last summer.
Cousins, as sources have explained, “can do everything”, a “brilliant” and “impressive” character who very quickly wins over those he works with through his passion for the game, calibre of analysis and work ethic. Not to mention his qualities as a coach – not that his new job will stretch that far.
Most importantly, Cousins’ ability to navigate the rocky terrain of recruitment and players sales/trades with a varied contacts book has proved a crucial factor in his stock rising under the radar.
When he officially starts work in London on 1 July, building a trusting relationship with new head coach Mauricio Pochettino will be a priority, although it’s not expected that he will work directly with the Argentine, rather as part of a structure that has been reshaped beneath the head coach following the takeover last year.
Given Chelsea’s bloated squad it’s no surprise why a figure like Cousins was so appealing.
Some 66 players left Stoke permanently during his spell at the club while 62 departed on loan. In terms of incomings during that same time frame, 37 permanent deals and 23 loans give an idea of the turnover that was required to try and find some stability – not to mention balancing the books.
The reputation which Cousins has forged in international and club football over the course of the last decade is the reason why other Premier League opportunities were also forthcoming – and attractive – before eventually opting for Chelsea.
Their willingness to allow him resume his relationship with O’Neill, who has since returned to manage Northern Ireland, proved key.
Cousins will return to work for the IFA alongside his Chelsea responsibilities and is currently in St George’s Park with their national side for one of two training camps over the next fortnight.
Their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign resumes with an away trip to Denmark on 16 June followed by the visit of Kazakhstan to Windsor Park three days later. Cousins’ exposure to high-level senior international football is viewed as another positive by the Chelsea hierarchy.
A relationship which began as acquaintances when O’Neill was boss of Shamrock Rovers in 2010 has ultimately proved to be the start of a path to Stamford Bridge for the former Leeds United trainee.
It was that initial introduction from Trevor Croly which led to a friendship that soon developed into a trusted working partnership.
By the time that O’Neill began his first stint as Northern Ireland boss following back-to-back League of Ireland titles and that historic Europa League group stage breakthrough in 2011, Cousins had returned to live in Birmingham with his wife.
After initially being sounded out to help with Northern Ireland’s scouting system in that part of England, Cousins eventually helped develop a more wide-ranging and coherent network throughout the country.
That then resulted in him operating beyond scouting, and he was leading O’Neill’s opposition analysis during the successful Euro 2016 qualifying campaign – Northern Ireland reached the round of 16 in France where they were knocked out by eventual semi-finalists Wales.
It was in the process of his work for O’Neill that Cousins’ first opportunity in club football presented itself. A chance meeting with someone from his days at Leeds led to an invite to visit Manchester City.
It was there that Brian Kidd – his former youth coach at Elland Road – offered Cousins a job.
The nature of his work with the reigning Premier League champions is another crucial factor in why his move to Chelsea makes so much sense.
Their multi-club model beneath the City Football Group banner stretches continents, with teams in the United States, Australia, India, Japan, Spain, Brazil, Uruguay, China, Belgium, France and Italy.
Cousins’ understanding of operating within those parameters is key. At City, he worked as part of a select group that weren’t specifically tasked with finding gems for the Premier League, but rather talent that could fit into that emerging network of clubs and eventually be sold for profit.
That is the model which Chelsea, under their new American owners, are striving towards with chairman Todd Boehly stating as much following the takeover. “We’ve talked about having a multi-club model. I would love to continue to build out the footprint. There are different countries where there are advantages to having a club.
“Red Bull does a good job. Manchester City has a big network of clubs. Our goal is to ensure pathways for our young stars to get on to the Chelsea pitch while getting them real game time. To do that is through another club in a really competitive league in Europe.”
They already appointed one of Cousins’ former colleagues at City, Joe Shields, to the role of Co-Director of Recruitment and Talent last October. He spent nine years in Manchester, initially as their Academy Scouting Manager before a promotion to Head of Academy Recruitment and Talent Management.
Cousins has now been reunited with him and is believed to be one of a four-pronged group working directly below joint Sporting Directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, with Christopher Vivell appointed as Technical Director last December – another well versed in the structures of multi-club models having joined from RB Leipzig.
Amid all these joining dots, the timing of the move provides a quirk of fate with an emotional link to Chelsea’s past for their latest recruit.
Cousins arrives at Stamford Bridge almost 38 years to the day since his older brother Tony joined as a trainee from Belvedere.
It was a very different time and a very different club.
Tony never managed to make his mark but almost four decades on another member of the family just might.