Barnet FC are delighted to announce the appointment of Kevin Nugent as the club’s new First Team Coach.
The former striker has an impressive coaching resume, having worked at Swansea City, Cardiff City, Luton Town and Leyton Orient over the past decade.
Nugent, 47, joins the Bees from Charlton Athletic where he has been working as Assistant Manager since July 2016.
He is known throughout the game for his strong coaching credentials and brings with him a wealth of experience working with players in League One and Two.
Nugent managed Leyton Orient on an interim basis on three separate occasions, following two spells at Brisbane Road as a player.
The experienced coach recently enjoyed an unbeaten spell as Charlton Athletic’s Caretaker Manager in November last year, prior to the appointment of Karl Robinson.
He was under contract this season at Charlton Athletic but was given permission to speak with Chairman Tony Kleanthous over the weekend, and travelled to Morecambe to watch Rossi and his team’s victory on Tuesday night.
Reacting to the managerial appointment, Barnet FC Chairman Tony Kleanthous had a message for Bees’ supporters:
“We announced the journey this club was undertaking last December, when Martin Allen left to go to Eastleigh,” he said.
“Although we were in a reasonable League position, our overall goal was promotion. To achieve that we knew that we had to find a way of bringing our talented young players into the First Team squad.
“Rossi Eames and Henry Newman were appointed as interim coaches, to ease those players into the team and give them some regular game time.
“Our next step was to strengthen the squad in general, and to fill the age gap between the senior players and the younger ones coming through.
“We set about identifying talented players aged 20-25, who would keep the foundations of our squad solid over the next few years and give us something to build on. I am pleased to say we managed to sign a fair number of our targets.
“We certainly had some nervy moments towards the close of the transfer window, with a lot of interest in some of our talent. But we were able to ensure that we kept hold of all our key players bar one, who made it clear that he wanted to move elsewhere.
“The next step now is to assimilate and integrate our new players, young players and senior players into a cohesive and strong team.
“Kevin Nugent is a highly respected coach within the game and comes to us with a wealth of experience at our level of football. He has been highly recommended as the man to help us with the task at hand, and we welcome his decision to join us.
“He will slot into our management structure, ably assisted by Rossi Eames, and they will be continuing with the recent progress.
“As outlined in my previous statement when Martin Allen left, there will inevitably be a period of transition with some highs and lows. Unfortunately, Henry has decided to look for first team opportunities elsewhere and has chosen to leave the Club and Academy. He goes with our best wishes for the fine work he has done for us.
“Of course it goes without saying that our number one aim is to get promoted this year, so the brief as always is to get results – we want to get to League One and we are still in with a chance.
“We appreciate the support and backing of our fans and hope you will continue to back us through this rebuilding phase.
“There is a lot going on here at The Hive and much more to announce over the coming months. We have no intention of standing still…..these are exciting times!”
Everyone at Barnet FC would like to welcome Kevin Nugent to The Hive, and wish him all the best during his time in charge of the Bees!
