RICHARD Keogh says ‘deep and intense’ conversations with Conor Hourihane persuaded him to leave Blackpool to become assistant head coach at Barnsley this summer.

The former veteran defender was a team-mate of Reds boss Hourihane for the Republic of Ireland and played against him eight times.

Keogh, who retired from playing in 2024, told the Chronicle: “I had a great first year in my coaching role at Blackpool. I had some fantastic experiences.

“Me and Conor played together for Ireland and I played against him many times. We stayed in touch and got on really well.

“We were on similar journeys in our coaching careers. We called each other quite a bit.

“When he got the job full-time, he reached out and we had some quite deep and intense conversations.

“We love football and we’re very aligned in how we see the game.

“I am learning a lot from him. I am really excited to be here with him and hoping for an exciting season.

“I think we bounce off each other nicely, not just me but Tom (Harban) as well.”

Keogh, last season, was working under one of the most experienced coaches in the country in Steve Bruce but now is assisting Hourihane in his first managerial role.

“Conor is very comfortable in the role. He’s been working towards it like myself.

“We’ve only recently finished playing but the coaching journeys started when we were playing – putting the time and effort in.

“He was more than ready for the opportunity.”

As a former centre-back, Keogh is hoping to help improve the Reds defensively after they conceded 90 goals in all competitions last season and kept just six league clean sheets, the second fewest in the division.

“Naturally as a coach I am always going to gravitate more towards the defence because I played the position.

“My experiences and what helped my game, I want to pass that on.

“It takes hard work and repetitive actions but, if you become really good at certain habits, it helps yourself and the team.

“I am really passionate about defending.

“We want to keep more clean sheets which is down to hard work on the training ground.”

On the 3-0 friendly win at Emley AFC on Tuesday, Keogh said: “I am really pleased with the work-out.

“We spoke before the game about some things we really wanted to see, stuff that we’ve been really working on in training.

“The lads are still building fitness but we showed really good aspects of what we’re trying to be about.

“Our intensity was excellent, our counter-press was really good and some of the play with the ball was really good.

“The most important thing was no injuries and to see some of the things we’ve been working hard on in training out there on the pitch.”

Keogh was happy with the contributions of some of the players from the Reds’ youth system, singling out midfielder Kieran Graham, 17, for a ‘great’ performance.

“We know we have a great academy and some of the young guys have been training with us quite a lot.

“We will use them a quite a bit.

“They will be integrated into our group, whether that be using them in games or training.”