Pep disciple, son of a great - Cardiff's new boss

He is a coaching disciple of Pep Guardiola and the son of an Irish sporting legend who was a hero to Roy Keane.

Brian Barry-Murphy, Cardiff City's new head coach, is of considerable stock, though he has come to the Welsh capital to forge his own way.

This is a big job, and the Irishman is the ninth person in just four years to take it on.

Managers are drawn to Cardiff by the club's potential; most do not last because underachievement on the pitch pales in comparison to the discord off it.

Just as well, then, that Barry-Murphy is used to shouldering responsibility. His surname carries significant weight in Ireland thanks to the exploits of his father, Jimmy Barry-Murphy, who won a dizzying array of hurling and Gaelic football titles during a stellar dual-sport career.

That is why another son of Cork, former Manchester United captain Keane, named the great Barry-Murphy alongside Muhammad Ali and Barry McGuigan when he was asked his three favourite athletes of all-time.

Barry-Murphy the younger has chosen a different path, from playing in the English Football League to coaching at Manchester City.

The 47-year-old left his role as an assistant coach at Leicester City to be the main man in League One, as Cardiff prepare for their first season in the third tier for 22 years.

The reasons for their recent struggles have been varied and complex, but Barry-Murphy's mission is unequivocal: to get them back to the Championship at the first attempt.

As well as being one of the most influential and universally lauded managers of his generation, Manchester City boss Guardiola is also a generous coach.

Wherever he goes, he shares his methods and session plans with coaches from all other teams. Even when Guardiola leaves – be that Barcelona or Bayern Munich – he leaves behind a tome of coaching material to help his former colleagues.

It is telling that so many of his previous players or assistant coaches – Mikel Arteta, Enzo Maresca and Vincent Kompany among them – are now flourishing as managers in their own right.

Barry-Murphy spent three years in charge of City's elite development squad, learning from Guardiola while helping bring through the likes of Cole Palmer.

He then joined Leicester's staff in 2024 and his fellow coaches would speak glowingly about the intensity and meticulous detail of his training sessions.

In little over a month, Barry-Murphy has already made a similar impact at Cardiff, where staff who have spent decades at the club have described him as the most impressive coach they have seen on the training ground.

Clearly, full judgement will be reserved until competitive action begins, but the players are taken with him too.

"Training is very specific on what we want to improve and how we want to play the games," says Cardiff striker Yousef Salech.

"I see a big improvement in that. He has a very clear structure and way of seeing how football is played.

"He gets that under our skin – our basic positions, where to run for each other, at what moments and how to offer the best solution for each other on the pitch."

Specifics and intensity are recurring themes whenever you ask players or staff about Barry-Murphy's coaching.

So far, so interesting, but how exactly will his Cardiff team play?

"It's very dominant, it's very attack-minded and I believe the more we attack, the more we control the amount of attacks the opposition has. It's a core belief," Barry-Murphy says.

"I don't always focus on the individual profiles of the defenders or the goalkeeper, for example. It's a way of playing that I believe will give us the best chance to win, dominate games and minimise opportunities opponents have on our goal."

Barry-Murphy's first – and so far only – taste of senior management came at Rochdale, where he earned praise for his possession-based approach with limited resources in League One.

Following his departure in 2021, the former Preston midfielder enjoyed a successful three-year stint in charge of City's under-21s, who won successive Premier League 2 titles.

Trophies are to be expected at a club with City's vast wealth but it was Barry-Murphy's track record of working with young players and his clear vision for a particular playing style which caught Cardiff's attention.

The Bluebirds have been dreary to watch in recent years, with fans turned off by turgid, directionless football under a succession of managers who have failed to instil a coherent playing identity.

Barry-Murphy hopes to address that glaring issue, as well as improving dire results.

"I'm conveying a message to the supporters that I want them to be excited about what they see," he says.

"I guess [that] depends on how well we play, but if they see a team that's intent on attacking as much as possible, it will be pretty straightforward.

"We can't guarantee we're going to win. We can guarantee what we look like in terms of how aggressive we are and how much personality we show in the performance.

"I suppose in a team, concept is the most important challenge that we face because it's not been a long period of being together, but the players have shown a brilliant attitude and an open-mindedness to everything we've suggested. I've been really pleased."

Barry-Murphy's first test will be Cardiff's League One opener at home to Peterborough United on Saturday.

Cardiff City Stadium has been a miserable place lately, with dismal results and performances accompanied by fan protests and a pervading sense of disenchantment.

Fortunately for Barry-Murphy, he was not there and can attack the new season unencumbered by Cardiff's failures of the past.

"It's probably hard for me to quantify what that feeling was at the end of last season," he says.

"I genuinely use the supporters almost as an example for the players. There's not been one reference to last season, everything's been about this season, this pre-season, the games coming up and what they hope to achieve in terms of what they want to see.

"And that's very much my mindset about looking forward and seeing the opportunity that's there in front of us and understanding the processes and steps we have to take to get to that, to where we want to be at the end of the season."

Barry-Murphy is asked to clarify exactly where that is. Promotion?

"That's not changing," he says. "I can't fudge that one."