One former Derby County man has made quite the impression, despite only tallying one start since the start of the season.
Derby County were the holders of a fire sale in the summer at Pride Park, despite promotion from League One following the 2023/24 season.
It was clear that Paul Warne was targeting a transformed centre-of-the-park in particular, with several midfielders moving on this summer.
Louie Sibley, Conor Hourihane and Korey Smith were just some of the names that moved on in place of the likes of David Ozoh, Kenzo Goudmijn and Ben Osborn, who in fairness have helped to completely revamp the midfield with extra dynamism and quality, replacing what was an ageing centre-of-the-park.
However, one former Derby County man is still applying his trade at a high level, and he has been praised by his current manager, despite only having two league appearances so far this season.
Former Derby County midfielder Conor Hourihane praised by Barnsley boss
Irish midfielder Hourihane moved on from Pride Park following two seasons at the club, where he provided a significant impact and was one of the key reasons as to why Derby County achieved promotion in the 2023/24 season after 13 goal contributions in the league.
However, since his move to Barnsley he has surprisingly been handed very little action by Barnsley boss Darrell Clarke, which has been of Hourihane’s discretion, with him looking more towards coaching.
Per Football Heaven, Clarke said: “Conor Hourihane can step up to the plate. He’ll be doing a lot more coaching. Conor has come in, wants to be more of a coach than a player, he is doing a terrific job at that.
“I have regular dialogue with Conor, we are obviously speaking every single day. His passion is going more into his coaching than his playing.
“I understand the fans, he does keep himself ticking over in fitness levels, but that’s where he sees his passions now [in coaching].”
Conor Hourihane could play at a high level for one more season
It appears that it has almost been requested by Hourihane that he is only looking to play limited minutes for his new club Barnsley this season, with him showing a clear focus on getting his coaching career started.
However, following such a brilliant league season with the Rams, there are no doubts that he would still have the abilities to perform to his best in League One with Barnsley, and at the age-of-33, he most definitely still has at least one more campaign in him.
Derby County certainly made the correct call in allowing him to leave the club following the conclusion of his contract, but his desire to limit his own game time at this point appears to be very strange, and he most definitely has the abilities to control games at League One level if he still desired to do so.