Meet Doncaster Rovers boss Grant McCann's key coaching staff as Barry Richardson checks in

Manager Grant McCann has had a rejig of his support staff and last week was able to bring in a long-time ally Barry Richardson to add to the group. Here, we look at the key men behind-the-scenes and what Rovers' revamped coaching staff now looks like:

Cliff Byrne - assistant manager

A long-time number two to McCann, Irishman Byrne continues in his role as assistant manager. The 43-year-old is often seen patrolling the touchline on a matchday, relaying instructions or in conversation with the analysts upstairs.

Understandably, given he was a former full-back, Byrne takes a big responsibility in training on the defensive side of things.

James Coppinger - first team coach

Club legend Coppinger has now made the transition to a full-time first team coach, having previously worked across various off-field roles in the past including head of recruitment.

McCann said recently: "Copps' coaching skills are coming on so much. The more time he gets on the pitch, the better he'll get.

If you look at our staff, Cliff and Baz are defensive-minded whereas myself and Copps are more attack-minded so there's a lovely balance there."

Barry Richardson - first team coach

Richardson returns to Rovers having had previous spells with the club both as a player and a coach. Whilst formerly a goalkeeping specialist at Hull, this time around he'll be a general first team coach.

"Barry has tremendous experience,” McCann said. “I worked closely with him at Hull and at Peterborough. Barry took a lot of the defensive work that we did on the training ground. He has great knowledge of the division and, probably above all else, he’s a fantastic human being. I'm pleased the club has backed me with this appointment."

Kyle Letheren - goalkeeping coach

Letheren has been Rovers' goalkeeping coach since the summer of 2023 and has become a key part of McCann's staff in that time.

The Welshman, a Rovers loanee in his playing days, has been praised plenty by McCann for his progress in the past two seasons. "Like Copps, Kyle is improving all the time," said the manager. "He's made the transition very quickly. He's very diligent in terms of how he works.

"I've seen goalkeeping coaches down the years use same sessions but we don't see that with Kyle. It's always dictated by how we want to approach the next game. He works very hard on defensive set-plays too."

Lee Glover - head of recruitment

Probably the biggest rejig this summer involves Glover, who joined Rovers for a second time in the summer of 2023.

He came with McCann during the Northern Irishman's first spell in charge in 2018, originally as an opposition analyst. His second stint saw him return as a first team coach although he worked closely with Coppinger, in his then-role as head of recruitment.

Now, Glover will take over that role himself with McCann recently saying: "He will have a team of five or six working on targets, opposition and all that sort of stuff."

Dave Rennie - head of medical and performance

Rennie has been a vital addition to the staff since his arrival in late 2023. He's been credited with overhauling the club's medical department and the proof has been in the pudding with a vast reduction in long-term injuries - and operations - to the playing squad since he got his feet under the table.

This summer Rennie will assume more responsibility, taking on a new role as head of medical and performance with McCann recently saying: "Dave's experience and knowledge is outstanding so I want him to lead that department. So he'll oversee the physio and sports science departments and possibly the analysts too.”