Hourihane: I was probably scared of retiring. I'm not now

CONOR Hourihane admits he could retire from playing earlier than he had planned, as the lure of coaching grows stronger.

The Bandon man, who holds UEFA A and B coaching licences, has made no secret of his desire to step into management once he hangs up his boots. While he has no intention of hanging up his boots soon, 33-year-old Hourihane says he’s not scared at the thought of retiring.

‘It's a road I'm going down for sure,’ Hourihane told the BBC in a recent interview.

‘I think because of the coaching which has obsessed me, it may have brought the line forward a little bit.

‘When I left Villa when I was 31, I was probably scared of retiring. I'm not that scared anymore.

‘I definitely think there is a young crop of managers now who are coming through. Look at the Championship, obviously there is Liam Rosenior, Liam Manning, Russell Martin, and [Steven] Schumacher at Stoke and people like that.

‘That does give you hope that clubs are going that direction. And for me it's about being the best prepared I can be for when I finish.’

Hourihane is captain of a Derby County team firmly in the promotion hunt in League One, and he feels his experience to date in coaching is helping him on the pitch with the Rams as well.

‘Speaking to the manager (Paul Warne) over the last couple of weeks, he feels like I'm the manager on the pitch in terms of instructions towards the lads, which I can see,’ Hourihane said.

‘I try to be well rounded in terms of being good for the lads as a captain and then obviously thinking about the future as well and trying to gain knowledge from other people.’