CONOR Hourihane’s belief in himself is one of his greatest strengths.

It’s that resolve that saw him leave Bandon as a 16-year-old, chasing the dream of becoming a professional footballer. Eighteen years later, he’s still going, albeit in the latest chapter of his story: Coach Conor.

The West Cork man who played in – and scored in – all four top divisions in English football is now in his first management role, as head coach of League One side Barnsley.

That uncompromising conviction is even more important now. As a player, there was a degree of security with a contract. But Hourihane knows results dictate the rise and fall of managers.

‘You have to have real determination and a real belief in what you are doing,’ he tells The Southern Star.

‘Nobody puts more pressure on me than myself. I demand a lot from myself, to really lead every day, whether we win, lose or draw. The next morning I’m in, I’ll have the same energy every single day so the players don’t feed off me being in a mood.

‘I don’t mean this in the wrong way, but ultimately people will scrutinise, and I don’t really care, to be honest. That was my biggest strength as a player as well – people can talk all day, it could be good, bad or indifferent, but my mindset is not to listen to outside noise.

‘I believe in what I am doing. I believe this is the right way to do it. Ultimately, if it goes well, great. If it doesn’t, I’ll die by the sword of doing it in the way I think is right. I won’t be swayed by outside noise or opinions.’

Conor Hourihane issuing instructions.

Hourihane’s rise, from the Town Park in Bandon to the dug-out at Oakwell, has its share of glory moments – many and memorable – a story told through framed Southern Star Sport pages on a wall in his parents’ home. But there were tougher moments too: released by Ipswich Town in 2011, doubts about his ceiling (which he proved wrong), the realisation that his Aston Villa days were numbered, and losing his place in the Republic of Ireland squad in 2023.

But Hourihane didn’t flinch. He kept working hard. There’s a relentlessness to his work ethic.

It’s the same now. Barnsley are coming through a sticky patch, losing three League One games in a row over the Christmas period – not ideal preparation for an FA Cup third-round tie away to Liverpool on Monday night – but the Tykes boss remains steadfast in what he wants to do.

In the closing pages of his playing career, Hourihane was already readying himself for a coaching role. It came earlier than expected when Barnsley named him player-coach ahead of the 2024/25 season – and then accelerated even faster. In a whirlwind campaign, he went from player-coach to assistant coach, to temporary head coach after Darrell Clarke was let go, to permanent head coach.

So, is this everything Hourihane hoped it would be?

‘It’s an unbelievable pride when you go and win a game the way you want to win it. All the preparation I have done in the last few years to get to this point – it’s really satisfying,’ he says.

‘There are some really challenging days as well. I am very early in my role, and losing games is difficult at times. I go back to when I first started off as a footballer and was playing League Two with Plymouth – if you lost a game, you felt like your career was over. Now I don’t feel exactly like that, but it’s still hard to take losses. Through experience, you learn to deal with it more.

‘You wake up very early, I’m driving to Barnsley, we might be after a loss and I’m thinking, “right, I need to get in the right mindset to attack the day and have a good mood about the place”. It’s not easy, but you have to learn so quickly and do well.

‘The biggest thing is the amount of things each day that crop up that you don’t plan for – whether that’s an issue with one of the players or a sudden board meeting – it throws you off guard with the schedule you have organised. I pride myself on being really organised.

‘It’s everything and more. There are really satisfying elements to the role when things go well.’

Hourihane feels at home on this stage. He’s learning all the time, but his belief in his principles remains steadfast. That has been noticed too. He was named League One Manager of the Month in November, with his trust in academy players and shift in style highlighted.

‘That is probably the most satisfying thing, the impact you can have on games, and if you win, even better,’ Hourihane explains.

‘It takes a lot of hard work, detail, dedication, meetings, and a lot of belief to stick with it and not chop and change.

‘I’m big on players having real clarity when they go out on the pitch, to make their lives as easy as possible. Putting people in the right places, having a real structure in your team and not coming away from that, it takes a lot of work. We go back to pre-season and the work we put in, in and out of possession, and how we wanted to look.

‘I am very comfortable in the arena that I am in – managing people, managing players – and ultimately it all adds up to winning as many football games as you can.

‘We have a real idea, clarity, structure and process within the team that I want to see, and every single day it’s about hammering that home on the training pitch. Every drill has to have something in it that I want my team to look like. It can’t be generic. It’s about constant repetition of the message every single day.’

Barnsley manager Conor Hourihane was named the Sky Bet League One Manager of the Month for November.

Formations are a hot topic in football right now. Just look at the scrutiny former Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim was under when he shifted between back fives and back fours. Hourihane has his own beliefs.

‘You look so different with and without the ball,’ the Barnsley boss states.

‘People will look and say “it’s a back five”, but I guarantee it will look completely different in possession and without the ball. We press in a back four, but we build up in a back three.

‘Our formation, to me, is probably a little bit irrelevant. It’s really about the core principles of your game, how you want it to look. Without the ball, we like to be really aggressive. We don’t like to have a mid-block or a low block – we want to win the ball back as high up as possible.

‘With the ball, we like to control the game. We like to have wingers, real pace, one-v-one situations at the top end of the pitch, but we also have a real structure on how we want the ball to get there as quickly as possible.’

It all comes back to training, and the groundwork Hourihane puts in place. Barnsley player Davis Keillor-Dunn said: ‘His attention to detail is just crazy.’ Hourihane is obsessed with football and has high standards and expectations – Coach Conor was a leader as a player, and now as a manager.

‘Before we get into formations, styles, whatever you want to call it, you need to have a group of players and staff around you who are really buying into what you want to do – that comes down to communication and leadership. You also need real hunger in both players and staff, all sharing the same goal,’ he says.

‘Right now I am very fortunate with the people I have around me, moulding the players into what I want to see. They give me everything, which is so important, and it’s my job to make them believe and have the courage to play the way we want to play.

‘It comes down to communication, leadership, structure, and giving players clarity whether we win or lose – having a process in place and sticking to it.

‘There is so much that goes into it before the players go out on game-day, and a lot of that comes down to courage, belief, structure and confidence. It’s down to the manager to install all of that.’

Hourihane knows this journey will have its ups and downs, and the hope is that Monday night brings a glorious giant-killing high at Anfield. Hourihane v Liverpool boss Arne Slot.

‘It will be a great experience for me, the staff, the players and the club. It’s a great draw for a League One team for financial reasons as well,’ he says, with belief Barnsley can do the unthinkable.

He defied many people’s expectations as a player, and Hourihane is intent on doing likewise as a manager, and in his own style too.