New Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl has appointed Salvatore Bibbo to his backroom staff as a goalkeeping coach, the club have officially confirmed.
Bibbo was a goalkeeper during his playing career, having been on the books at clubs such as Reading, Sheffield United and Crawley Town but made the jump to coaching after retiring, as many often do.
Initially, Bibbo had coached with the Royals on a part-time basis before becoming a full-time goalkeeping coach with the former Premier League side. However, more recently, the 49-year-old coached at Arsenal.
With the Gunners, Bibbo helped develop the likes of Chelsea legend Petr Cech in the latter stages of his career, Fulham’s number ‘1’ Bernd Leno, and most importantly, Argentina’s World Cup-winning shot-stopper Emiliano Martinez, who was recently awarded the Yashin Trophy during the Ballon d’Or ceremony.
Antonello Brambilla had been Wednesday’s goalkeeping coach under Rohl’s predecessor Xisco Munoz but left shortly after Rohl was appointed head coach at Hillsborough.
Rohl will be hoping Bibbo can improve his goalkeeping trio of Cameron Dawson, Devis Vasquez and Pierce Charles as the Owls look to turn their season around, following a dismal start to the campaign.
Speaking to club media at the announcement of his appointment, Bibbo said:
“I’m really pleased to be here, a club with a lot of history. I know the city well and I’m really happy to come and join Danny’s team and I’m looking forward to it.
“I spoke with Danny about his vision, his view for the club, what he wants to do and I was intrigued.
“After that conversation, we spoke a bit more and then it all happened very fast for me to come here.
“I’m ready for the challenge ahead, I can see the energy here and I want to be part of a real positive future for the football club.”
Writer’s View
Bibbo has an excellent record and certainly would not have been a goalkeeping coach at Arsenal for a number of years had he not been excellent at his job.
This is an exciting appointment by Rohl, who will need all the help he can get over the coming months as Sheffield Wednesday desperately try and cling to their Championship status.
Deputy Head of Writing
