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Wales Online
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Glen Williams

Cardiff City appoint former Swansea City and West Brom man to backroom staff after quiet exit

Cardiff City have added former Swansea City and West Brom fitness and sports science guru Jonny Northeast to their backroom staff.

WalesOnline has learned that, earlier this month, head of physical performance PJ Wilson left his post. Wilson, who had a background in rugby, was brought in from Bath Rugby last summer under Steve Morison, but has exited just seven months later.

His departure came before the sacking of Mark Hudson at the weekend. However, Cardiff have brought someone in to fill Wilson's role.

READ MORE: Cardiff City new manager search Live as Liam Manning odds cut but Neil Warnock remains favourite

Northeast cut his teeth at Swansea City, where he spent seven years and became the club's head of sports science and fitness. He also held a sports science role with Wales' under-19s team until 2018.

He then moved to the States and joined DC United, where he became the performance director for the MLS side.

Northeast came back to the UK in 2020 and linked up with Valerien Ismael at Barnsley, before moving with him to West Brom and, last year, Besiktas, where he met current Cardiff temporary boss Dean Whitehead, who coached at the Turkish club under Ismael.

Of course, Cardiff are now in the midst of changing their manager after Hudson's dismissal at the weekend. Whether a new appointment would prompt a total overhaul of the backroom staff remains to be seen.

Even so, to gain a greater insight into Northeast's journey to date, he spoke with zone7.ai back in October 2022 in which he said: "I am fortunate to have had the career that I have had to date. During my career, I have worked under and alongside many great managers and support staff. Each one of them has had an influence on my career and philosophy of how I work today.

"I spent a big part of my career at Swansea AFC, where I was fortunate to work within a great multi-disciplinary team (MDT). The environment that was created there was one that still has a huge influence in how I work on a day-to-day basis. The ability to be challenged constructively and challenge others on a day-to-day basis ensured that the highest attention to detail was maintained and this helped me to develop personally and in turn have a positive effect on performance on the pitch.

"During my time at Barnsley FC, I built a strong working relationship with the Head Coach, Valérien Ismaël. This relationship has influenced my recent career moves, moving with him to both West Bromwich Albion in 2021 and then Beşiktaş JK in 2022.

"The opportunity to working within foreign leagues such as the Süper Lig, as well as the MLS, has exposed me to other cultures and helped me to keep an open mind and continue to learn. I have no doubt that these experiences have assisted in broadening my philosophy and my development both as a human being and practitioner. For this I am forever grateful."

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