Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier is pleased with the backroom he has assembled.
Houllier revealed his delight at the new backroom team he has assembled - assistant manager Gary McAllister, coach Gordon Cowans, fitness coach Robert Duverne and goalkeeping coach Rafa Gonzalez.
He told Villa's website: "I wanted Gary - or Macca as we call him. He had a few stints at management, which means he is motivated. He was first team coach at Middlesbrough but the good thing about Macca is I know him, I trust him and he knows the way I want to play. That's very important. That will speed things up.
"Then I have two coaches - one is local and a hero here, Gordon. I was pleased when he said he would like to work with me.
"The second one is Robert, who is French. He is a fitness coach initially but he can help with other things too. His main function is to be the fitness coach.
"I have known him for a long time because I worked with him at Lyon. He is a different type of fitness coach.
"The goalkeeping coach is Rafa. He was doing a good job and Kevin asked if I would keep him and I said yes.
"We have just five, just like the fingers of the hand. We have to be extremely united, trusting of each other - manager, assistant manager, two coaches and a goalkeeping coach. That's all.
"I know some clubs have far more but it's OK. We have two former top players, one is a specialist for goalkeepers and the other is a specialist in fitness. It's very complementary.
"The way I work is I meet with them every day in the morning before training - and I give them a programme and say 'this is what I want' and off we go."
