Words: Michael Flynn
Image: Getty Images

A coaching reshuffle at Brisbane Roar will see John Sime guide the club’s Foxtel National Youth League team for the remainder of the season.

Sime will fill the role of Head Coach of the Young Roar side following the promotion of Jeff Hopkins to Assistant Coach of Roar’s Hyundai A-League team.

The coaching reshuffle follows the departure of Mike Mulvey earlier this week and the resignation of Assistant Coach Ron Smith announced by the club today.

Hopkin’s guided the club's inaugural PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland campaign, with the Young Roar team winning nine matches and finishing the 2014 season in tenth position.

Sime previously coached Roar’s Foxtel National Youth League side from 2010 until 2013, when a review of the coaching department saw Sime move to a chief scouting role.

Earlier this week, Roar announced that former Dutch international Frans Thijssen will serve as interim Head Coach of the club’s Hyundai A-League team until the end of the season.

At a press conference to announce the appointment, Roar Managing Director Sean Dobson said Thijssen will take a role in youth development - including working with Roar’s PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland programme - at the conclusion of the current Hyundai A-League season.

Dobson explained that Thijssen's future role will serve as part of the ongoing process to refine and strengthen Roar’s place in Queensland’s Talented Player Pathway, which includes the PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues.

Dobson said, "I think the way that we engage, the way we scout, and the way that we are part of the whole NPL process is still a problem that’s being solved and I know it’s a two-way street.”

“But Football Queensland and the broader NPL clubs as a whole have been extremely supportive. The doors have been opened.”

“(Football Queensland State Technical Director) David Abela has been absolutely outstanding regarding some of the stuff he is doing around the QAS and the Youth programmes, but also the broader coaching system and programmes.”

“But the final solution is not there yet because the final solution is a partnership. It’s us working with the NPL clubs and community clubs, but also the member federations and zonal bodies too find the right solution for football in Queensland,” Dobson concluded.

A Roar spokesperson said the club's coaching structures for their 2015 PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland campaign will be confirmed closer to the season.