WHILE Usain Bolt would probably have difficulty keeping pace with the Dean Court revolution, one man has been trying to rise to the challenge.

As Eddie Howe has overseen a rapid transformation in the club’s fortunes, Joe Roach has been putting the wheels in motion to give players a fast start.

Once Howe had stabilised and got Cherries moving in the right direction on the pitch, he set about laying solid foundations off it.

His backroom staff, which already included several former team-mates, was further bolstered in January by the return of Roach and Carl Fletcher to the youth department.

In his previous spell at the club when financial issues would have handicapped him, Roach had been responsible for unearthing talents such as Danny Ings, Sam Vokes and Baily Cargill.

There was little to compare the club he had left against his wishes in 2011 with the one he returned to 10 months ago.

The biggest change to the youth setup was brought about by the introduction in 2012 of the Elite Player Performance Plan, which saw Cherries earn Academy status.

Initiated by the Premier League, EPPP is a long-term strategy designed to advance development and improve the quality and quantity of home grown players produced by English clubs.

Planted in Howe’s memory bank would have been the fact that Roach had been involved in the implementation of EPPP during his time away from Dean Court.

Roach told the Daily Echo: “The club went through its audit process in November and was undergoing a re-assessment when I came back in January. There were significant operational and strategic areas that needed to be addressed prior to the re-assessment date.

“Jeff Mostyn and myself attended the Premier League offices for a review of our re-assessment in September and we were granted category three status after fulfilling the required mandatory conditions. It was quite an intricate process.”

As a result, Roach has had to increase staffing levels and infrastructure to meet certain requirements with Graham Mills and Bruce Suraci both appointed to full-time coaching positions.

Mills, who had been working part-time for the club, takes the under-12 to under-16 age groups, while Suraci, who had been working for Portsmouth, is responsible for the under-nines to under-11s.

The Academy organisational structure includes 11 full-time staff with another 73 working on a part-time basis or as interns.

There are two coaches at every age group between under-nine and under-16s, while head of recruitment Carl Robson is responsible for 35 scouts in the region.

Roach said: “The board has been very supportive in terms of the additional staff requirements. I am not saying we are going to move to category two but we have to be in a position to keep pace with the first team and we have to make sure we have the expertise we need.

“You can have all the facilities and staff in the world but you still have to make sure your coaching is spot on and you are developing players the right way. We are trying to build a culture and working environment where we are supporting the under-21s and the first team.

“We are also involved in communication, social and educational reports from all schools to help gain a better understanding of our players’ background away from the club in preparation for reviews and progression.

“The information and background detail we have been given by the manager has been superb and we can’t say we don’t know what we are doing.

“We have some good players and some great work has gone on down the years. I would like to think the environment is slightly more organ- ised and professional- ised.

“Some people still think football coaching is carrying a bag of balls around and taking a session but there is a lot more to it these days!”