I want to be Jermain man at the Stadium of Light
DEFOE AIMS TO BOSS BLACK CATS
JERMAIN DEFOE wants to be the next Sunderland manager.
The England legend and current Tottenham Under-18 coach has a backroom team ready to go and is keen on a return to the Stadium Of Light. The 41-year-old has held long talks with big-name bosses including Gareth Southgate, Harry Redknapp and Steven Gerrard and says he is ready to step up.
The 57-cap, 20-goal England striker played 87 times for Sunderland in the top flight. The Black Cats are looking for a new boss for next season after Tony Mowbray and Michael Beale were sacked.
Defoe said: “The Sunderland job? Why not? Even when I was a player, I always used to say I’d love to manage this club.
“If I got an opportunity, I wouldn’t shy away from it, so let’s go.” Defoe turned down a lucrative deal with BT Sport to go into coaching and maintain his “obsession” with the game, and has a great relationship with the Sunderland fans. He has Paul Bracewell lined up as his assistant plus two younger coaches.
Defoe, speaking at the launch of the Jermain Defoe Academy at East Durham College, said: “I spoke to Antonio Conte when he was at Tottenham last season about his journey into the game. I spoke with Gareth Southgate for two or three hours about Middlesbrough, at 35, going from being captain to all of a sudden getting a call in the summer asking him to become manager.
“Everyone’s journey is different. The most important thing is knowing who you’ll take with you and I’ve got that.
“Paul Bracewell and me, we are so close. He’s experienced, a great player. I’m getting all these gems from experienced coaches. You have to be obsessed with the game, I say that to young players all the time.
“A lot of young players don’t watch football now, that blows my mind.
“I don’t know if other players are like that, if other players have a relationship with fans and a club and think they’d love to manage this club.
“I always believe I will get an opportunity.
“I was never a person to say, ‘Hmm, I don’t know’. As a player I’d go and stand with the first team, next to Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard, and say I’m not going over there – I want to be with the first team!
“You have to have that confidence. I have put in hard work, played for 23 years. Two years learning at Tottenham...”
Defoe would be a rare black manager in the game and said: “It’s hard. It always has been, in terms of black managers. It’s 4.4 percent. I don’t think that should stop me from wanting to go down that route.”
Asked what he would say to Sunderland’s director of football Kristjaan Speakman, he said: “I hear people talk about needing experience. My experience is working with young players, understanding what they need and it forces you to coach.
“I love football, everyone knows that, I’ve always loved football.
“I was lucky enough to have a good career and then you finish football and for me that transition has been quite smooth because I went straight into coaching.
“I’ve put my CV into a few clubs and had conversations, just conversations to see where I’m at in terms of my badges. A lot of people don’t remember but I had the year experience at Rangers as playercoach, so I was exposed to that level.”
Defoe was speaking exclusively at the launch of the Jermain Defoe Academy at East Durham College.
To find out more about the Academy and how to apply before the first course in September 2024, head to www.edc.ac.uk
‘The most important thing is knowing who you’ll take with you and I’ve got that’