Catts’ eyes are now on a coaching career
FORMER Sunderland skipper Lee Cattermole has called time on his playing career at the age of 32 and moved into coaching.
Cattermole started his career at Middlesbrough and was capped by England at under-21 level - but went on to spend a decade at Sunderland after joining the Black Cats in 2009.
He left Wearside last summer and joined Dutch club VVV Venlo on a one-year deal, leaving when the season was cut short due to the Covid-19 crisis.
Cattermole has now decided to retire from playing and embark on a coaching career.
The midfielder, who made more than 260 appearances in all competitions for Sunderland, said: “With the current situation, the amount of time I have had at home and a great season in Holland, the time is right for me to look into going down the coaching route.
“Ordinarily I don’t think it would have been this year, my aim would have been to play two more seasons.
“Given how long it was since I last played, the more time I have been away from playing the more I have thought about the game and getting on the training pitch.
“It was a difficult decision.
“If the season had not finished like it did in May then things might not have been like this but I think this is right.
“Since making the decision, which surprisingly was not emotional for me, I have been excited about the future.”
Cattermole now plans to head to Northern Ireland to earn his coaching badges. He added: “I have always wanted to coach/ manage. Now is a good opportunity to focus on that. “I still have a lot of drive, a lot
of energy, and I want to now put that into coaching to help others get better.
“It is exciting, it feels like I am going back to the start again.
“It is about making my way in coaching. It is a huge challenge and one I am really thrilled about getting stuck into.”
Cattermole, who spent a year playing at Wigan Athletic under current Newcastle coach Steve
Bruce before following the manager to Sunderland a year later, went on: “All the stuff I have managed to do in my career I can learn from and I can learn more from the bad stuff too.
“I am proud of what I have done.
“My career has set me up for the future and I want to make sure I am an even better coach/ manager than I was a player.”