Defoe’s still strutting his stuff 20 years on and Warren’s not surprised
It’s 20 years since Warren Cummings first met Jermain Defoe.
Both men were eager to make a name for themselves in football, and jumped at the chance to drop from England’s top flight for a loan spell at League Two Bournemouth.
Two decades later, they’re both still displaying the same determination.
Ex-England striker Defoe is aiming to fire Rangers to honours, while former Scotland defender Cummings gave up a plum scouting job to develop a career in coaching.
That Defoe is still strutting his stuff for Steven Gerrard as he approaches his 38th birthday comes as no surprise to Cummings.
He’ll never forget the remarkably resilient teenager who arrived at Dean Court from West Ham in 2000.
He said: “I had just come on loan from Chelsea a couple of weeks before Jermain.
“I was told by some of the other players that the manager, Sean O’Driscoll, wasn’t sure about him, and there was a suggestion that he’d been signed by Mel Machin, the director of football.
“Sean told some of the first-team players to give Jermain a rough time in training to see what he was made of.
“This kid would get kicked up and down the park, then get up and score an unbelievable goal. Then he went on and scored 10 goals in 10 consecutive games.
“I set up his first one with a cross at Stoke City.
“You knew Jermain was special. The goals he scored weren’t tap-ins.”
Cummings believes Defoe can be a big influence for Rangers on and off the field.
He went on: “I think characters like him are important. Jermain gets a lot of credence because he’s done so much in the game.
“I’m not belittling Rangers, but they clearly want to achieve more than they have in recent times.
“Having Jermain in the dressing room, with what he’s done, can only help younger players and those who haven’t yet had a lot of success.
“To still have the hunger to perform at the age of 37 says a huge amount.
“He has been so professional for so long, and that’s bound to rub off.
“When he came back to Bournemouth in 2017, I went in to watch a game and he remembered me right away. Jermain’s such a likeable guy.”
Cummings became a Bournemouth legend after signing on a permanent basis in 2003 and spending nine years with the Cherries.
The Aberdeen-born 39-year-old is now an Academy coach at the club.
He was part of a side that narrowly escaped relegation to the Conference in 2009. Things had been on the up since then, but they’re now fighting to extend their five-year stay in the Premier League.
Today’s clash with Southampton could go a long way to deciding their fate.
Cummings said: “It has been a bit surreal the way the club has developed.
“If someone had said to me 10 years ago that Bournemouth would become a Premier League club, I’d have said no chance.
“I put the success down to one man – the manager.
“Eddie Howe has an amazing work ethic and great attention to detail.
“His ability to work with players and make them better is why Bournemouth are where they are.
“He’s a bit special, and I really hope the club can stay up.
“I’m an Aberdeen boy, but I definitely see Bournemouth as being my club.”
The work Cummings does is all about developing stars of the future.
He said: “I had a good scouting job with Bristol City that involved travelling around Europe, looking at potential signings. Then I saw two of my friends getting into coaching and how they grew as people.
“I applied for a job as lead Under-13s coach at Bournemouth, and I haven’t regretted it for a second.
“My long-term target is to be a coach within a first-team environment.”