I’m buzzing about my new role in Boro’s academy, says Cattermole

Former Sunderland favourite Lee Cattermole is “buzzing” with his new role at hometown club Middlesbrough.

After breaking into Boro’s first team aged just 17 against local rivals Newcastle United, Cattermole joined Wigan Athletic before moving on to the Black Cats in 2009.

The battling midfielder spent 10 seasons on Wearside, eight of which came in the Premier League, before the Black Cats suffered relegation in consecutive seasons, leaving the club stranded in League One to this day.

Cattermole then moved on to Dutch outfit VVV-Venlo and cemented himself as a fan favourite before Covid-19 hit and derailed his time on the continent.

The club decided against renewing the midfielder’s contract and Cattermole announced his retirement from playing after nearly 400 appearances.

The 33-year-old is now well into studying his A Licence and, after coaching on a voluntary basis at Middlesbrough’s Academy, was appointed head coach of the Teesside club’s under-18s.

Asked if he was pleased to be back at Middlesbrough, Cattermole said to Boro’s website: “It is great, I’m obviously buzzing. I said that to the lads first of all when I came in.

“I met them on Monday and I’ve worked in and around them a little bit here and there over the past year. I’ve been in the system.

"I came initially with the under-14s. I enjoyed it that much I wanted to stay with them for the 15s and 16s programs.

"I then got to a point where I was really ready to push on myself.

"I then stepped away from the club for a few weeks before the opportunity came and I was over the moon to be contacted.

"To get the opportunity to come in and lead the group when I finished playing, that is ideally what I wanted to do.

"I wouldn’t have been ready straight away. But I think, over the year, what I have done in here around learning off other coaches, watching what they do and how they speak to their players, how we can educate them and what we can demand from them, I felt like I had done my time and I could get in there and lead. The first couple of days, I have absolutely loved it.”