JERMAIN Defoe wants to be the next Sunderland manager and has his backroom staff ready to go.
The former England striker, who fell in love with Sunderland and Wearside after joining the club for the first of two periods in 2015, is anxious for a managerial opportunity and feels it would be a “dream” to lead the Black Cats.
Defoe has already served as a player-coach at Rangers and as the manager of Tottenham’s Under-18s, but he believes he is now ready to take on the role of first-team manager and has assembled his own coaching staff, which includes former Sunderland midfielder and assistant manager Paul Bracewell.
“If I got a phone call now and they said ‘do you want to be Sunderland manager?’…when you’ve had these dreams [to go into managing], it’d be a dream because I understand it’s a massive club, it’s a Premier League club,” the 41-year-old told The Northern Echo, speaking at the launch of the Jermain Defoe Academy at East Durham College.
“Even as a player, I always said I wanted to manage this team.
“If I had the opportunity, I would not pass it up; let’s go.” The most crucial thing is to know who you’ll be taking with you, and I have that information.
“I won’t reveal names, but I know who I’d bring in. When I look at the current group of young players, I hear people say they need more experience. Working with young players has taught me that understanding what they need compels you to coach.
“When dealing with young players, if I enter into a first-team situation, you can sit back and say this is amazing, but with young players, you have to train them and provide them with the detail they require.
“One of the teachers I’m working with has 17 years of experience coaching in the Tottenham academy. Paul Bracewell has managed and coached me here at Sunderland. I and Brace are so close. He has experience. I’m obtaining all of this knowledge from expert coaches.
“The other is a young coach who shares my passion for the game; he is obsessed.
“You have to be obsessed with the game, I say that to young players all the time.”
Defoe scored 33 goals in 74 appearances, including a derby day victory against Newcastle at the Stadium of Light, during his first stay on Wearside from 2015 to 2017. He made a dramatic return to the Black Cats in 2022, and while that tenure was brief before he announced his retirement from football, he remains a tremendously popular character among fans and says he adores the club and the area.
He understands that the Sunderland job is in high demand, but he believes his expertise and skill set qualify him for the position.
“There’s been loads of names linked, and I understand that,” he said.
“The strange thing is that everyone is going to want this position, so you know it’s a great opportunity. Dwight Yorke, whom I admired, recently discussed it. Everyone will desire this job.
“I chat with Brace all the time; he’ll message me and say, ‘JD, get your CV in’ because he knows how much I enjoy football. As part of my (coaching) training, I traveled to Burnley and met with Vincent Kompany for almost three hours.
I spoke with him about his journey and about Pep, and I observed how he approaches training and recruitment. And recruitment is critical.
“You refer to recruitment as merely players, but I believe it also includes staff because getting it wrong might lead to problems. All of these diverse experiences will hopefully benefit me in the future.
“If I receive a phone call from Kristjaan (Speakman) or Kyril (Louis-Dreyfus), get me my suit and whistle, and let’s go win games; it’s that simple. These are my people. “I understand.”
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