- Defoe’s path from Rangers player-coach to Tottenham academy coach has now led to his first managerial role at Woking.
- He stresses knowing the person before the player, building a team that is hard to beat but exciting to watch, and backing himself and his squad to improve.
- Talks lessons from Steven Gerrard, Michael Beale, and how other mentors shaped his approach to leadership, tactics, and player development.
Former Rangers striker Jermain Defoe has spoken for the first time since his announcement as manager of Woking.
“At the back end of my career I knew I wanted to go into coaching and luckily enough, that transition was quite smooth.
“I left Rangers and I went straight into Tottenham and done two years [coaching] in the academy.
“But I was exposed at Rangers a little bit with a player-coach role in my last year.”
He signed a new one-year extension that summer which moved him into a coaching position alongside his playing duties.
He took charge of Rangers for one match after Gerrard’s departure, a 3-1 defeat to Hibernian at Hampden.
Giovanni Van Bronckhorst ended his coaching spell, and with playing minutes limited, he returned to Sunderland that January before retiring shortly after.
Jermain Defoe ready to put in work
“You can’t expect, just because you’ve had a good career, to just jump in at the top or get that big job – you have to do your apprenticeship,” he explained.
“You look at successful managers, everyone’s journey has been different, it’s important to want it, appreciate the opportunity.”
“This club has great history, good fans and is an amazing place to live.
“When you look at the infrastructure, it’s somewhere where I hope that players will want to come and play, I’ve just been really looking forward to it.”
Lessons from Ibrox
He spoke about the initial coaching lessons he learned during his time at Ibrox.
“There was one occasion against Real Madrid, pre-season, Stevie [Gerrard] told me to pick the team,” he reminisced.
“I didn’t know who to put on the bench because of the quality in the squad, that’s the stuff you have to do as a manager.”
He also spoke about his biggest coaching influences, including former Ibrox boss Michael Beale.
“I’ve worked with some top managers and top coaches – Michael Beale, he’s up there, his attention to detail and how he puts his points across, he impressed me in a big way.
“A big part of management is knowing the person before the player and understanding what makes them tick.
“I’ve always kept in contact with [Big Sam, Harry Redknapp, Gareth Southgate], they’ve been great mentors and given advice like ‘enjoy the wins,’ and ‘have good people around you.'”
Style of play
He spoke about his style of play and referenced his preference to play a similar style to the one in operation during his spell at Ibrox.
“You need to be hard to play against first,” he revealed.
“Be a team that’s exciting, create a lot of chances, score goals, you’ve got to give these fans something to cheer about.”
“Sometimes playing against 10 men is actually more difficult, you need calm heads and to keep playing, keep creating the chances, and when the chances come, you have to execute and take them.”
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Defoe is approaching his first managerial role with the same professionalism and work ethic that defined his playing career.
He is determined to build a team that is disciplined, exciting, and ambitious, while also nurturing the players both on and off the pitch.
“I think when you look at the league, you have to back yourself as a manager, as a group of staff, as players,” he said.
“You have to believe you can go to the next level.”
With his coaching experience at Rangers and Tottenham now guiding him, Defoe is ready to take on the challenge at Woking, focusing on giving the squad a platform to succeed and laying the foundations for future success.
Rangers fans will no doubt be watching with interest to see how one of their own favourites fares in management.
