Jermain Defoe has referenced his coaching journey at Tottenham as the Spurs legend embarks on his first stint as a head coach.
Defoe became a club legend at White Hart Lane, being one of the most dangerous strikers in the Premier League at his pomp.
The 43-year-old, who has always been very popular among the Tottenham faithful, served as an academy coach for two years at Hotspur Way after hanging up his boots.
The Spurs icon will now get his first taste of the top job, and there is no doubt that Tottenham fans will be watching closely.
Jermain Defoe admits Tottenham academy stint will aid him in head coach role
Earlier this week, Defoe was announced as the head coach of Woking FC, who play in the National League, the fifth tier of English football.
The former England man admitted that the head coach role has been a long time coming, making it clear that he is ready to tackle the challenge after gaining some coaching experience at Spurs and Rangers.
Looking ahead to his time at Woking FC, Defoe told BBC Sport: “It’s been a long time coming. It was always the plan at the back end of my career when I knew I wanted to go into coaching and luckily enough that transition was quite smooth.
“I left Rangers, I went straight into Tottenham and did two years in the academy. I was exposed at Rangers a little bit with a player-coach role in my last year.
“When you look at the infrastructure, it’s somewhere where I hope players will want to come and play. The talks have gone on for a while, and I just want to get going.”
Defoe eyes immediate promotion at start of managerial stint
One would expect the Tottenham decision-makers to have a close eye on how Defoe gets on at Woking FC, and he has an immediate chance to do something special.
His new side sits 10th in the table, 11 points off a playoff spot, with six games to go, and the Spurs legend is hopeful playoffs are within reach.
When asked if promotion is his aim at Woking, their new boss said: “I don’t want to sit here and say, right, we need to achieve this, we need to achieve that. We’re ambitious people. I want to do well.
“The main objective is, of course, to get promoted with the players we’ve got, some top players. The games that I’ve watched, I’ve been really impressed. You have to be confident. I think you always have to back yourself, whether you’re a player or a manager or a coach.”
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