Jermain Defoe ‘forced’ into Rangers role by Steven Gerrard as he reveals Ibrox ultimatum before exit

During his playing days for the Gers, the former striker for West Ham and Tottenham joined Gerrard’s management group.

In the latter stages of his Rangers tenure, Jermain Defoe has stated that Steven Gerrard FORCED him to become a player-coach.

The 41-year-old began his coaching career in the summer of 2021, just before the legendary Liverpool player departed the Scottish Premiership to join Aston Villa. He was given a job in Gerrard’s management group. When Gerrard’s replacement Gio van Bronckhorst brought in a new era at Ibrox with his own backroom staff, it left Defoe, then 38, in uncertainty.

 

When Defoe returned to Sunderland in January 2022 to finish out his playing career, he totally focused on his playing career, as he has disclosed that the Dutchman sat him down for crucial conversations after his arrival. The England international claims he wasn’t prepared for the transition while he was at the Light Blues, but he now hopes to become a manager while coaching in the Tottenham academy.

Defoe stated, “I hadn’t played in about two or three months before I went to Sunderland,” in an interview with Troy Deeney on the Football Firsts podcast. Following Stevie (Gerrard), Giovanni van Bronckhorst entered. During our meeting, he essentially asked me, “Listen, what’s this player/coach thing?”

You seem intelligent to me; what’s going on? I saw you in training. Are you more interested in coaching than in playing?

“I want to play, I said. To tell the truth, I had no desire to be a coach or player at all. I was made to do it. Thus, I chose to travel to Sunderland.

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