Interview with John McDermott (Head of Coaching and Development)

[Bus-Conductor]

Isn't Inglethorpe essentially their version of McDermott?

I can't see how we could have kept him as we couldn't offer him the level of control and responsibility that Liverpool have given him without diminishing McDermott's.

Originally he moved to Liverpool as U21 coach but has subsequently been made Academy director I believe. At one time with us he was an interim assistant caretaker manager (with Allen I believe) when Jol was sacked, and was almost in charge of the first team when Ramos was sacked but Redknapp was appointed so quickly it never happened. Once Redknapp came in he found himself sliding down the hierarchy behind flunkeys like Freund, Ferdinand and Sherwood and the well qualified Ramsey.

Everyone could see he was an excellent coach, he did well with Exeter as first team coach and had other first team offers. But the Redknapp "jobs for mates" era was ushered in and it left Inglethorpe in a career wilderness, he wasn't even getting the credit for the team he was coaching - Sherwood was.

 

[DaSpurs]

Fantastic read, thanks so much, OP.

So much good stuff here, but I'm particularly pleased to see that John recognizes the importance of recruiting locally. It allows the young lads to focus on their training and less on trying to fit in, and I think that's important at that age. It also holds more significance for loyalty to the club IMO, as these players from the area who know the club, its fans, and its history from a young age are considerably more likely to push to wear the shirt rather than take the sexiest offer which comes in. This is, of course, another crucial defense against that which "keeps him up at night," in trying to fend off big clubs swaying monstrous salaries around.

Great stuff, so thank you again for getting this here for us.