Defoe ready to 'earn his stripes' with Woking
Jermaine Defoe, who earned 57 caps for England, is aiming to become a pioneering figure for black managers as he targets promotion with National League club Woking.
The former England striker was confirmed as the permanent manager, succeeding Neal Ardley on Sunday. This marks Defoe's first full managerial position.
He has prior coaching experience, having been part of an interim coaching team at Scottish club Rangers in 2021 and working within the Tottenham Hotspur academy.
"It's been a long time coming," 43-year-old Defoe told BBC Radio Surrey.
"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."
Woking drew 1-1 with Altrincham on Tuesday under interim manager Craig Ross, placing them 10th in the National League table, 11 points behind the play-off positions with six regular season games remaining.
"I don't want to sit here and say, right, we need to achieve this, we need to achieve that," Defoe added.
"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."
Ex-England and Spurs striker Defoe named Woking boss
'I've put in the hours and now it's here'
Defoe is currently one of only five black managers across the top five tiers of English football.
He hopes this figure will increase over time but downplayed the notion that he faces extra pressure to succeed due to the scarcity of black managers.
"It's something that's been spoken about for many years," he said.
"I remember as a player, all the different campaigns and speaking to the likes of Les Ferdinand, Ian Wright, Andy Cole - that generation before me who did their coaching badges and obviously there was a lack of opportunities.
"I would like to think going forward, other black managers now will get opportunities.
"Players that are still playing, hopefully in the future, they'll get opportunities.
"I think there's always going to be expectation on any manager at any level. You're a manager of a football club that has to win."
Defoe expressed no reservations about beginning his managerial career in the National League and acknowledged the need to prove himself despite his distinguished playing career.
"My mum's always said to me in life, you've got to be grateful for every opportunity you get," he said. "Everyone's journey is different.
"You look at successful managers, everyone's journey has been different.
"It's important to appreciate the opportunity. When I was a player, a young 16-year-old at West Ham in the youth team, you have to earn your stripes. You have to do your apprenticeship.
"You can't expect, just because I've had a good career, I can't expect to just jump in at the top or get that big job."
Defoe revealed he had discussions with England manager Gareth Southgate and former coach Lee Carsley about their coaching paths, as well as receiving support messages from former managers Sam Allardyce and Harry Redknapp.
"I'm lucky that I've played for some great managers," he said.
"I got a message from big Sam yesterday, which was nice. I still keep in contact with Harry.
"Towards the back end of my career, I remember Harry saying to me, 'you've got to go out to management, you'll be brilliant'.
"I never really cut any corners when I was a player. I know coaching and management is different, but when you love football, nothing changes.
"This is something that I've always wanted. You have to embrace it. I've waited a long time, I've done all the courses, I've put in the hours and now it's here. I'm going to enjoy this."
