I just wanted to get on with job!
YEP 13/4/13
By Phil Hay
Brian McDermott revealed today how the challenge of managing Leeds United sucked him in, claiming he would not have taken any other job with five games of the season to go.
The former Reading boss was poised for a dramatic baptism in this afternoon’s derby against Sheffield Wednesday, 24 hours after replacing Neil Warnock on a three-year deal at Elland Road.
McDermott and Leeds shook hands yesterday (April 12) after intensive discussions earlier in the week and he was persuaded to take the post with immediate effect having initially planned to delay his appointment until the end of the season.
The 52-year-old was sacked by Premier League club Reading on March 13 and did not expect to return to the dug-out until next month at the earliest.
But he answered United’s plea with Leeds five points above the relegation places and took the reins from caretaker manager Neil Redfearn after meeting with United’s squad yesterday morning.
Redfearn will still be part of McDermott’s staff at Elland Road today, alongside new assistant manager Nigel Gibbs.
Talking ahead of an important Yorkshire derby, McDermott told the YEP: “I wasn’t coming 10 days ago. We’d talked about the summer, when to come and when not to come.
“But I spoke to Neil Redfearn and he was going to do the game tomorrow and I think he wanted the new manager to come in. I spoke to (chief executive) Shaun Harvey and the club really wanted me to come at this stage. I had a long think and thought ‘let’s get in amongst it. Let’s do it now.’
“It felt right and I probably wouldn’t have done it for any other club apart Leeds United. It felt right and I do a lot of things on gut feeling.”
Harvey admitted that United’s league position had hastened the appointment of McDermott but insisted that McDermott was always high on United’s shortlist of candidates to replace Warnock.
“We need to make sure we don’t get relegated,” Harvey said. “We want to stay up and we don’t want to take a gamble if there’s a positive way we can act.
“But if anyone thinks this is a knee-jerk reaction, the only person we offered the manager’s job to was (McDermott). That’s why we’re absolutely delighted with the appointment.”
McDermott is under contract until the summer of 2016, a long-term agreement in response to the failed plan for Warnock to win promotion to the Premier League in his only full term as boss.
McDermott said: “Coming in now isn’t about relegation. It’s more about the fact that it’s Leeds United. I had the opportunity to take this club on as manager.
“It took me about three days to move on after Reading. I went away for three or four days and moved forward.
“Everyone’s got to move on with their lives and this is where we are. I definitely wouldn’t have come if it didn’t feel right. But it does.”
By Phil Hay
Brian McDermott revealed today how the challenge of managing Leeds United sucked him in, claiming he would not have taken any other job with five games of the season to go.
The former Reading boss was poised for a dramatic baptism in this afternoon’s derby against Sheffield Wednesday, 24 hours after replacing Neil Warnock on a three-year deal at Elland Road.
McDermott and Leeds shook hands yesterday (April 12) after intensive discussions earlier in the week and he was persuaded to take the post with immediate effect having initially planned to delay his appointment until the end of the season.
The 52-year-old was sacked by Premier League club Reading on March 13 and did not expect to return to the dug-out until next month at the earliest.
But he answered United’s plea with Leeds five points above the relegation places and took the reins from caretaker manager Neil Redfearn after meeting with United’s squad yesterday morning.
Redfearn will still be part of McDermott’s staff at Elland Road today, alongside new assistant manager Nigel Gibbs.
Talking ahead of an important Yorkshire derby, McDermott told the YEP: “I wasn’t coming 10 days ago. We’d talked about the summer, when to come and when not to come.
“But I spoke to Neil Redfearn and he was going to do the game tomorrow and I think he wanted the new manager to come in. I spoke to (chief executive) Shaun Harvey and the club really wanted me to come at this stage. I had a long think and thought ‘let’s get in amongst it. Let’s do it now.’
“It felt right and I probably wouldn’t have done it for any other club apart Leeds United. It felt right and I do a lot of things on gut feeling.”
Harvey admitted that United’s league position had hastened the appointment of McDermott but insisted that McDermott was always high on United’s shortlist of candidates to replace Warnock.
“We need to make sure we don’t get relegated,” Harvey said. “We want to stay up and we don’t want to take a gamble if there’s a positive way we can act.
“But if anyone thinks this is a knee-jerk reaction, the only person we offered the manager’s job to was (McDermott). That’s why we’re absolutely delighted with the appointment.”
McDermott is under contract until the summer of 2016, a long-term agreement in response to the failed plan for Warnock to win promotion to the Premier League in his only full term as boss.
McDermott said: “Coming in now isn’t about relegation. It’s more about the fact that it’s Leeds United. I had the opportunity to take this club on as manager.
“It took me about three days to move on after Reading. I went away for three or four days and moved forward.
“Everyone’s got to move on with their lives and this is where we are. I definitely wouldn’t have come if it didn’t feel right. But it does.”
