Defoe Takes the Woking Wheel as Clock Ticks on Play-Off Dream
Former England striker Jermain Defoe has stepped into his first managerial hot seat at Woking, with the Cards sitting 10th and 11 points adrift of the National League play-offs with just six games to go.
When Jermain Defoe was banging in goals for England and gracing Premier League pitches, he probably didn't envision his managerial baptism would come with Woking sitting in mid-table obscurity, staring at what looks suspiciously like mathematical impossibility.
The 43-year-old has been handed the permanent manager's job at the Cards, replacing Neal Ardley in what represents his first proper crack at the dugout. It's a appointment that carries more weight than your typical National League managerial merry-go-round, given Defoe's stated ambition to blaze a trail for black managers in the game.
The former Tottenham and Rangers striker isn't exactly inheriting a promotion machine, mind you. Woking currently occupy 10th spot in the National League, sitting 11 points behind the play-off places with a mere six fixtures left to salvage something from the campaign. Even the most optimistic Cards supporter would admit those numbers make for grim reading.
Defoe's managerial CV reads more like a rough draft than a polished resume. A brief stint as interim coach at Rangers in 2021 and two years working within Tottenham's academy system hardly screams 'seasoned tactician,' but then again, everyone needs to start somewhere. The question is whether Woking, with their rapidly diminishing promotion hopes, represents the ideal learning environment.
The timing certainly adds pressure to an already challenging situation. Tuesday's 1-1 draw with Altrincham under interim boss Craig Ross served as a microcosm of Woking's season – not quite good enough to threaten the top end, but too decent to be genuinely awful.
Defoe's appointment carries significance beyond Woking's modest ambitions. His hope to pioneer opportunities for black managers addresses a genuine issue within football's coaching hierarchy, though the cynic might argue that succeeding with a promotion push that already looks dead in the water isn't exactly the ideal platform for making such a statement.
The Cards faithful will be hoping their new gaffer can conjure some of that clinical finishing instinct in the dugout. Six games to bridge an 11-point gap might seem optimistic to the point of delusion, but stranger things have happened in football's lower reaches. Just don't bet the mortgage on it.
For Defoe, it's about laying foundations for what he hopes will be a significant managerial career. For Woking, it's about avoiding the dreaded 'what might have been' conversation come May.