“When you retire and you’ve done it year in, year out, you want time to reflect and look to move forward. I done my masters in Manchester and was working as a match delegate too. You can’t just retire and switch off or sit on the couch or play bad golf. You have to keep yourself busy until something came along. When this came up, this is the right time and I am pleased I did.
“On the grass I am responsible from the keepers between 17 and 23. But it is my remit to over see the whole structure from nines to 23s. There’s a lot to do, there’s been a lot of meetings and analysis and we’ve designed a syllabus. We have gone through games and training and planning. So I think as a player you take it for granted. But I have done a lot of coaching at schools, boys clubs and part-time. Full-time is a bit of a shock though. I was joking about it with Shay Given because he’s gone into it with Derby County. We were joking about throwing a few cones down and getting on with it. It’s come at the right time with finishing my masters. I was keeping busy with other things. When the job came up I wrestled with the idea but then I put my application in. I went through the interview process and had to do a presentation. It was good and fascinating. I am really glad I did it. Getting out of bed with a spring in my stride in the morning.”