FORMER Liverpool and England midfielder Terry McDermott has been appointed Town's new assistant manager.
The 57-year old will take his place alongside manager Lee Clark, First Team Coach Derek Fazackerley and Performance Coach Steve Black in the Town dugout for tomorrow’s League One game against Hereford United after agreeing terms with the Club.
A winner of four Division One titles and three European Cups with Liverpool in the late 70s and early 80s, McDermott has most recently spent two separate spells as assistant manager of Newcastle United under managers Kevin Keegan, Graeme Souness, Glenn Roeder and Sam Allardyce but left his post after Keegan’s departure from St. James’ Park in September.
Clark, who was a player under McDermott at Newcastle, said: "Terry is vital to what we are trying to achieve here. He has worked with us all at various stages in our careers - he was assistant manager at Newcastle when I was a player and then a coach. He brings vast experience to the club both from his playing and coaching days and he is tremendous at organising the club’s off the field activities, such as scouting.
"He will be vital in that sense because we will be widening the net in terms of how we recruit players - we need to enlarge our scouting network.
"When the possibility arose that I would become manager here, I went about assembling the best backroom team I could get - people who I can trust and who would be loyal to the group as a whole. I have already achieved that with the first two appointments of Derek and Steve, but Terry will add to and enhance that.
"Terry doesn’t really get involved in terms of actually doing the coaching, but that suits me as I like to be out on the pitch and as first team coach Derek will do most of the coaching too. Terry is very good at building relationships with the players and getting them bubbly, which is important as there will be times when we do need to lift them for one reason or another.
"The board have been fantastic and are in full support of what I am trying to do, which I am obviously delighted with. I’m very lucky to come into my first managerial position at a club which has fantastic ambitions and plans for the future."
