Jermain Defoe: Rangers striker ‘desperate’ to be remembered as a winner at Ibrox
Jermain Defoe insists his desperation to win a league title motivates him to keep playing and says he is keen to be remembered as a winner at Rangers.
The striker scored 17 goals in 32 appearances for Rangers before the season was ended due to the coronavirus crisis, meaning Steven Gerrard’s side had to settle for a second-place finish behind Celtic.
It means Celtic are aiming to win their 10th title in a row next year but Defoe is keen to end that run and realise a career-long ambition in the process.
Asked how eager he is to win a league title, Defoe told Sky Sports News: „Desperate – that’s probably why I’m still playing, to be honest. It is never easy to do in any league. To win the league is something really special, to be at the top after a long hard season and get over the line and be champions would be special.
„We have players in the changing room who have done it at the club, Greegsy (Allan McGregor) has done it and you speak to all these players and the staff, the kitman Jimmy (Bell) and all the people who have been involved in these great title moments, you want a piece of that. You want to experience that.
„When you come out the tunnel at Ibrox and you look to the left and right there are names of legends on the wall and everything that they have won at the club and you see players like Gazza and all these players. When you have finished playing you’d love to go back and see your name on that wall. It would be special.“
Defoe knows the importance of stopping Celtic winning 10 titles in a row but said Rangers have to concentrate on themselves and start by trying to find out why their title challenge faded away after the new year following a consistent first half to the campaign.
„Even before I signed I always knew the importance of bringing silverware to the club and winning the league,“ he said.
„Without just thinking about Celtic there are all the other games, all the other teams involved. Of course you want to try and stop Celtic but at the same time I feel it is important we think about ourselves and we use preseason, which I’m sure the coaches and manager will do, to improve and look at the areas where we slipped up and things we can improve on as a team and a squad.
„And to make sure that the mistakes that we made before, we don’t make those mistakes again and we can be more consistent throughout the whole season which is obviously never easy to do but just approach preseason like that, look to improve.“
Gerrard is yet to win silverware in Glasgow after taking over at Ibrox in 2018 but Defoe says even the best players and teams need time to achieve success.
The 37-year-old says the message from the former Liverpool skipper to his players ahead of a return to training for preseason has been simple – expect to be tested.
„The message is the season is finished but make sure that when you come back you are ready because everyone is going to be tested and that’s what you want to hear from a manager,“ Defoe said.
„You want to be tested as players, you want the club to bring in players in your position to keep you on your toes and I think the club are going to do that. We want to improve and, like the manager said, it is a massive season for us next season and hopefully we can achieve something special.
„When you look at some of the great teams in the world and even when Pep Guardiola came over to England – you expect people to hit the ground running and just win everything. Sometimes it takes time.
„When Fabio Capello was manager of Real Madrid and had all the Galacticos in David Beckham, Ronaldo, Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane – it was still difficult. People probably thought ‘this is a bit strange, with all the players you have got, you have all the best players in the world’ but things take time. You have to build and you have to look at the areas where you can improve and when it is all said and done then at the end of it you get judged.“
Defoe will turn 38 later this year but he is determined to continue to set the pace in training once sessions resume from next week.
„Last pre-season was one of my best in terms of fitness and how I felt,“ he said. „Even for myself I was surprised because as you get older it is never easy, everything becomes harder but I am just going to approach this preseason the same.
„When you first go to a club you want to impress everyone and show the players how good you are, especially when you come with a reputation. For me nothing has changed, I am going to approach it the same way. I am going to try and get myself maybe fitter than I was before. I had a little niggle in my calf which is fine now, which is a blessing, so I’m looking forward to it.
„Because of what has been going on it has been difficult for everyone, having this long period where you are not playing or training, obviously training at home but it’s not the same. In a way it makes you miss the ball and you look forward to getting back training again.“
Asked if he thinks he can play into his 40s, Defoe said: „I was watching the Premier League classics the other day with Giggsy and Teddy Sheringham. Les (Ferdinand) played until he was 39, I think. So, we’ll see what happens.“
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