Shaun Derry tells HITC Sport of his ambitions to manage at the highest level and working his way up the ladder.
Shaun Derry has impressed in charge of Cambridge United
As a player Shaun Derry worked his way up through the leagues to the highest level and his ambition is no different as a manager.
The former Crystal Palace,Leeds United and QPR man was a leader of a player, so it was a natural progression for him to move into management once he hung up his boots.
Derry is in his second managerial role at Cambridge United after a 17-month spell at hometown club Notts County and he is determined to go as far as he can in his managerial career.
“I am very driven as an individual and set my standards extremely high and I was able to follow my dreams as a player to compete at the highest level so I am no different as a manager,” explained Derry.
“I want to challenge myself and this football club to keep improving,keep moving up the footballing pyramid.We share that ambition at Cambridge United as we have a forward-thinking board who have been very supportive of me during my time here and I have been supportive of them too.
“What is really important is time in football management.Sadly,both inside and outside of football everything is so short-term.
“In my three years as a manager I have realised it takes time,patience and support to get things right and to try and target improvements.
“I’ve tried to formulate a plan to take the club to the next stage and I try to think methodically on how to make that progress realistic.”
The 38-year-old had the reputation of a hard-working, no-nonsense midfielder as a player in a career that saw him make a total of 652 career appearances for eight clubs, but behind Derry’s pugnacious exterior is a sharp mind of a forward-thinking manager who is keen to develop himself and the players that he comes into contact with.
“You have to move with the times in football,” noted Derry. “Early in my playing career I was probably associated with having old school values and them values will stay with me forever but when I played at the higher level in the latter years of my career I could see a new breed of players and what they did so you also buy in to that too.
“I see my management style as someone who keeps the old school values as well as incorporating the new school methods that is in management these days.
Shaun Derry in his playing career at Leeds
“I am associated a lot with Neil Warnock from my playing career and it was a fantastic experience to play under him and help win promotion to the Premier League with QPR at the age of 32.
“Neil was very much of the old school values, but he was also a great man manager and I believe it is very important to have good man-management skills with different types of characters that are now in the modern game.”
Derry is celebrating just over a year in charge of Cambridge ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup clash with League One side Coventry and he feels his first 12 months at the Abbey Stadium should be deemed a success.
“I think overall my first year in charge has been a success, if you bear in mind when you take over a club you inherit players brought in by a different manager and you think of the whole transition of players coming and going from the club I feel we now have a younger, hungrier squad,” admitted Derry.
“Last year over the course of six months we made improvements by finishing in ninth position in the table after being 18th when I took over and we are striving again to finish as high as we possibly can.That’s the challenge. However, we all understand that there are some very good football clubs at our level all with there own agendas.”
Shaun Derry celebrating just over a year in charge
Derry is just one game away from possibly coming up against some of the Premier League’s big boys and the 38-year-old would relish the opportunity to pit his wits against one of the world’s elite bosses in the third round of the FA Cup if they can overcome League One Coventry City on Sunday.
“It would be great to go forward in the competition and create a story, but we are going up a level this weekend by playing Coventry who are a league above us,” continued Derry.
“It is going to be an incredibly hard game against Coventry, but the prize of the third round spot would be a great reward for everyone at the club.
“Cambridge have a bit of recent history in the FA Cup after taking Manchester United to a replay a couple of seasons ago so to come up against one of the big boys again would give the whole club a huge lift, but we are only concentrating on Coventry right now.”
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
