News, sport and entertainment from the Bournemouth Echo and Dorset Echo.

Sean takes protector role

From the Echo, first published Thursday 25th Jan 2001.

CHERRIES boss Sean O'Driscoll wants man-of-the-moment Jermain Defoe to let his feet do the talking, reports Neil Perrett.

O'Driscoll was keen to protect Defoe from the glare of the national press after the on-loan star thought he had set a new post-war Football League goalscoring record at Cambridge on Tuesday.

The young striker, hiding under his favourite woolly hat, was shepherded out of the Abbey Stadium by Cherries physio John Cooper and kept well away from the gathered newsmen.

And after receiving congratulations from his mother Sandra, father Andre, sister Chonte and girlfriend Leanne, Defoe was whisked away in the Cherries team coach.

O'Driscoll said: "Jermain is still only a young boy and he needs to concentrate on his football.

"We have got a duty to West Ham to protect him while he is here with us and we must be seen to be looking after his best interests.

"His agent, who works for the Professional Footballers' Association, has asked us to do what we think is best for Jermain and we think it is time to take a step back.

"He has already had plenty of publicity and he is sure to receive plenty more in the future.

"But at his age, he doesn't need to be pestered all the time for interviews and it's up to us to steer him in the right direction and help him progress as a player."

Archive Home