Conor Washington (left) has tipped Jonny Evans to one day be a managerplaceholder image
Conor Washington (left) has tipped Jonny Evans to one day be a manager
Conor Washington has tipped his former Northern Ireland international team-mate Jonny Evans to be a manager in the future.
Evans’ future is up in the air after his second spell at Manchester United drew to a close at the end of the campaign.
The 37-year-old racked up 241 appearances for the Red Devils across his two stints and success followed with three Premier League titles and a Champions League being the highlights.
He also had spells at West Bromwich Albion and Leicester City, winning the FA Cup with the latter in 2021.
Evans won 107 caps for Northern Ireland and whilst the next chapter in the game is unknown, current international Conor Washington believes the defender has all the attributes to be a manager.
He said: “Jonny thinks about the game, really kind of horrible to play against, relentlessly calculating things in his head. He’s a good talker. He doesn’t say loads, but when he does, it’s considered.
"And I think he’s got an air of, although his career sort of bought him the respect and things like that, I think lads respect him anyway just because of the character he is.
“So yeah, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Jonny on a touchline, to be honest.”
Washington, who is currently a free agent after leaving Derby County at the end of the season, is currently completing his coaching badges through the Irish Football Association.
He explained how he has taken nuggets of information from all the managers and coaches he’s worked under.
"I’ve taken loads from everybody, to be honest,” he added. “Everybody I’ve worked with. Even when I went over to a NI U17s camp at St George’s with Andy Waterworth, Gareth McAuley and Kris Lindsay...I just really liked the way they operated and the way they spoke to the lads and the detail that they went into, which is obviously really reminiscent of Michael (O’Neill).
“The detail that Michael goes into in and out of possession is absolutely brilliant. But it never felt like too much and it always paid off on the pitch. So, people like that, definitely.
“I was actually sitting a couple of nights ago and writing down managers I’ve played for and what I’ve taken from each one.”