Former Manchester United goalkeeper Lee Grant has taken his first step in football management this week after being appointed Huddersfield Town manager
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Lee Grant pictured during his time at Manchester United
Lee Grant pictured during his time at Manchester United
(Image: PA)
Former Manchester United goalkeeper Lee Grant has admitted that he spent his time at Old Trafford preparing for his coaching career despite being a member of the first-team squad.
United paid approximately £1.5m for Grant in the summer of 2018 as they looked to add another goalkeeper to their team. Despite having an impressive career in the EFL with Derby County, Sheffield Wednesday and Burnley, Grant would make just two appearances for the club in four years, retiring from the game in 2022.
His two appearances came in cup competitions. He made his debut against old club Derby in the League Cup before playing his first, and final, full 90 minutes for United in a 2-1 defeat to Astana in the Europa League.
Since ending his playing career, Grant has been part of the backroom staff at Ipswich Town alongside former United assistant and current manager Kieran McKenna. However, following the club's relegation from the Premier League this season, Grant has decided to take the plunge and take on his first managerial job with League One club Huddersfield Town.
Speaking to Yorkshire Live after being unveiled as the Terriers' new manager, Grant explained what he was doing at United during those four years at the club. "The work that I’ve been putting in is well into over a decade now, well into the back end of my playing career," he explained.
"Yes I was at Manchester United as a player, in reality that was a player-coach role. I think anybody that looks at my appearances for Manchester United will see that quite quickly.
"I spent more time in the office studying, understanding, listening, learning and absorbing from really top people, and that leads me to be in this seat today." While there are some doubts that an unproven manager will be able to lead Huddersfield back to the Championship next season, Grant insists that there is a precedent already set for success for those who have yet to prove themselves in management.
Kieran McKenna (front right) and Lee Grant (front centre) on the Ipswich Town bench at Portman Road
Kieran McKenna (front right) and Lee Grant (front centre) on the Ipswich Town bench at Portman Road
"You’ve seen David Wagner come in who hasn’t led a team, you’ve seen Carlos Corberan come in who hasn’t led a team, and we’ve seen success on the back of that," Grant concluded. "If you look at League One over the course of the last three or four years, and you take John Mousinho, Kieran McKenna, Steven Schumacher, Chris Davies, the list goes on, I think you can start to create a picture of ‘this can work, this can work and this can work in the middle’.
"What I’m really pleased about is that Huddersfield Town and myself have huge alignment on what we think has got a really great chance of working for Huddersfield this year, and that the trust and belief is there for me to be the man to push it forward."
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