If Liam Delap gets the better of the Manchester United defenders and Andre Onana at Portman Road on Sunday, you wonder how much influence a former Old Trafford goalkeeper will have had on the moment.
Lee Grant ended his playing career at United and was a paid-up member of the goalkeepers’ union, but when he hung up the gloves and went into coaching, he didn’t impart his time-served wisdom on the next generation of glovesmen coming through the ranks.
Grant spent 20 years as a professional footballer, making 511 career appearances, but as he wound down his days as United’s third-choice goalkeeper, he knew the clock was ticking on his career as a player.
His final four years were spent at Old Trafford and while there were only two first-team appearances, he was a valued member of the squad and a positive, senior influence on the dressing room. Having decided to call it a day at the end of the 2021/22 season, the realisation that it was all coming to an end arrived as he flung himself about to stop Bruno Fernandes and Juan Mata from scoring.
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“As Bruno and Juan were smashing balls at me, I was distracted, thinking to myself, ‘Gosh, this is my last time out on the grass with my boots and gloves on, diving around in the mud laughing and joking with team-mates,'” Grant told the Premier League website last year.
“I was apprehensive about transitioning from a role I’d loved doing for more than 20 years, but also excited at the proposition of stepping into the unknown and beginning a new journey.”
For a while, it looked like his second career in the game would begin where the first one ended. A year earlier, as he discussed his future with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the option of a coaching role with United’s youngsters had been floated.
“Towards the end of my days as a player I did spend a lot of time with the analysis team or in the coach’s office with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Michael Carrick and Kieran, picking their brains, and pulling sessions off the hard drive that I could use in my work with the Under 15s,” he said.
“United let me train young players at their academy, and the analysis team always left their door open, giving me access to footage of training clips. They gave me a glimpse behind the curtain, showing me what is needed to coach at a high level, which I will always be thankful for.”
Instead, a familiar face from Carrington provided Grant with his first coaching role. When McKenna took over as Ipswich manager in December 2021, the Tractor Boys were in League One, and he initially took United first-team coach Martyn Pert with him.
Then, in May 2022, Grant joined as first-team coach rather than goalkeeping coach. Two successive promotions have since taken the club – and the coaching staff – to the Premier League.
“When Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna asked if I’d be interested in joining his first-team staff, I was ecstatic and I still am,” said Grant. “Getting to carry on being out on the grass with the boys, alongside my fellow coaches, enjoying the camaraderie, is something I love so much.”
Grant worked through his coaching badges during his final decade or so in the game, having decided well before he retired that he wanted to pursue a career in coaching. Ipswich already had a goalkeeping coach, Rene Gilmartin, who remains in that role today. So Grant came in as a first-team coach and quickly took the club’s forwards under his wing. A man who spent his career trying to stop goals was now helping people paid to score goals.
“On the outside it probably looks a bit of a strange one for a ‘keeper to be coaching strikers but, in reality, it certainly doesn’t feel like that for me, and I hope it doesn’t for the players,” said Grant.
“I spent a long time working on how to stop the ball going into the net, which gives me insights I can pass on to the forwards to help them combat ‘keepers’ mindsets. Flipping things around, thinking about it from the opposite angle does make a lot of sense.
“I’d like to see more and more goalkeepers realising they’ve got the potential to go on and do things outside of the realm they exist in. I believe we have plenty to offer as outfield coaches.”
Grant’s insights have helped Ipswich score 205 goals in their last 103 league games. Having joined a side in League One, he is now a first-team coach in the Premier League, and scoring enough goals will be key to the club’s hopes of survival.
Delap, a £20m summer signing from Manchester City, has scored half of the Tractor Boys’ 12 Premier League goals. The level is going up, but Grant is still having an impact. This week he will try and help his forwards get the better of his old club.
