With Gillingham having no game this weekend, goalkeeper coach Deren Ibrahim can focus on his “other” football job, Chairman of SCEFL Premier side Sutton Athletic. 

The ever-popular keeper who is still only 33, featured for many Kent non-league sides (predominantly Dartford and Sittingbourne) and played international football for Gibraltar in the qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup before taking the job at Priestfield a week after Neil Harris was appointed.

Now on his third manager at Priestfield, Ibrahim has been talking to KSN about life as an international footballer, the future as Chairman of his “local” Club and their plans, but in this interview, his life at Priestfield under managers Harris, Stephen Clemence and now Mark Bonner. 

“I have seen a lot since I came to Priestfield,” Ibrahim admitted to us. “I have had three very different types of managers who have all in their own way been very good managers.”

“Neil is having a fantastic stint now at Millwall, Steve is doing really well at Barrow and Mark has been a breath of fresh air for the Club here, but for learning under all of them has been great experience for me.”

“I’m 33 years old and to have three managers who have been there, hopefully I can take bits from all three which will help me on my path as a goalkeeper coach.” 

“People forget that I am still in my early thirties – I get it all the time! I was asked the other day by someone how old I was and they said that I was 37/40!”

“I made my debut playing in Kent football when I was just 16 for Dartford and have been around the Kent circuit for a long time. I am relatively young in the world of coaching and have some fantastic experiences under my belt already.” 

“My age is only a problem if I allow it to be a problem,” Ibrahim went on.

“If I come in and said to Glenn Morris (who is seven years Deren’s senior) you’re older than me blah, blah then that is wrong! When I knew we were signing him, I knew that I wasn’t going to change – I am the goalie coach of this Football Club, and very proud to be so!”

“My job is to get the goalkeepers the best prepared as in football you get found out, if you get a weakness, players, coaches, fans find it, and they find it very quickly!”

“The highest I played in the country was in the Conference! I have actually played against Glenn a couple of times in pre-season games, so I can relate to bits that I have done playing, the moment that age does become a problem, then goalkeeping coach would not be for me as it would show that I would not be a strong enough character to hold my own in this first team environment.” 

“The moment that you stop learning is the moment that you should give up really because every day is a learning day in football, every day is different, so you just have to keep learning.” 

Reflecting on the managers he’s worked for at Priestfield, Ibrahim said, “I have worked for three different types of managers here, they are all different characters, but I would like to think that my character has stayed the same, and that is the only way that I can be. I love to have a laugh and a joke, but when we work, we work and we work very hard!” 

“All the managers that I have worked for have a desire to win and that is first team football. Neil has done loads and loads of games as a manager, so listening to his stories was great; Steve was new to management but his ideas in football were fantastic and really good, and I have no question that over the next few years, he will go onto become a top manager in his own right.”

“Mark is brilliant, and I am not just saying this, he is fantastic as he gives you the ownership to be the best you can be in your field, but you know that he is the manager of the Football Club, you know that he will make the final decisions as and when is needed.”

“He has that authority about him that is top and whilst we have had a blip in form recently, he has been the real figure head as to where we need to be – he really has kept the group together; there has been a lot of noise outside of us, but he has been very level headed and we have all got down to work – and working hard in that time – and last Saturday, I think we got the rewards that we deserved with the 1-0 win over Port Vale.” 

Image courtesy of Gillingham FC