“My life goal is to manage Ireland,” says the Premier League manager persuaded to play for England

Former Leeds and Reading manager Brian McDermott wants to make up for missing out on an Ireland playing career by leading the boys in green.

“I never played for Ireland, which I should have done. Don Howe suggested I play for England under-17s. I wasn’t English, though I was born in Slough; I was Irish,” explains McDermott in Living on the Volcano, The Secrets of Surviving as a Football Manager, Michael Calvin’s book which was released this week.

McDermott’s father hails from Sligo and his mother from Clare, but he admits he wasn’t a strong enough character to pledge his allegiance to Ireland.

“Don was the big man at Arsenal at the time. I had no confidence and just went along with it, almost to protect myself. Dad was worried about upsetting anyone. That’s a real driver for me now. My life goal is to manage Ireland,” the 54-year-old continued.

McDermott now works for Arsenal as a senior scout and doesn’t maintain any ill-feeling against the club, rather regrets the lack of confidence that hampered his playing career.

“I don’t blame Don for anything, because when you play for a big club like Arsenal, you have to have a real belief in yourself. I played more than 60 first-team games, but I felt like a nobody. I never felt good enough, however hard I tried.

“That’s probably down to my background.

“I was a Catholic council house kid who was always being told he wouldn’t amount to much. I had a talent. I was a good footballer, but those attitudes held me back. I nipped through my eleven-plus by the skin of my teeth, and went to a technical school, Herschel, in Slough.

“I was never ready to go to a school like that. I was just too much for me.

“Every Christmas and Easter, they used to read out the names of the 20 people who were bottom of the class. it was humiliating, completely humiliating. My major driving force was football.

“But I always had my teachers in my head, telling me that I wasn’t going to do much. They never encouraged me. It was always ‘you have to be careful, you have to watch yourself, it might not work for you’.”

McDermott recalls his bizarre sacking and reinstatement at Leeds United during a whirlwind 48 hours at the outset of Massimo Cellino’s reign as owner at Elland Road.

McDermott took a call from Cellino’s Manchester-based lawyer as the Italian was in the process of taking over Leeds.

“I didn’t know the number. I didn’t know the person speaking to me. He said it was a lawyer, calling out of courtesy. They were terminating my contract, and I was to expect a letter.

"I said “Ok”. I didn’t need to say any more. The next thing I know it is on the TV that I’ve been sacked. At the time, Massimo didn’t officially own the club.

The letter never arrived and McDermott was reinstated.before being sacked again in May 2014. But he maintains a relationship with the controversial Italian.

“I didn’t know Massimo. He didn’t know me. We got off on the wrong foot. I get on with him fine now, believe it or not. He rings me, wanting to know about players.”

McDermott admits he has “unfinished business” in management, but won’t return to a job until the right offer comes along.

“This job examines you. When I was at Wembley with Reading in the play-off final, there were 86,000 there. It was impossible to believe how lonely I was. It’s bizarre. You retreat inside yourself.”

“Arsenal have been fantastic for me.

“They do things right. They do their due diligence. They know everyone. I needed to get out there and watch games, re-educate myself. I won’t go back into management unless the club is right, the owner is right.”

Or the country.