Former Premier League hard man midfielder lands job as set-piece coach at League One Bristol Rovers

Former Sunderland midfielder Lee Cattermole has joined League One side Bristol Rovers as a first-team coach, with a ‘focus on the development and implementation of set pieces’.

The 36-year-old made 272 appearances in the Premier League over a 15-year professional career that also included spells at Wigan and Middlesbrough, where he made his senior debut. 

Cattermole retired in 2020, while playing in the Netherlands with VVV Vento and returned to his boyhood club to begin his coaching career  with a stint as Under 18 boss before his departure in February last year. 

He was also part of the interim management team that took charge at Boro for five games after Chris Wilder’s sacking in October 2022. 

‘I am delighted to join the coaching team at Bristol Rovers,’ Cattermole said in a club statement. ‘Having spoken to the guys here and George Friend, I very quickly got excited about the project being developed here at the Club.

‘Everything I’ve heard about Bristol Rovers tells me it’s an exciting time to be part of things here, and I’m looking forward to getting going.’

The 36-year-old made 272 Premier League appearances in a career that included spells with Sunderland, Wigan and Middlesbrough

Rovers sit 18th in the third-tier after amassing 21 points from their 18 matches of the season. Head coach Matt Taylor said the ‘club appointment’ may be able to bring the ‘fresh ideas and new voice’ the side needs. 

‘We all feel there’s room for improvement in terms of set piece attacking and defending,’ he told BBC Radio Bristol. 

‘Maybe this group of players needs fresh ideas and new voice. I’m not sure because we’ve tried everything twice over in terms of our attacking set pieces and we’ve also had chances at times. But there’s also been a feeling that there’s huge improvements to be made.’

Rovers travel to St Andrew’s on Saturday afternoon to take on monied high-flyers Birmingham City before welcoming another of the division’s big boys, Wrexham, to the Memorial Stadium.