Ipswich Town: Kieron Dyer on being 'mentally broken' by caretaker snub

Dyer announced in March that he had quit his role as Town's Under-23s job due to 'not agreeing with the club's vision'.

Now, speaking on the True Geordie podcast, he has opened up more about the hurt he felt when a newly-appointed John McGreal was chosen ahead of him to be the club's caretaker boss after Paul Cook was sacked last December.

"I remember doing an article about the ‘Rooney rule’ years ago," he said

"I didn’t really understand it, so I gave this great headline ‘I don’t want a job because of the colour of my skin’.

"I then had so many black players, who were trying to get jobs, say to me; ‘What are you doing? You're killing us’. 

“I said ‘I’m just being honest’ and they said ‘you don’t understand, you’ll realise’. And now here we are! 

“I did the Under-18s at Ipswich, I was doing a good job with the Under-23s and then they brought someone (McGreal) in to come and work as my assistant.

“That was on the Thursday. Come Saturday the manager of the first team (Cook) gets the sack and I get a text from a mate saying ‘the guy they brought in as your assistant is now caretaker manager’. I said ‘what?!’ 

“I’m an Ipswich boy born and bred, love the club... It is what it is."

Dyer continued: "I got a text from my assistant (McGreal) and he was saying he wanted me to assist him. I was like ‘I’m not assisting you, I'm done, no chance’.

"I spoke to the people above and I basically expressed how hurt and disappointed I was. They just explained that they’ve employed this guy because he’s had actual experience of being a manager in the lower leagues. 

Kieron Dyer watches a first team training session alongside manager Kieran McKenna recently. (Image: Archant)

“I said ‘I don't know if I can do this’ and then they pulled at the old heart strings didn’t they? They said ‘if you don’t want to do it for yourself, do it for the club because the club needs you’.

"So I assisted him for a few games, but I was a shell of myself. I was just going through the motions really. Mentally they broke me. I was just thinking ‘if you can’t get a chance for a couple of games now...’ 

“My end goal was always to be Ipswich manager. That’s what I wanted to be. But after that I realised I was too emotionally connected to the club.

"Now I don’t ever want to be manager of the football club. It’s hard to say that."

Dyer, who has seen his wait for a liver transplant suspended thanks to improved blood results, is currently working towards his UEFA Pro Licence badge and has been shadowing England coaches at various age group levels. He recently worked as a pundit in Malaysia covering the World Cup.