Phillips leaves Leicester for Derby assistant job

Mark Holmes
Kevin Phillips: New assistant manager at Derby

Kevin Phillips: New assistant manager at Derby

Kevin Phillips has left his coaching role at Leicester City to become assistant coach to Paul Clement at Derby.

Since retiring as a player at the end of the 2013-14 season, Phillips had been first-team coach at Leicester, working under Nigel Pearson and more recently Claudio Ranieri.

The 42-year-old has now swapped the King Power Stadium for the iPro Stadium as Derby try to join the Foxes in the Premier League.

“I’m delighted that Kevin Phillips is joining my coaching staff,” Clement told the Rams’ official website.

“He will complement the excellent individuals and skills that we have on the coaching team already.

“Kevin enjoyed an illustrious playing career. He was successful at a number of clubs, experienced being promoted to the Premier League on several occasions and his goalscoring record certainly demonstrates what an excellent striker he was.

“He is now embracing a new pathway in his career and has successfully made the transition from player to coach in the last year at Leicester.

“I believe Kevin has a lot to offer with his skills and expertise and I would like to thank Leicester for their co-operation in allowing Kevin to join us.”

Phillips is the third addition Clement has made to his first-team coaching staff following the arrivals of John Peacock and Pascal Zuberbuhler.

The former England international, he was capped eight times by his country, scored 282 goals in 660 professional appearances during a 20-year playing career that included spells with Watford, Sunderland, Southampton, Aston Villa, West Brom, Birmingham, Blackpool, Crystal Palace and Leicester.

He was the Premier League’s top scorer during the 1999-2000 campaign with 30 goals for Sunderland, which earned him the European Golden Shoe. He is the only Englishman to win the accolade.

Phillips was, however, on the losing side when Derby beat West Brom at Wembley in the 2006-07 Championship play-off final.