People often talk about the need for Premiership clubs to delve into the Championship in the hope of picking up a few gems. But something that I find can often get overlooked is the need for Championship teams to cast their nets down towards the lower divisions in search for gems of their own.
If this started to happen more often, then I believe that the English game would be in a much better position. If Championship clubs signed the best that Leagues One and Two had to offer, then Premiership sides will be surely alerted to the talented young players much more quickly. In turn, these players are effectively upwardly fast tracking the football league, perhaps on the way to International stardom? Ashley Young is a good example of a player who plyed his trade for Watford during his teenage years, was spotted by a number of top clubs, opted to play for Aston Villa and he is now knocking on Fabio Capello’s England door.
This practice would be much more effective than what we see week in week out in the Championship. Managers signing 30 something Premiership has-beens in order for a quick-fix, when in actual fact, all they are really doing is blocking the way for young English talent to emege.
From experience I can tell you that Coventry City signed 38-year-old Arjan De Zeeuw in the summer, and when fit, he was almost guaranteed a place in the starting 11. In doing so he was keeping youngsters such as England Under-19 International Ben Turner out of the team.
Fortunately, come January, it became evident that De Zeeuw couldn’t hack it any more. A wonderful pro he may have been, but his glory years are well and truly behind him.
So the Sky Blues popped over to Midland rivals Walsall to see what they had to offer, and signed two of their best young players; Danny Fox and Scott Dann. Fox at left back has been a revelation, his delivery is second-to-none and I really cannot fault him. As for Dann, he has absolutely shone - I am yet to see him shirk out of a challenge of even lose a contested header, seriously.
So the talent is definitely out there, and it’s not even a case of going out and finding it. I would imagine that most lower league clubs have a couple of ‘Fox’s’ or ‘Dann’s’ in their ranks, it’s just a case of the big boys taking the plunge and signing them!
Posted by stepney88 