Standing Out In The Crowd

I posted an article on this site earlier in the week outlining what great attacking options we now have and shared my opinion about who was most likely to be moved on as a result of the recent acquisitions.

Since then Ronan Murray has joined Plymouth and it seems Scotland and Ellington will also be moved on. This still leaves us with a hatful of options, difficult for Mick McCarthy to pick the bones out of, but in time one of these will stand out above the others. I expect that one to be Frank Nouble.

There were a few grumbles on the message boards and forums when we signed Nouble at the start of the week from Wolves. At only 21 years old he’s already been at ten clubs before joining us so there must be something wrong with him, right? Wrong. Nouble’s been a victim of the ridiculous Managerial merry-go-round which takes place all over the world but spreads like wild fire in the England. Amongst the Managers Nouble has played for are Gianfranco Zola, Brendan Rodgers and Roberto Di Matteo. Not bad company to keep and all well placed to know if Nouble has anything about him.

Zola was arguably one of the world’s greatest players of his time, playing at the highest levels and scoring some outrageously good goals along the way, a back-heel flick volley against Norwich being one that stands out in my mind, as I’m sure it does many of yours for obvious reasons. If you haven’t ever seen it then you really should look for it on YouTube. Technically it’s just an amazing goal but strangely receives very few accolades, probably because Zola wasn’t playing for Manchester United at the time so our sycophantic British paparazzi have erased it from their memories. Obviously I’m not claiming that just because Nouble played under Zola he’s capable of reaching the same level of quality, but if a Striker like Zola feels that you have the attributes to be a top player that’s a pretty big thing to stick on your CV and shouldn’t be overlooked.

Nouble in action for former club Wolves

What about Brendan Rodgers? Why is his opinion of Nouble so important or relevant to my argument? Rodgers was in charge of the Chelsea youth team at the time when Nouble was there so has again seen first-hand what the lad is capable of. Watford fans will have you believe he’s a rubbish tactician and was a useless manager for them and he’s certainly finding his first season in charge at Liverpool quite tough, but who wouldn’t be? Liverpool are in a transitional stage and with (currently) a smaller stadium than both Manchester clubs and Arsenal, are not capable of generating the same levels of revenue to be able to compete in the transfer market.

Add to this the riches that the Chelsea and Manchester City owners possess independenty and it’s clear to see why Liverpool are struggling to regain their rightful place at the top of English football once more. If and when financial fair play ‘goes live’,and I still have my doubts as to whether UEFA will have the nerve to impose appropriate sanctions to teams operating outside the guidelines of FFP, Liverpool will once more find themselves in a financially competitive situation to progress more significantly. I’ve digressed slightly (the pains of having Liverpool supporters in the family means I have a tendency to babble on about them for hours), but my point is that Brendan Rodgers hasn’t become a bad Manager just because he’s looking unlikely to guide Liverpool back into the top 4 this season.

Plenty of Managers before him have failed too – one of which failed so dismally he was offered the England job! On face value Rodgers was head-hunted to take on the Liverpool challenge because of his great work at Swansea in the two seasons prior, but it was also largely because of his work at Chelsea under one of the best Managers around the moment, Jose Mourinho. Rodgers knows how to identify top talent, and he identified Nouble as someone who had a great future ahead of him.

Town's coaching staff can get the best out of Nouble

Di Matteo somehow finds himself out of work at the moment. Guiding a club to Champions League and FA Cup glory after only 6 months in charge would normally buy you some time but not at the shambles that is Chelsea. But Di Matteo is another who’s done well in Management wherever he’s been. MK Dons, West Brom and Chelsea were all successful, which leads to the assumption that this is a man who is again capable of identifying whether a player is any good or not.

Nouble isn’t lacking the necessary ability to make it as a good striker in the Championship, he’s missing some consistency in his professional life and he’s lacked the right guidance. In Ipswich Town, Mick McCarthy and Terry Connor he’ll now be given both. In McCarthy’s pre-match press conference yesterday he said of Nouble:

“He is still developing and, given the right environment, encouragement and support, we can get a player out of him – I’m certain. Clubs have seen this big, powerful kid and taken him on loan. They take a chance on him, he doesn’t do it and they don’t work with him – and no one has really explained to him why. I know TC worked with him at Wolves and he saw a whole load of improvement in him. There is such a willing lad in there. For the deal we have done it is such a good deal for us to take him. We’ll get the best out of him, no question.”

In my opinion the signing of Nouble is the most exciting one Mick’s made so far. Here’s hoping for a few more.

Follow me on Twitter @prickettboy3

All photos copyright Empics

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