ACE VARDY SLIPPED THE NET
I DON’T have many regrets in football, but failing to sign Jamie Vardy for West Ham is one of them.
The Leicester striker – now top scorer in the Premier League – was playing for Fleetwood Town, who were managed by Micky Mellon. I was on a course with Micky, and he basically said ‘Come and get him’. I wish I had. I’ve got great admiration for Jamie. He’s a player who turned his life around. As a young lad he was indisciplined, and probably took his talent for granted. It happens an awful lot with youngsters. There are a lot more who fail to maximise their talent than there are of those who do. The ratio is something like 100-1. But Jamie was that one. He grew up and – with the help of his clubs – made the most of his ability.
Are there more like him out there in Non-League? Not as many as there used to be. Unfortunately, the numbers have diminished massively.
At the top level, too many get discarded and pack the game in. Instead of going down the leagues and enjoying their football, getting a job and going part-time, they give it up.
Why? I just think they’ve not learned to love the sport for its own sake. In my day, nobody joined a club until they’d left school.
You grew up playing for fun, not because it was a job or because you saw a career at the end of it. If you didn’t make it professionally, you still wanted to play.
Now you’ve got kids in clubs at seven or eight, basically being groomed for pro careers. When it doesn’t happen, they get disillusioned. The talent is lost and doesn’t re-emerge like Jamie’s did, which is a great shame.