Millwall keeper: How I turned Chubby Harry into Killer Kane
JORDAN ARCHER can remember saving shots in training from Harry Kane when they were ‘both chubby kids’ at Sunday League Ridgeway Rovers.
A few years later, Millwall’s goalkeeper, still a teenager, spent many an hour at Tottenham’s academy helping the Spurs striker hone the finishing technique that has made him one of the most feared forwards in the game.
Their paths have crossed several times during the past 12 years and are converging once more to create an intriguing sub-plot to today’s FA Cup quarter-final.
If any goalkeeper has that instinctive split-second reaction to stop Kane, it is Archer. None other is likely to have had so much exposure to his methods and, given the England forward has eight goals in his last four games, Archer is going to need it.
‘I’ve known him since we must’ve been 11, when we used to play for the same District and Sunday League teams: Ridgeway Rovers and Waltham Forest District,’ Archer told the Mail on Sunday. ‘What he’s done hasn’t surprised me. He’s always been one of the hardest worked, he’d always stay behind working on his finishing.
‘I’ve been on the receiving end of quite a lot of finishing practice from him. He’s one of the best finishers in the world. I was privileged to train with him and other top strikers.
‘That put me in good stead, the education and experience I got at Spurs, playing with Premier League players every day.
‘Kane has always had his quality, he’s always had a great strike on him, but he’s matured a lot. He’s shot up; at that young age he wasn’t tall. Now he’s fit and strong and he’s an intelligent footballer.
‘You see the stature of him now, that’s dedication on and off the pitch. He works hard in the gym and on the training pitch. It seems he’s got an extra yard of pace since I’ve left, testament to the hard work he’s done off the pitch as well as on it.’
Kane had a half-season loan spell at Millwall, scoring seven goals to save them being relegated from the Championship in 2012, and returned to eventually force his way into Tottenham’s senior team.
It was a different story for Archer.
In 2015 he knew his time was up. Archer left Spurs knowing he would never usurp Hugo Lloris or Michel Vorm, who he was training with daily. His initial loan spell at Millwall developed into a permanent transfer.
‘When you get to train with someone like Lloris, one of the best goalkeepers in the world — the France No 1, France and Spurs captain — you learn a lot,’ Archer says.
‘I was privileged to have that education. He was great with all the younger boys, it would be very easy for someone in his position to be arrogant but he couldn’t be further from it. If he saw something in training he’d point it out.’
Millwall have become a popular training school for Spurs youngsters in recent years. Alongside Archer and Kane, Andros Townsend, Ryan Mason, Adam Smith and Jamie O’Hara were all taught the harsh realities of men’s football in Bermondsey.
‘You’ve got to be mentally strong to come here,’ explains 23-year-old Archer. ‘It can be a tough place. Everyone in the dressing room now is a strong character and this club moulds you as a player, it gives you an extra layer of skin.’
It has worked on Archer, who has kept clean sheets against all of Millwall’s Premier League opponents during their FA Cup run — Bournemouth, Watford and champions Leicester.
He hopes to do so again today, and afterwards he can reminisce with an old friend about how two chubby kids turned into professional footballers.