THE NEXT STEP
Ball hopes Ibrox deal aids Spurs prospects
DOMINIC BALL hopes a loan spell at Rangers will enable him to follow a path trodden by a number of i ncreasingly illustrious footsteps.
The 20-year- old defender and winger Nathan Oduwa have both moved north from Tottenham to j oin Mark Warburton’s side, confident they will find the right environment to make progress in their careers.
Developing youth pl ayers through carefully selected loans has become a cornerstone of Spurs’ strategy in recent years.
Harry Kane made last season’s spectacular breakthrough having previously honed his talents in four temporary transfers. Fellow England i nternational Ryan Mason is another who benefited from similar switches to claim a role within Mauricio Pochettino’s first-team plans.
Ultimately, that is where Ball wants to be. And he is confident working under Warburton can move him a step closer.
Last season, Alex Pritchard spent a successful period with Warburton at Brentford, returning to White Hart Lane ready for Bar cl ay s Pr e mi e r League involvement.
‘That’s an inspiration,’ admitted Ball. ‘I think everyone’s seen that — Spurs, Mark, Nathan and myself. It’s reassuring that Pritch had gone and worked wonders under Mark and that’s what we want to do as well.
‘I spoke to Pritch before I came here and he said: “Dom, you’ll love it”.
‘A lot of the first-team players at Spurs have gained experience out on loan.
‘When they think you are ready, you come back. You can see last season with Harry Kane, Nabil Bentaleb and Ryan Mason. Before them, you have Danny Rose, Kyle Walker and Andros Townsend. A lot of them have played on loan.
‘That is the step you take — getting out on loan and proving yourself. Then you can play when you are ready.’
Further backing for his Rangers switch came f r om ex- I brox centre-half Ugo Ehiogu, currently Under-21 manager at Tottenham. It was news to Ball that his Spurs mentor had once scored an overhead kick at Celtic Park.
‘Ugo was the first one to mention Rangers to me,’ added Ball. ‘He’s played here, of course, and he told me I would love it — and I think that I will.
‘He was as excited as I was by the move. But I only found out yesterday that he’d scored the winner in an Old Firm game. I saw him celebrating in one of the photographs at the training ground and I couldn’t believe it. I’ve texted him and I’ll need to find his goal on YouTube.
‘There were no worries about playing in Scotland or the fact it was far away. This is just about the football and I thought: “I’m going to go up there and smash it!”.
‘I mean, there were 49,000 fans at Ibrox for the game against St Mirren. I watched that game and it was quite inspiring. I’m looking forward to it.’
First, though, comes a visit to a rather different arena as Rangers f ace Alloa at the I ndrodrill Stadium tomorrow lunchtime.
Visits there were often painful for the Ibrox club last season, as they made an ignominious exit from the Petrofac Training Cup and shed Championship points.
Warburton took the squad to train on the plastic pitch this week and insists previous complaints about it will not enter his side’s minds.
The ex-Brentford manager has, however, questioned the wider proliferation of artificial surfaces within Scottish football. Plastic pitches have been banned in England since 1995, with Football League clubs deciding against a reintroduction earlier this year.
‘I am surprised (by the number i n Scotland),’ admitted the Rangers boss. ‘It is another debate for another day, but I am surprised by that.
‘There are no excuses for our players — we know it’s there and we have to go and deal with it. That’s not an issue at all and there is no negativity in that respect.
‘ But l ooking as an outsider coming in, I am surprised and there is food for thought there.
‘I don’t think there are any in England. You go back to the old days and QPR and Luton had them. Having played on both, I paid the price for it!
‘It’s a bigger debate, in my mind, when you are looking at the quality of product. At a time when Scottish f ootball is trying to look forward a nd attract investment to the game, I think i t’s important the quality is looked at.
‘That’s not being disrespectful to any club. I just think it’s important you look at the product because, at the end of the day, you have TV viewers watching it and things like that. It’s maybe a conversation for another occasion.’
Former Rangers caretaker boss Kenny McDowall lambasted the Alloa surface in January, claiming i t had been c overed i n an excessive amount of plastic pellets. ‘It is what it is,’ said Warburton. ‘There is no negativity from us. We are not worried about the pitch. ‘Alloa will be a determined, wel l--o rganised te a m. They’ve had a rough start to the season and they’ll be looking to do well in front of their home fans. ‘Our job is to go there and perform to the best of our ability. If we do that, we’ll be in good shape. Our standards can’t drop on any surface — 3G, 4G, clay. Whatever you play on it is about your mindset and ours has to be positive.’