Local Heroes

Players come and players go - and some live on in our memories more than most. Some are recalled with a mixture of fondness and awe, which can be applied equally to true greatness (Kevin Beattie) or sheer, abject uselessness (Marco Holster).

If we delve deeper into the pantheon of greats we can identify different sorts of hero. There are heroes and then there are real heroes.

Some players, become heroes for their efforts on the field - I suppose we could call them playing heroes. Others somehow gain popularity far in excess of their abilities and contribution. Those I guess are cult heroes. And then there are others that emerge from our youth production line - or are 'found' in local football. These perhaps are loved even more than others because they are local lads. And naturally these are local heroes. Players such as Ted Phillips, Kevin Beattie, Brian Talbot, Terry Butcher - and lest we forget, Roger Osbourne and Micky Stockwell resonate through the years. They don't need statues - because we already have memories.

The current team is perhaps a bit short of heroes. Pablo is definitely a cult hero - but sadly, there are no playing heroes. Lee and Walters were statistically the best two players in the league in mid-November, but I don't think there would have been much of an outcry if both these excellent players were sold pre-season. And in Lee's case that looked quite likely. Both are a lot more popular now - but still hardly heroes. However, whilst I can make a case for one or two embryonic playing heroes in the current team - I can't even begin to suggest a local hero.

If The Stranglers were Town Fans they'd be singing 'No more local heroes any more' on their latest reunion tour. Why? Ipswich has a long and honourable history of producing its own players - though it could be argued that the well is slowly running dry. But I think this is somewhat unfair. There are several clubs which have a reputation for producing good young players. Go back a while and the hotbed of talent would be Burnley. Yes - honestly! More recently it has been Crewe.

But those reputations come and go and are really transitory blips in the clubs' history. Ipswich however have been producing top-quality players on a regular basis for decades - and they still are. As has been pointed out elsewhere - there are not many products of the Youth Scheme in the current 'first team' after our FA Youth Cup triumph. But in many ways this is a red herring.

Town have won the FA Youth Cup twice before - and on both occasions only one or two graduated into the first team. In fact, if you go through the years, the club turns out about 1.5 first teamers a year.... And that is probably the optimum recruitment rate for a number of reasons.

Firstly - the youth set up is a bit like a production line... the 'finished product' rolls off the line every year - but where can they go next. Two obvious things affect the number of players 'graduating' from the youth set up. Firstly success. If Town had a settled successful first team, no players would get into it from the youth team simply because there are no opportunities. In Robson's era, fondly remembered for youth recruitment, often no youth players at all would get in for year after year.

Robson built home grown teams because he was able to hang on to players for years, decades even. So that Mick Mills for example could be teamed up with a certain George Burley, although he was around 10 years older. In fact, Robson was incredibly lucky in that the team he inherited from McGarry was backed up by an incredible array of talent that took years to get into the team. Players like Trevor Whymark and Brian Talbot both played for England - but would probably have been jettisoned a la Matt Richards nowadays. The academy system just does not recognise 'slow developers'.

Another factor is the mania for instant results. Young players tend not to be trusted by managers because they are inexperienced and make mistakes - hence the deluge of loan players we have endured. Madness for a club like Ipswich - but the club too plays a part as they too collectively lack the patience necessary to see young players develop.

But while there are no local heroes in the current team - there could have been in happier times. Darren Bent, Darren Ambrose, Matt Richards, Ian Westlake all moved on recently for such diverse reasons as paying the over-inflated bills of our administrators in Ambrose's case through to the intolerant nature of Town's support in Richards' case.

In fact unless Town can become successful again - it is more than likely that this dearth of local heroes will continue. Players will barely have popped up on the radar before they are sold as 'promising players' for relatively low fees. For now, the prospect of Town selling established players for a large fee is gone - perhaps for ever. Top clubs no longer seem interested in decent league players and would rather recruit duds from abroad. In recent years (and for the foreseeable future) the likely outlet for Town's young stars are third rank Premier teams - or Yo Yo clubs bouncing in and out of the Prem.

Presumably because its so lucrative to be a bit-part player at a Premier League Club, the idea of staying with a club like Ipswich for any length of time is not realistic. Players now are more likely to simply run down their contracts - or insist on contracts with clauses that are ludicrously beneficial to the player when the time comes to leave. In a way this is right and proper... the transfer system is a somewhat old fashioned concept akin to well-paid slavery. But it makes breeding your own players more and more expensive.

Another worrying aspect of an academy system is what happens to the 'rejects'. In ye olde days a whole raft of perfectly adequate players would build up in the reserves, play occasionally in the first team to raise their profiles and then be sold - or used as makeweights in deals. Paul Mariner for example was signed in the face of stiff competition from West Brom and West Ham, for less money than either offered - simply by including two fringe players in the deal. Town won the FA Cup not so much on the back of Roger Osbourne's goal - but on the two goals Robin Turner scored at Eastville when Town's would-be Cup winners were outplayed by Bristol Rovers in round 3.

Fast forward to the present day and academy products are rarely sold. Lewis Price being a recent exception to the rule - but he had played for Wales. Nowadays they are given away - and even if a crown jewel like Darren Bent or Richard Wright is sold, commercial reality dictates that the player earns far, far more from the deal than the club.

As usual - I have rambled off the subject - but you get my drift. What's missing from the current team - and most Ipswich teams in recent memory is a spine of Ipswich players. Even when Town were in the Premiership under Burley, the players were largely bought in. Like success, they were here today and gone tomorrow.

Does it matter? Personally I think it does. Our heritage of home grown talent is what gives the club its identity. The thing about home-grown players is they don't necessarily have to be good to be great... Micky Stockwell was the epitome of the loyal, bit-part player that looks decent in whatever division he played in. But - and there always is a but - the fortunes of all football clubs is cyclical. Town have been in the doldrums for five years. The prospect of some hard cash has got most fans salivating about bought-in players who might 'take us to the next stage'. I doubt that will happen. But if Marcus Evans really can provide Town with some financial security he might actually allow the club to develop its own talent - be that young players - or bought-in players with the hunger to grow with the club - and not jump ship at the first opportunity.

Author: BlueReview