Coyle puts his faith in 'fearless' kids
12:00pm Saturday 4th February 2012 in Sport By Marc Iles
OWEN Coyle has no qualms about calling on his young guns to bail Wanderers out of a relegation battle.
January’s transfer activity gave us a glimpse of the manager’s grand plan at the Reebok, as 24-year-old Tim Ream and 20-year-old Marvin Sordell joined 19-year-old loanee Ryo Miyaichi in the Whites camp.
Gone are the days of bringing in seasoned campaigners and looking to milk the most out of their final years. Coyle’s fresh approach is now just as business oriented as it is about football.
Given the club’s precarious league position, some could look upon such signings as a gamble, set against relegation rivals QPR, for example.
Mark Hughes reached out for experienced Premier League performers such as Bobby Zamora and Djibril Cisse in a bid to avoid the clutches of the bottom three.
But Coyle’s faith in the hunger of youth is unwavering, as well it might be, given the success he has enjoyed with January recruits such as Jack Wilshere and Daniel Sturridge in the last two seasons.
“Playing young players doesn’t frighten me,” he said. “I think young kids are fearless, and they certainly should be. They should be out there showing everyone they can play and have that confidence. I feel sometimes, all they need is a platform.
“There’s no shame being on the outside of the first 11 at an elite club because they can go out and spend 10, 15 or £20million at the drop of a hat.
“These young lads should aspire to that kind of level. And with it comes a freshness and an energy that I love to see as a manager. I want it in my teams.”
Had circumstances been different, we may have seen two more bright young things in new surroundings at Euxton this week.
Failed bids for Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha and Middlesbrough defender Rhys Williams made for a frustrating deadline day but, reckons Coyle, showed the blueprint for what he has in mind.
“Sometimes you think you are close to your targets and the rug gets pulled from under your feet but that can happen,” he said. “At the end of it all, I’m delighted with the three young, talented players we got.
“It was important though that we tried to bring in more strength. We tried for Zaha as well, because you can never have enough of that kind of player.
“Equally with strikers, you can never have enough goalscorers in your squad.
“I think the fees that we have invested – and I don’t use the word spend – were on players who will grow and become real assets for the football club. In terms of a business plan, that’s the way forward.”
Although Coyle is keen to stress that his senior players, such as Kevin Davies, Zat Knight, Gretar Steinsson, Martin Petrov and Jussi Jaaskelainen, are still very much in his mind, the Scot makes no secret of the fact that his recruitment policy will concentrate mainly on youth from here on in.
Added to that, big efforts are being made on the Academy front, including the impending return of former boss Sammy Lee to work alongside Jimmy Phillips and his staff to accelerate the production of homegrown talent.
“Nothing would please me more than seeing us start to produce homegrown, local players,” he said. “Joe Riley has come through and there have been others who have made the step up this season.
“Equally, we have to always be on the lookout. I lwatch for young players, whether they are playing in reserves teams or anywhere else, more than proven senior players because you already know what they can do.
“I’m a manager just now, but first and foremost I’m a coach, and you want to help players improve and develop. With that in mind, it’s the younger players you target because they are open to more improvement.”
Coyle is hoping to work similar magic with £3million capture from Watford, Marvin Sordell, as he did with his England Under-21 predecessor Daniel Sturridge, who graduated to the senior set-up under Fabio Capello soon after his spell at the Reebok.
“I don’t want to put him under any pressure in any way, but when you see the last two England Under-21 strikers have been Danny Wellbeck and Daniel Sturridge, you get a sense of what kind of quality you need to play at that level,” said the Wanderers boss.
“It’s down to Marvin now. He’s scored goals in the Championship, been a marvellous team player, and now he’s stepped up.
“Like Ryo Miyaichi, he has pace to burn. I want to win games because that’s how I get judged as a manager but I also want fans to be excited by the football they are watching, knowing that something might happen that gets them out of their seat. Both of these young players are capable of that.”
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