Opinion: some uninformed Man Utd fans are wrong to criticise the Dan Gore to Port Vale link
Rob Fielding says that some Manchester United supporters need to educate themselves on what works best for young talent after some fans have bemoaned the fact that Dan Gore is set to join the Valiants.
Rob Fielding writes…
What do the following England Internationals have in common… Harry Kane, Jarrod Bowen, Ivan Toney, Jack Grealish, Jordan Pickford and Kyle Walker?
The answer is that all of them had their first taste of regular first-team football at a level below the Championship. It doesn’t appear to have held any of their careers back does it?
Harry Kane, England’s all-time top-scorer started off with a loan spell with Leyton Orient. Kyle Walker, winner of 81 caps began on loan with Northampton Town. Jack Grealish had a loan spell with Notts County.
And that’s why I find it odd that there’s been lots of posts from some Manchester United fans (but not all of them, I want to make that clear) bemoaning the fact that wonderkid Dan Gore could be moving to the Valiants on loan. The general gist is he’s too good for League One and he deserved a chance at a higher level.
So, let’s be clear, this isn’t a partisan Port Vale response. I can deal in simple facts…
Dan Gore has played a single minute of senior football. If he went to a Premier League or Championship side, what are his chances of playing regularly? Not high, I reckon. He could come back from the spell with his playing time still measured in minutes.
On the other hand, loanees Ollie Arblaster and Alfie Devine, both England U20 Internationals (and in Devine’s case recently training with the full England squad) got regular starts with the Vale. Both players praised the club for how they were handled on and off the pitch. Both players felt it had been an enormous help to their careers.
Now that Arblaster and Devine have returned, after glowing reviews for their performances, there is a vacancy in Vale’s midfield. Should Dan Gore move, he’s highly likely to earn a starting place and like Arblaster and Devine, get his fledgling career off to a good start.
That’s something that’s good for Port Vale FC, Dan Gore and also Manchester United, so moaning about it seems an odd thing to do. Perhaps it’s down to those fans’ lack of knowledge about the lower leagues? Perhaps they don’t know the efforts the Valiants have made to attract young talent through playing a passing style, through upgrading facilities away from the pitch and from welcoming the young players’ families to games?
Perhaps it’s time for them to educate themselves about the lower leagues, to stop thinking the whole world revolves around the Premier League and remember (as we said at the start) that a fair number of current England Internationals are grateful for spells at lower league clubs which kickstarted their careers!