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THE WEEK ON THE TEES 20-2-08
Luke Raine
Last week it was announced that Stewart Downing had agreed a five year deal which will see him plying his trade at the Riverside Stadium for what could be the best years of his football career.
This comes at a time when the words "loyalty" and "commitment" are rarely associated with footballers, especially England internationals at Premiership clubs.
The decision made by Downing to commit himself to Boro is not only a signal of intent but is also very refreshing.
Some may say that he is going to be paid in the region of £10m over the next five years so it is hardly a case of the player making a financial sacrifice to stay at his hometown club but I don't think money has a lot of significance in this particular case.
We are now in a footballing era where players like Ryan Giggs, who stay at one club for their entire career, are becoming increasingly rare.
There is now a good chance that Downing will stay at the club for his whole career and what is to say that he doesn't have the potential to become one of the best players to pull on a red shirt? Downing has his faults but in my view he is a player that isn't appreciated enough and would definitely be sorely missed if he wasn't at the club.
After agreeing to sign his new deal, Downing said that the signing of Afonso Alves was one of the main reasons behind him staying at the club.
This is another example of the new found optimism within MFC and much of this has been catalysed by the signing of Alves. This has led to the word "ambition" being used a lot over the last fortnight.
The next step is to persuade David Wheater to commit to a long term deal as he is out of contract in the summer. I am sure it will not be the case, but it would be a huge mistake if we were to let him leave on a free transfer, with a number of big clubs apparently keeping more than half an eye on the situation.
There is no doubt that discussions over a new contract for Downing had been protracted to say the least.
Barely a month ago there were rumblings coming out of Downing's camp that he was prepared to see out the remaining two years of his contract and move on. What should be remembered though is that Downing has a very outspoken agent in Ian Elliot, so how much of this was actually from Downing himself is cause for debate.
This brings me on to my next point about the role of the modern day football agent.
I am not here to criticise certain agents in the game but to look at their role in the industry and to question whether they are truly necessary. I understand that these people are only trying to make a living but for the job that they supposedly do, I think that the financial rewards they receive from a deal are often hugely inflated.
For instance when a lower league club sells a home grown player to one of the big teams, it is almost certain that the youngster's agent will pocket a fair proportion of the fee.
This is money which could have been reinvested back into that club's youth team and could maybe help produce an English star of the future.
There are many talking points about the inadequacies of English football on the back of the national side's failure to qualify for the European Championships this summer and this is an area which I feel needs looking into.
There were also rumblings in the weekend press from FIFA President Sepp Blatter about introducing a rule where a team would have to have at least four home grown players in a match day squad.
Mr Blatter has certainly come up with some weird and wonderful ideas during his tenure as FIFA President but this suggestion is one which could certainly benefit the game.
As I said earlier, for all the excitement and drama in English football, there are a number of areas which definitely need to be looked at.
As a Middlesbrough fan I also know that our team wouldn't struggle if it was obligatory to name four home grown players in a squad. It would be interesting, however, to see how some teams would cope if a rule like this was brought in.
I do know that the only way for young players to improve is for them to be playing in the first team week in week out. A great example of this would be Jonathon Grounds. He may have only played a handful of games for the first team but you can see from game to game that the youngster is growing in confidence.
Reserve games are good for young players but they do not compare to lining up against a team like Liverpool. If more young players around the country were getting chances like this then I am sure that, in time, the national team would see the benefits too.
Luke Raine
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