POACHING young players has become the current in vogue topic but clubs have always looked at other Academies and tried to find a way of signing their outstanding youngsters. It’s gone on for years. Your rivals would go to any lengths to hold on to their best assets and I remember my chief scout going to watch certain games when clubs would refuse to give out teamsheets, as they wanted to keep the names of those with great promise quiet. Money, more often than not, would ultimately prove decisive but there were occasions when parents would move their children from one club to another purely because the length of deal they had been offered was better. We don’t know the full ins and out of what has gone on with Chelsea but don’t for one minute think that this will be the first and last case that gets punished and it will be interesting to see how many other clubs become embroiled. Everton, of course, have been involved in their own contentious junior transfer this week but it must be stressed they did absolutely nothing wrong and nor have Leeds, who had every right to take the case to a tribunal. I just hope for the sake of Luke Garbutt that he gets a chance in the future to prove his worth because, right now, he is at the back of a long list of left-backs and maybe with hindsight he would have been better staying at Leeds for another year or two. My dad gave me advice when going to Preston; he told me it would be better to go to a small club, prove myself and gain a professional contract – which I did at 17 – then the opportunity to go to a big club later on would follow. So it proved. But if you think an initial £600,000 for Garbutt is expensive, consider this: When Joe Cole was a schoolboy at West Ham, we tried to sign him for Everton – but were quoted £1m, a price that we simply couldn’t match. You are, after all, taking a chance when you sign someone that young but I think what is going to happen to Chelsea will act as a warning to shot to every club. I can see the transfer ban being reduced but they will receive a hefty punishment. Let’s build at Cottage IT’S back to Premier League business on Sunday and Fulham will undoubtedly pose a big threat to Everton’s ambitions. Roy Hodgson has done a magnificent job getting them into Europe but our win over Wigan before the shutdown has made a tremendous difference to the mood. We always used to say at the start of every season that it was imperative to get that first home win under your belt, then follow it up on your travels. I’m sure David Moyes will be thinking that way, too, and I’m quietly confident that the next few weeks will see the Blues click into gear. They will need to be up for it at Craven Cottage, though, as Roy will have Fulham well organised; he’s had some very good jobs and has lot of experience. But looking at our next four games, you can see we have a great opportunity to progress. With the greatest respect to Fulham, Blackburn, Stoke and Wolves, we’ve got to be looking to take these chances when they come up and it will be interesting to see what happens.
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