I can fully understand why all the big boys will be looking at Morgan Gibbs-White this summer. He is a player I like a lot.
He has been shining at Nottingham Forest for long before this season and has already proved himself to be a top Premier League player.
He could have a stinker at Wembley on Sunday against Manchester City, but it won’t change anyone’s opinion of him. I met him in Portugal last summer where we chatted and he seems to be so enthusiastic about the game. He certainly gave me the impression that he loves his job.
You can see it in how he wants to get on the ball, whatever the score, and he works his socks off for the team. He’s got an edge to him, which I like, and he’s never shy of doing those hard yards I like to remind people about.
A great indicator of his character is how he deals with disappointment. If something goes wrong, he might show a bit of anger, and there’s no harm in that, but he’s able to park it and get on with his game.
He’s in a team where the manager demands that everyone works hard off the ball and I never see him complain about that. The only factor to his detriment is the fact he doesn’t get enough goals. Five in the Premier League isn’t enough for a player of his qualities.
Morgan Gibbs-White has been key to Nottingham Forest’s push for Champions League football
He is not afraid to do the hard yards, but can still add goals to his game to reach the next level
Pep Guardiola’s Man City have been linked with Gibbs-White, and will face him in the FA Cup semi-finals this weekend
Forest have a pragmatic approach. If he was in a team that was more front footed it could bring his skills in front of goal to the fore, but Nottingham Forest is a very good place for him to be playing his football at the moment.
He’s now proven and tested in the division but the only question mark against him is, if he left, would he be able to play as well in a side where the opposition treat you like it’s their cup final every week. That would be the challenge for him.
At 25, he’s coming to the most productive point in his career where he should be in his pomp for the next five to seven years. He’s a creator, he’s got the workrate, all the attributes, it’s just whether he can get to double figures in goalscoring every season.
I think he can mix it with the best and there’s a hell of a lot more people than me who will think that as well. Certainly, the likes of Pep Guardiola or Mikel Arteta will be thinking ‘he’d be a real asset for our football team’.
Forest now, are not too dissimilar to the side that had Liverpool’s number for a couple of years in my playing days. They absorb the pressure and hit you on the break. You know what you are going to get.
On Sunday, there’ll be no surprises for the two coaches. City will dominate possession, and Forest will look to counter and get goals on the break or via set-pieces. City are operating in a gear below what we have been used to seeing over the past five years.
It did surprise me to read Kevin De Bruyne’s comments last week, that he was shocked over not being offered a new City contract.
He’ll know better than anyone over the last year that his influence on the team has been on the wane. It manifests itself in not getting your passes off quickly enough, getting caught in possession, not being able to do the intense pressing for 90 minutes and a tendency to pick up more muscle injuries. The signs have been there for the past 12 months. He’d be the first to realise that.
Kevin De Bruyne is surprised he wasn’t offered a new deal, but his influence at City has waned
Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva have also got older and no longer bring the same energy
Guardiola will want to freshen things up in midfield, and could turn to Gibbs-White this summer
Whether he wants to stay here in the most demanding league in the world is up to him. The problem for any club here is it’s going to be hard to match the wages.
There may be no transfer fee but paying him close to the salary he’s on would create a problem for the manager with others in the dressing room demanding the same and knocking on the manager’s door. He could go to Saudi Arabia or America where he could be a superstar but if he stays here, he must be honest with himself.
For City, it’s not rocket science. The likes of de Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva have all got older and don’t have the energy levels they used to. That’s what Pep will want to change this summer.
Liverpool deserve to embrace title triumph
I was there when Liverpool were awarded their last Premier League title in 2020, in an empty stadium because of Covid.
I was sad for the players because, I can tell you, to have that experience of winning a league title in front of Liverpool’s supporters is one that is second to none.
So Sunday, against Tottenham, is a great opportunity for the current side to taste that.
There’s footage of me throwing the old First Division trophy in the air for Ronnie Whelan to catch just after I’d been presented with it by our old chairman John Smith. That was against Spurs too in 1982. No one has ever asked me why I did that and looking back at the images you’d think I never wanted the thing. Even today, I still can’t tell you why I did that. But it was my first title as captain and my instinctive emotion was wanting to share it with my teammates.
The great thing was Liverpool fans got what it meant to win that trophy. It meant we were the best team in the land. You could see that satisfaction in the faces of the staff too.
From Bill Shankly onwards, the staff always insisted that was the number one target of any season: the league title.
They felt it said more about us as a group and more about them; how they had done that season in managing the group of players they had been working with.
They didn’t often give out compliments, but you could see it made them very happy.
When you’re a player you can reflect and say, ‘that was a tough season’, but it had to be tough for them too because they would share the lows and the highs of a long, hard nine months.
Liverpool celebrated their first Premier League title in an empty stadium in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic
Arne Slot, his players and the fans should treasure every moment if they get the point they need against Tottenham to seal the title on Sunday
The Gray dynasty lives on at Leeds
Eddie Gray must be extremely proud to see his great nephew Harry carry on their great family dynasty at Leeds United.
It’s no wonder he was wiping away a tear as Harry was given his debut against Stoke City as Leeds earned promotion. To also follow in the footsteps of his grandad Frank, father Andy and brother Archie, who have already turned out for the club, Harry will do well to reach the standards of his predecessors in the family. Certainly, great uncle Eddie and grandad Frank set the bar high at Elland Road.
Eddie was a wizard of a player and always a gentleman. We used to meet up on holiday in the south of France and go running together. Although he is the best part of five years older, Eddie was always in front of me on those sunny evenings, running along the coast of the Mediterranean. I never caught him.
Harry Gray became the latest member of his family to represent Leeds United earlier this week
Eddie Gray was clearly very proud as he watched his great-nephew make his Leeds debut
Vardy’s fairytale should inspire the next generation
Jamie Vardy deserves a hell of a lot of credit for shaping the career he has had.
At 16, Vardy was let go by Sheffield Wednesday, but he didn’t take the route of your usual academy player that is released. Going via Stocksbridge Park Steels, Halifax and Fleetwood before winning a league title with Leicester City and playing for England is a fantastic achievement.
Jamie Vardy will leave Leicester, but is a shining example of never giving up on your dreams
There’s a lesson to be learned here for any aspiring young footballer.
My own story was that I was sold by Spurs at the age of 19 for £30,000 to Middlesbrough.
Obviously, the decision makers at Spurs thought I wasn’t going to be good enough for them going forward and yet, five years later, I was being transferred to Liverpool for a record fee between two English clubs of £352,000.
In this game, disappointment is guaranteed. It’s how you deal with it.
