Source: Northern_Echo
Mowbray salutes Bennett
TONY Mowbray feels Joe Bennett's maiden call up to the England Under-21 squad highlights just how far he has come this season.[LNB] Bennett was named in Stuart Pearce's party for Tuesday's friendly with Italy in Empoli earlier this week.[LNB] The 20-year-old came close to leaving Middlesbrough earlier in the season, when he was cast into the wilderness by former manager Gordon Strachan.[LNB] Mowbray's arrival led to a change in his fortunes, and the Northallerton-based fullback has started Boro's last 14 Championship matches.[LNB] His performances have consistently caught the eye, and Mowbray feels his elevation to Under-21 level is thoroughly deserved.[LNB] I'm delighted for Joe,[LNB] said the Boro boss. Although I'm also pleased they (the Under-21 selectors) didn't come and watch the first half of Tuesday's game because he was probably Scunthorpe's best player before half-time![LNB] Seriously though, Joe's a wonderful talent. I've been impressed from the day I first walked in the building and saw this little skinny kid dribbling around everyone.[LNB] His passing is excellent and I like the way he plays with his head up..[LNB] There are things we still have to work on with him, and he knows that. We have to nurture him, but he has a great attitude and hopefully he will go on to be a big player for us.[LNB] Bennett is merely the latest in a long line of Academy products to have established themselves in the Boro first team.[LNB] Of the 11 players that finished Tuesday's 2-0 win over Scunthorpe, seven had progressed through Boro's much-vaunted Academy.[LNB] The likes of Adam Johnson, Stewart Downing and Lee Cattermole have already moved on, and Mowbray feels privileged to be working with acclaimed Academy director Dave Parnaby.[LNB] Whenever you go into a new club, there are always things you want to change,[LNB] he said. Here, there were some things I wanted to change radically. But in terms of the Academy, I could very quickly see that I didn't need to change a thing.[LNB] I know Dave's footballing philosophy and he likes everyone in the Academy to play football the way I like it to be played. So when people like Joe and Cameron (Park) come through, I don't have to worry about their grasp of the basics.[LNB] Middlesbrough travel to Leeds United or Aston Villa in the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup.[LNB]
