Perch aims to match Lescott and Jagielka

13 August 2010 11:50
THREE years ago it was Joleon Lescott at Everton, a season later it was Phil Jagielka with the same club and last year it was Roger Johnson at Birmingham City.[LNB] After a lengthy period in which it was all but impossible to rise through the footballing pyramid to the Premier League, suddenly it has become fashionable for top-flight clubs to pluck their leading players from the Championship.[LNB] Newcastle know all about life in England's second tier having romped to promotion last season, so it was telling that Chris Hughton's first summer signing came from one of the clubs the Magpies pipped to the title.[LNB] James Perch might only have cost £1m, but the former Nottingham Forest full-back arrived at St James' Park with a reputation as one of the most promising players outside the Premier League.[LNB] And as he prepares to make his top-flight debut in Monday's away game at Manchester United, the 24- year-old is determined to follow in the footsteps of some recent graduates from the Football League.[LNB] There are players who have made the step up from the Championship to the Premier League and made a real success of it, the likes of Joleon Lescott and Phil Jagielka, said Perch, who made more than 200 appearances for Nottingham Forest after joining the club as a trainee in 2003. I think they might even have done it when they were a bit older than me.[LNB] They've gone on to bigger and better things and hopefully I can do the same.[LNB] Four or five years ago, I think there was a reluctance to bring players up from the Football League, but there does seem to be more of a willingness to do that again which can only be good for English football.[LNB] There are some excellent young players in the Football League who, like me, are just waiting for an opportunity to prove they can do it in the top division.[LNB] Lescott is an obvious one because Manchester City paid £24m for him last summer and he learned his trade and was excellent for Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Championship for many years. David Moyes took a chance on him and it paid off for Everton.[LNB] While Newcastle's financial belt-tightening has reduced the flow of bigmoney arrivals into St James' Park this summer, Mike Ashley's reluctance to splash out exorbitant fees has forced Chris Hughton towards emerging English talent that might otherwise have been overlooked.[LNB] Sol Campbell is hardly a future England international, but both Perch and fellow summer signing Dan Gosling fit Newcastle's new template of raw, emerging players that should have a sell-on value in the future.[LNB] With the Premier League having introduced a new set of rules that limits squad sizes and demands a minimum number of homegrown players, other clubs are beginning to follow suit, and after a World Cup in which the quality of English players was called into question, Perch feels the tide is beginning to turn.[LNB] It's a good idea that Premier League clubs are starting to look lower down the league again instead of going abroad,[LNB] he said. It does seem to be something that is coming back into fashion a bit.[LNB] Of course, managers have to take the gamble and it's their reputations and jobs on the line.[LNB] It's a risk, but it's probably not any more of a risk than spending money on a midfielder from Georgia or Latvia or wherever you've had good scout reports about.[LNB] As ever, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and having impressed as Forest failed to emerge from last season's play-offs, Perch is determined to establish himself as Newcastle's firstchoice right-back in the absence of the injured Danny Simpson.[LNB] This is a good time for me to be making the step up, he said. I've been talked about as a possible Premier League player for a couple of years and it's great to finally get that opportunity.[LNB] I'm a good age, but I'm not getting any younger. I had to make the move sooner rather than later. I'm not inexperienced. I've played a lot of first-team football for Forest and I'm not green or raw.[LNB] I've played a lot of football in a very tough division but I'm definitely ready for a new challenge. I've played in League One and the Championship and I think that's given me a really good grounding. This just feels like the perfect time to be moving up another level.[LNB]

Source: Northern_Echo