Source: Daily_Mail
The White Pele! Peterborough winger George Boyd hopes to earn his Spurs
They call George Boyd 'The White Pele', but not because the Peterborough winger bears any particular resemblance to the great Brazilian. [LNB]No, it was Stevenage fans who, when Boyd played for them, inserted his name in a Manchester United chant which christened Wayne Rooney the 'White Pele'. [LNB]The nickname has stuck but Boyd, 24, has left non-league football behind. [LNB] White Pele: George Boyd[LNB]A £260,000 move to Peterboroughthree years ago - then a record for a non-League player - and twosuccessive promotions sees Boyd play in the Championship, somethingthat seemed a world away when he was released by Charlton at 15. [LNB]Boyd said: 'It's been an unbelievable couple of years. I never thought I'd be playingin the Championship. [LNB]'Nobody ever expected us to get two (promotions) in two (years). The chairman (Darragh MacAnthony) had his targets but nobody ever thought that we would get it. [LNB]'When you've come from the bottom you can enjoy it more. If you'd been in the Premier League and then been released, you could be a bit bitter, but most of us non-league boys are just happy to be where we are.' [LNB]Boyd joined Stevenage at 16, combining football with a college course and working for two hours a day in a sweet shop at Hitchin station to pay for his fare back to Kent at the weekends. [LNB]'I wouldn't have changed the experience for anything else,' he said. [LNB]'It just makes you grow up a lot quicker. If you get released you're best off going down a few leagues to keep playing football.The whole (Charlton) team got released and I don't think there are many still playing. [LNB]'You can easily go down that road, but you've just got to keep going.' [LNB]Today Boyd leads out Peterborough at Tottenham Hotspur in the third round of the FA Cup. [LNB]Dangerous duo: Craig Mackail Smith and George Boyd [LNB]Spurs are fourth in the Premier League but Peterborough, bottom of the Championship, can take heart from their remarkable comeback last Monday against Cardiff. They were 4-0 down at half-time but came back to draw 4-4. [LNB]Boyd said: 'At half-time I think everyone just wanted to go home, it was embarrassing.Our pride got us back. It was unbelievable. [LNB]'I don't think anyone can say our character's not there. I just think it's belief, that we have to start playing before we are 3-0 down.' [LNB]Boyd has seen the goals from Tottenham's 9-1 annihilationof Wigan and added: 'They're a very attacking team. You want to test yourself against the best players, but we can't let the occasion get to us.[LNB]'We can't just turn up and be in awe of the whole stadium, we've got to put up a fight and hopefully try and get something out of the game.[LNB]'However good they are, they might have a bad day and we might play the best game we've ever played. You've got to go there with that mentality.[LNB]'It's occasions like this we wanted to play in when we started in non-League.' [LNB]Tottenham's open style may just suit Boyd. Peterboroughare five points adrift of safety in the Championship with a new man, Mark Cooper, in charge after DarrenFerguson's departure in November, but Boyd has scored 12 goals this season and provided 10 assists from his position on the left wing. [LNB]He attributes his run of form to the influence of his old boss. [LNB] Earning his Spurs: Boyd wants to gun down Tottenham[LNB]Boyd said: 'Darren Fergusonimproved my game loads and I got on really well with him. Football-wise he brought me on leaps and bounds. Physically I've come on, too. [LNB]'Darren will definitely get a job at a Premier League club and manage at the top level. He's got the attributes. He might have another go at a Championship club first but once he's got the experience I think he'll go to manage at the highest level.'[LNB]Another Scot who Boyd has his eye on is Craig Levein, the new international manager. [LNB]Boyd played for Scotland'B' last April when George Burley was in charge and qualifies through his paternalgrandfather,Richard, who was born in Motherwell. [LNB]The phone hasn't rung yet, but an impressive performanceat White Hart Lane will do the 'White Pele' no harm at all.[LNB]THREE POSH PLAYERS TO WATCH...Craig Mackail-Smith: Cost £125,000 from Dagenham and Redbridge, where he wasn't prolific but has since scored 61 goals in 135 games.[LNB]Aaron McLean: Failed to make it at Orient and drifted into the non-League scene, scoring regularly for Grays. Now hit 63 goals in 138 games for Posh.[LNB]Joe Lewis: Cost £400,000 from Norwich. 6ft 6in goalkeeper, who has already been picked by Fabio Capello for the England squad.[LNB] TOTTENHAM v Peterborough: Injured pair Aaron Lennon and Benoit Assou-Ekotto ruled out for SpursPeterborough 4 Cardiff 4: Bish-bash Posh! Jones' fury as Cardiff blow four-goal leadDarren Ferguson is on my list of possible managers insists Preston chairman[LNB]
