Home
I can understand Arsenal fans scratching their heads in puzzlement at the thought of seeing Rob Holding’s name on the team-sheet, I have been there myself.
Last August the line-ups were announced at Middlesbrough and, lo and behold, the young defender had kept his place from a particularly inglorious Capital One Cup defeat against Burton Albion a few days earlier.
Picked by Neil Lennon to play in a three-man defence, the experiment did not go well. Boro were a different class and the game was won by half time.
David Flitcroft, the Bury manager, had talked highly of Holding when he took him on loan the previous season and when Holding was jettisoned back to the development squad the following week it seemed another spell gaining experience in League One or Two would follow. Instead I witnessed a total metamorphosis, a young man who returned a few months later a completely different player.
What happened to Holding as he returned to playing in front of a hundred people on a freezing night at Leyland for a few months I honestly don’t know. But when he returned to the Bolton line-up at Hull in December the transformation was quite incredible.
At 19, Holding was reading the game like a 35-year-old Premier League veteran. He brought the ball out of defence, sprayed it left and right, timed his heading to perfection and never got caught out of position. I don’t know how this pleasant young Tameside lad had turned into Bolton’s version of Bobby Moore almost overnight, but he had.
The chatter was instant. The last time I heard folk so confident a defender would be a success, they were talking about Gary Cahill on his arrival from Aston Villa.
Scouts quickly started to take notice too. Bournemouth, Watford and Everton were the first on the scene, followed quickly by Arsenal.
He was by no means infallible, how could you be in a team struggling so badly? Rob won’t want a reminder of a 4-0 Boxing Day defeat at Rotherham, nor a personal off-day at Leeds United.
It was only once I started talking to him after games, bumping into him around the club that I honestly started to believe he was the real deal.
Any journalist will describe the agonising pain of forcing words out of a young footballer after a match and trying to rearrange them into a legible sentence. We have all been there.
I remember speaking to Jack Wilshere during his loan spell at Bolton after a defeat at Chelsea (ah, memories). The phrase water into wine springs to mind. A year later I watched him on Football Focus sounding like a seasoned pro, so whatever media training is done at the Emirates, it certainly works.
Holding was a pleasure from day one. His first post-match interview with the local press lasted several minutes and was as polished as his performances on the field.
A few weeks later he sat in front of a crowd of Bolton supporters and traded anecdotes with Peter Reid, which is no mean feat. I took him to one side afterwards and he told me he dreamed of leading Wanderers to promotion this season as captain, quotes which were squirrelled away and then blown completely out of the water when I learned Arsenal were in for him a few days later!
This hasn’t been a case of demanding a move. Holding is an eminently sensible type, guided well by his dad, Stuart. The Stalybridge lad isn’t flashy and we are not peppered by Instagram photos of him living it up in the Cheshire bars or the Ibiza clubs in the off-season.
In fact, after winning the Toulon Tournament with England Under-21s this summer he went backpacking with his mates in Thailand and stayed in a five pound a night hostel. How the other half live indeed!
Arsenal fans seem divided on his impending arrival. Of course they want to see the club spend heavily on proven players who can win them silverware. Holding is not ready for Premier League football – but in my own view, he is too good to be loaned back to League One as well.
His signing has been likened to that of Callum Chambers, albeit for a tiny slice of the £16million which took the latter to North London from Southampton two years ago.
Gunners fans question whether his development has been as steady as it should, but if Holding’s case has taught me anything, it is that young players improve when they are ready.
A few years ago Holding was wondering if his growing pains were worth it, and Wanderers were contemplating whether he would push on to be the player he promised to be at an early age. There are so many indeterminable factors.
Holding is not the big name Arsenal fans wanted. But I get the feeling even when top flight and international football calls – and it will – that he won’t be your typical Premier League megastar.
Source
Last August the line-ups were announced at Middlesbrough and, lo and behold, the young defender had kept his place from a particularly inglorious Capital One Cup defeat against Burton Albion a few days earlier.
Picked by Neil Lennon to play in a three-man defence, the experiment did not go well. Boro were a different class and the game was won by half time.
David Flitcroft, the Bury manager, had talked highly of Holding when he took him on loan the previous season and when Holding was jettisoned back to the development squad the following week it seemed another spell gaining experience in League One or Two would follow. Instead I witnessed a total metamorphosis, a young man who returned a few months later a completely different player.
What happened to Holding as he returned to playing in front of a hundred people on a freezing night at Leyland for a few months I honestly don’t know. But when he returned to the Bolton line-up at Hull in December the transformation was quite incredible.
At 19, Holding was reading the game like a 35-year-old Premier League veteran. He brought the ball out of defence, sprayed it left and right, timed his heading to perfection and never got caught out of position. I don’t know how this pleasant young Tameside lad had turned into Bolton’s version of Bobby Moore almost overnight, but he had.
The chatter was instant. The last time I heard folk so confident a defender would be a success, they were talking about Gary Cahill on his arrival from Aston Villa.
Scouts quickly started to take notice too. Bournemouth, Watford and Everton were the first on the scene, followed quickly by Arsenal.
He was by no means infallible, how could you be in a team struggling so badly? Rob won’t want a reminder of a 4-0 Boxing Day defeat at Rotherham, nor a personal off-day at Leeds United.
It was only once I started talking to him after games, bumping into him around the club that I honestly started to believe he was the real deal.
Any journalist will describe the agonising pain of forcing words out of a young footballer after a match and trying to rearrange them into a legible sentence. We have all been there.
I remember speaking to Jack Wilshere during his loan spell at Bolton after a defeat at Chelsea (ah, memories). The phrase water into wine springs to mind. A year later I watched him on Football Focus sounding like a seasoned pro, so whatever media training is done at the Emirates, it certainly works.
Holding was a pleasure from day one. His first post-match interview with the local press lasted several minutes and was as polished as his performances on the field.
A few weeks later he sat in front of a crowd of Bolton supporters and traded anecdotes with Peter Reid, which is no mean feat. I took him to one side afterwards and he told me he dreamed of leading Wanderers to promotion this season as captain, quotes which were squirrelled away and then blown completely out of the water when I learned Arsenal were in for him a few days later!
This hasn’t been a case of demanding a move. Holding is an eminently sensible type, guided well by his dad, Stuart. The Stalybridge lad isn’t flashy and we are not peppered by Instagram photos of him living it up in the Cheshire bars or the Ibiza clubs in the off-season.
In fact, after winning the Toulon Tournament with England Under-21s this summer he went backpacking with his mates in Thailand and stayed in a five pound a night hostel. How the other half live indeed!
Arsenal fans seem divided on his impending arrival. Of course they want to see the club spend heavily on proven players who can win them silverware. Holding is not ready for Premier League football – but in my own view, he is too good to be loaned back to League One as well.
His signing has been likened to that of Callum Chambers, albeit for a tiny slice of the £16million which took the latter to North London from Southampton two years ago.
Gunners fans question whether his development has been as steady as it should, but if Holding’s case has taught me anything, it is that young players improve when they are ready.
A few years ago Holding was wondering if his growing pains were worth it, and Wanderers were contemplating whether he would push on to be the player he promised to be at an early age. There are so many indeterminable factors.
Holding is not the big name Arsenal fans wanted. But I get the feeling even when top flight and international football calls – and it will – that he won’t be your typical Premier League megastar.
Source
