It’s rare that a week goes by without Roy Keane causing some kind of a stir with his comments ‘I think he has to improve that, he’s almost like a League Two player’ and the latest to come under scrutiny was Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland. Admittedly, the 23-year-old hasn’t quite hit the heights of his 36-goal debut Premier League campaign in his second season, though his tally of 18 goals this term still has him clear at the top of the scoring charts at the time of writing.
Such numbers have failed to impress Keane however and the infamously hard to please Irishman didn’t mince his words when assessing Haaland after Manchester City’s goalless draw with Arsenal at the weekend. Speaking as a pundit on Sky Sports after the game, he said: “The level of his general play is so poor, and not just today. His general play for such a player, it is so poor, I think he has to improve that, he’s almost like a League Two player.”
Attacking a man who has scored 54 goals in 59 Premier League appearances is certainly bold, particularly when you consider that some big names have earned their stripes in the fourth tier over the years. To help fight Haaland’s corner, we’ve picked out six players with “League Two ability” that went on to reach the very top of the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP8lTpY1_kc
Ollie Watkins – Exeter City (2013-2017)
A regular in the England set-up and a strong contender for this year’s Premier League golden boot, the Aston Villa frontman came through the ranks at League Two side Exeter City, scoring 21 goals from 68 appearances in the fourth tier. Watkins played a key role in the Exeter side which made it to the 2017 League Two play off final and while they were ultimately edged out by Blackpool at Wembley, he gained some notable personal recognition by scooping the prestigious EFL Young Player of the Year award.
That accolade – along with his goalscoring exploits – earned him a £1.8 million move to Championship side Brentford that summer, before sealing a big money move to Aston Villa just three years later.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvRRHpc31jg
Ivan Toney – Northampton Town (2012–2015)
Another familiar name to England fans, Ivan Toney also cut his teeth in the EFL before making his way into the top flight. The Brentford frontman came through the ranks at Northampton Town and having bagged eight goals from 40 appearances in the 2014-15 campaign, the then 19-year-old was picked up by Premier League side Newcastle United.
Things never really worked out for Toney at the Magpies, spending the majority of his time there out on loan. However, his involvement in promotion campaigns at both Wigan and Barnsley led to a permanent move to Peterborough United, where his tally of 40 goals in 76 games in the third tier would catch the attention of Premier League-chasing Brentford.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-H3IV-a7LQ&t
Joe Hart – Shrewsbury Town (2002-2006)
It feels as though Joe Hart has been around for an eternity and the 36-year-old is set to bring the curtain down on his illustrious 21-year career at Celtic next month. He’s had a rather nomadic time of things since being phased out by Manchester City in 2016, but Hart has enjoyed a fabulous career. A two-time Premier League winner, he is the third-most capped English goalkeeper of all-time with 75 appearances, winning 10 trophies at club level.
He came through the ranks at boyhood club Shrewsbury Town and having cut his teeth with six appearances in the fourth tier in the 2004-05 season, he enjoyed a breakout campaign the following year.
A tally of 12 clean sheets in 46 appearances for the then 18-year-old saw him named in the PFA’s League Two Team of the Year as his side finished comfortably in the top half. He earned a lucrative move to Manchester City that summer, establishing himself as their first-choice stopper just two years later.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdhg2jsAbQ0
Steve Finnan – Notts County (1997-1998)
He never won any awards for sexy football, but Steve Finnan enjoyed a remarkably successful career for a man who didn’t reach the Premier League until he was 25. The Irishman is in a select group of players to have scored in all four professional divisions in England and his ascent to the top was a steady one, joining third tier side Notts County in 1996 after spells at Birmingham City and non-league Welling United.
Relegation to the fourth tier would follow with County, but Finnan was a key part of the side that won the Division Three title in 1997-98, scoring five goals in 44 appearances at full back. Third tier Fulham would come calling midway through the following campaign, continuing Finnan’s steady rise. His new side would go on to win the Division Two title that year, before reaching the top flight by winning the First Division in 2001.
Already an established Ireland international by this point – playing at the 2002 World Cup – Finnan moved to Liverpool in 2003. He would go on to win the ultimate prize with the Reds, being part of the side which won the 2005 Champions League Final against AC Milan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ojXHf293M8&t
Bobby Zamora – Brighton and Hove Albion (1999-2001)
Another player who took an unorthodox route to the top is Bobby Zamora, who earned a reputation as a deadly marksman in the lower leagues at the turn of the century. Having been released from the West Ham academy, Zamora was sent on loan to fourth division Brighton from Bristol Rovers in 2000. A tally of six goals in six games saw Albion splash out £100,000 for the then 19-year-old, who would go on to blossom in blue and white.
Zamora notched up a whopping 28 goals in 43 appearances as Brighton stormed to the Fourth Division title in 2000-01, before hitting the same tally on the way to back-to-back league titles in the third tier a season later. He quickly became the Football League player that top division sides were begging their team to take a chance on and after scoring 14 goals in his first season in the second flight, Tottenham picked him up for £1.5 million in 2003.
That stint would last just six months, but Zamora would flourish upon switching to West Ham, winning the Championship play offs in 2005 and reaching the 2006 FA Cup Final. Fulham splashed out £4.8 million to take him to Craven Cottage in 2008, where he would go on to reach the 2010 Europa League Final and pick up two England caps to boot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO9us4iR3tY
Rickie Lambert – Macclesfield (2000-2002), Rochdale (2004-2007) & Bristol Rovers (2006-2007)
The man with the most remarkable story on this list is undoubtedly Rickie Lambert, a full England international whose journey into football started with him earning £20 a day screwing lids on to jars in a beetroot factory. Lambert would eventually establish himself in the Football League, though he was something of a lower-level journeyman throughout his twenties, spending spells in the fourth tier at each of Macclesfield Town, Rochdale and Bristol Rovers.
A tally of 29 goals for Rovers in the 2008-09 League One season would persuade Southampton to part with £1 million for his services in August 2009, where his 77 goals across the next three campaigns would help fire the Saints to back-to-back promotions to the Premier League.
Considering that he was 29 before he even played in the second tier, you would be forgiven for thinking that Lambert’s journey would end there, but impressive tallies of 15 and 13 goals respectively in the top flight would see him become part of the England set up, earning 11 caps and being part of the squad that went to the 2014 World Cup. Lambert’s boyhood club Liverpool would come calling in July 2014, providing a fitting culmination to one of the most ridiculous rises through the ranks we’ll ever see.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LwAJZeLyAs
By Nick Seddon
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