[14 FEB 02] THE STUART LINNELL COLUMN

Hall Shows The Way

Still only 26 years of age, Marcus Hall is currently playing some of the best football of his career. Capped at Under-21 and “B” international level by England, Marcus can count himself unlucky that injuries at key moments in recent years have prevented him having the chance to fill one of the national side’s problem positions – his natural left-back berth.

Coventry born and bred, Marcus has only ever played for his hometown club and I can tell you, from personal contact with him immediately after matches, that no one feels worse than Marcus when the Sky Blues lose and no one is more elated when they win.

The key factor in this young man’s make up is his total commitment and dedication to the badge that bears the name “Coventry City Football Club”.

Marcus’s fierce pride in playing for the Sky Blues has been a prime motivation in his fight to establish himself as a first-team regular. And make no mistake – at times it has been a fight.

The injuries that I mentioned earlier have kept him on the fringe of things and allowed others to challenge for his place, and if Gordon Strachan had decided to play Keith O’Neill in his favourite role – at left back – after his arrival from Middlesbrough at the start of the season, Marcus may well have been sidelined yet again.

As it turned out, Strachan wanted O’Neill to play in a more advanced position on the left, O’Neill has in any case been out of action for much of his time at Coventry because of injury, and – oh yes – Strachan got the sack.

So, re-enter Marcus Hall, responding to the call from his new manager, and the way he is playing at the moment, it will take someone very special to take his place.

Since making his first team debut in 1994, Marcus has served under four managers – Phil Neal, Ron Atkinson, Gordon Strachan and now Roland Nilsson. Of that illustrious quartet, two – Neal and Nilsson - ranked among the world’s best full-backs when they were players, and with Marcus widely regarded as a good learner, something from both of them will have rubbed off.

Another former top-class defender, former England star Kenny Sansom, who played for Coventry City briefly towards the end of his career, said this week that the sign of a good player is if he learns quickly during a game.

“If he’s under pressure from a forward early in the game,” said Sansom, “but works out how to cope with that and then applies what he’s learned as the game goes on, that’s the sign of a good defender.”

Sansom was talking specifically about Southampton’s Wayne Bridge, who did so well for England in Holland in what has quickly become known as “The Darius Vassell Show”, but he could just as easily have been referring to Marcus Hall.

Sky Blues Chairman Mike McGinnity says, quite rightly, that the club cannot afford to continue with more than 50 players on its books. When the pruning starts, some youngsters will be among those discarded. That is a painful task for the coaches that have been their guides and mentors, deciding which of their young charges will make the grade and then having to tell those they let go that the club has no further need of their services.

But for many, many clubs, including several in the Premiership, the practice of buying in costly imports from overseas on hugely inflated wages, cannot continue. Growing your own is the way forward.

Aston Villa did that with Vassell, who looks destined to be an England regular for many years ahead. Coventry City have done it with Marcus Hall, who could yet secure an England place, too, if his club can regain its Premiership status and he can remain injury free.

Marcus is the role model for the Sky Blues emerging stars, and his success should give Mr McGinnity a clear sign to the future as he battles his way through the club’s financial ills.

A Coventry kid with Coventry emblazoned on his heart as well on his shirt.