2 August 2007
How Young is Too Young?
Manchester United today announced the signing of a new player. Rhain Davis however is unlikely to break into the first team in the immediate future however. Indeed it is likely that by the time he is a first team regular - if he is ever good enough - Wayne Rooney will be well into his thirties. You see, Rhain Davis is nine years old.
Rhain’s grandfather send a DVD of him playing for Redlands United Under-10s in Brisbane. (Manchester) United’s scouts were so impressed that they invited him to join their youth academy. Result; the whole family is moving back to Cheshire.
One has to ask though, what sort of effect does such fame and expectation have on a nine year old?
Jermaine Pennant’s story is an interesting precedent. He shot to fame aged 15 when Arsene Wenger signed him for £2m from Notts County. As string of disciplinary problems followed including breaking curfews and punching opponents. Although he scored a hat trick in his full league debut, Wenger eventually lost patience with him and his frequent late appearances at training.
Pennant then found himself in jail having been convicted of drink-driving - a brainless enough act in itself made all the worse that he was already serving a sixteen month driving ban at the time and was uninsured. Jermaine hardly acted contrite at the time giving the name of his erstwhile team mate Ashley Cole to the police.
At Birmingham he gained the distinction of being the first footballer to play with an electronic tag on his ankle.
Then came his surprising - and wholly unearned - move to Liverpool, which must surely be his last change to make the most of his talent. If he does so it is likely that it will not be due to any curbing of his felonious nature. On 15 July, 2007, he was arrested for a Section 5 public order offence “using words or behaviour likely to cause distress” and was ordered to pay a fixed penalty fine.
Let’s hope Rhain Davis gets better advice than Pennant got and that he doesn’t become yet another example of the effects of too much, too young.
