Jimmy Bell feels confident he can get the best out of young players
Development Coach Jimmy Bell is excited about working with a young group of players here at Port Vale and he firmly believes he can help them progress and see them challenging for a firs tteam place in the not too distant future.
He explained: “We have acquired ten fantastic young lads and my role will be to develop them throughout the season, get them involved with the first team and into the first team squad and hopefully this time next year they will get pro contracts with Port Vale and pushing for a first team place.
“The players in the Development squad are from an age group where players often get lost. Physically they haven’t matured and sometimes they are just not strong enough mentally or physically to push into the first team and a lot of the time players disappear from the game.
“You can walk into any pub and somebody will say ‘see that lad over there, he could have made it’ and why haven’t they? Possibly because they have got lost in the system, they haven’t fitted in when they were 18 or 19 and they fell away because they haven’t got a firs team place.
“It is that age group that I am looking to develop technically, mentally and physically and make them stronger and better players and hopefully ready to get into the firs team in a year or two from now.
“This is a great opportunity. There are not many clubs in League One or League Two who do this type of thing, so it is a big chance to progress for the club.”
Jimmy has a lot of experience working with and developing young players and he is confident in his own ability to make the system work for Port Vale.
“I have worked my socks off to get where I was. I had thirteen good years at Accrington Stanley and built them up. I know players inside out and I know what makes them tick and I am very professional in my ways.
“I am a very knowledgeable person and hopefully I can bring all of my knowledge and make them better players and better people.
“We have always developed young players at Accrington Stanley – players who have been released by your Liverpools, Evertons, Man Uniteds, Blackpool, Burnley – whoever.
“I have always worked with this type of age group and I know how to develop players and hopefully that will stand them in good stead.
Although he didn’t hand pick the players himself, Vale’s new coach is more than happy with the quality of players he has been given and shows it with an enthusiastic approach to the job.
He said: “I have got a group of ten players to work with throughout this season and we are not looking to recruit and more at the moment.
“We have brought seven players from other clubs – Wolves, Reading, Southampton and various other clubs and we have also got three that have come through the system here.
“George Foster has done all of the groundwork and it is his baby as well as the Chairman and Micky Adams – I have brought in to coach them.
“I have had no input in bringing the players in, that has been down to George and Micky, but they are a fantastic group of players and I am really looking forward to it.”