Gibson primed to release Ferrari out of the garage in Paris
Related Articles
Wednesday November 18 2009
HE has been described as a Ferrari which just needs to get out of the garage a little more often.
He was the man summoned from the bench by Giovanni Trapattoni in Bari back in April, tasked with carving open the world champions' defence.
And Alex Ferguson has long preached his belief that he has the potential to be Manchester United's next great creative midfielder.
So could Darron Gibson be the unlikely hero to answer Irish prayers in Paris tonight?
While he is not expected to start ahead of Keith Andrews or Glenn Whelan, if the dogged midfield axis tires like it did in Croke Park on Saturday night, the 22-year-old may well take the mantle as our last creative hope if things aren't going quite as planned.
Certainly, he is ready if called upon.
"Yes, I'm ready to go," he enthused yesterday.
"I'm not sure yet if I'll have a part to play, to be honest. Hopefully, fingers crossed I do. I want to play."
Playing is one thing which has proved elusive for the Derry-born midfielder of late, although he has finally made a full recovery from the groin injury which has haunted him since the final game of the last Premier League season against Hull City -- in which he scored the winner. But it was just his first league start for United, and was a long time coming.
Back in 2002, at a time when he had numerous English clubs monitoring his progress, he immediately stood out to the Manchester United scouts with his superb Milk Cup performances before travelling for trials there on his 15th birthday.
John Cunningham, a former Derry City player who coached and mentored Gibson during his time at Maiden City soccer development centre, remembers the raw ability he showed at a young age.
"He came into the academy for three years. Chris Turner (now Sligo Rovers) and himself played in the middle of the park and the two of them were very good young players.
"But Darron had that wee bit extra in midfield where he could see a pass a wee bit earlier and he developed that, and obviously his strength and power developed over the years which obviously came from going to United at a young age."
Gibson has always been regarded as a classy creator, hence Man Utd reserve manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's description of him as "like a Ferrari, but we just need to get him out of the garage", while Ferguson regularly waxes lyrical about his potential.
"You could see even from the age of seven, eight or nine that he had that star quality in terms of his passing and his getting about the pitch and having good feet and an eye for goal," said Cunningham.
The kind of instinct, let's say, that could create a goal out of nothing in a do-or-die clash away from home?
"I think he's got that wee bit extra that Ireland will be looking for in midfield, obviously the two boys (Andrews and Whelan) work very, very hard but I think Darron's got that quality pass that can open defences and obviously an eye for goal as well.
"He's a big-game player, it doesn't phase him. He's a very down-to-earth lad, but in the big occasions he can rise to the challenge and if he did get a shout in Paris, he'd definitely give the team that bit extra."
'That little bit extra' is what Trapattoni has been publicly pining for in the lead up to these crucial play-offs and tonight he could find that touch of quality to unhinge the French, if he goes searching in the garage.
- Neil Ahern
Irish Independent
