Jack Hobbs doing alright for himself

[keniget]

With Jack Hobbs for a name, there is no surprise that the Leicester City centre-half is a throwback to a previous era.

He was an effective fly-half for Spalding Grammar School and, befitting the famous moniker, was also a talented cricketer. When he says: “I felt rugby benefited me in terms of the team spirit and respecting the officials,†they are not empty words. Hobbs throws himself in where the boots are flying but has gone through the Championship season with just a single yellow card against his name. His disciplinary record is testament to his timing and his pace, assets he will look to in today’s semi-final playoff against Cardiff City.

At Leicester, he is talked of as a cultured centre-half and if he had stayed at Liverpool they might have reached the same view. Hobbs was signed from Lincoln City for £650,000 on his 17th birthday in 2005 and immersed himself in the melting pot of young international talent that Liverpool’s training facilities at Melwood had become. He won an FA Youth Cup medal in 2007 but managed only five senior appearances before being lent to Scunthorpe. When Rafael Benitez bought Martin Skrtel for an estimated £6.5m, Hobbs decided to move on.

“The last person to break through at Liverpool was Steven Gerrard so you have got to be almost world class to do it, because it is so easy for them to go and scout abroad and bring in a player for a few million. I was plugging away and they brought in Skrtel and I’m thinking, ‘What are my chances going to be?’†His take on the Anfield experience is interesting. “The first couple of seasons are good, getting used to the style of football and the Liverpool way. But after a while you get stale. When I was there we played 18 reserve games in the season, which isn’t enough.
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It takes you to a certain point and from there you can’t really push on.†He has certainly done that at Leicester. One of Nigel Pearson’s first signings — albeit initially on loan — in the summer of 2008, Hobbs helped the club to bounce straight back from League One last year. “When I was at Scunny we came here to play [in 2008] and it was a weird atmosphere,†Hobbs says. “They were on the brink of going down and it was ridiculous how many managers they were going through.

The bit of stability we have had this last two years has really helped. The manager has brought in a lot of fresh legs and kept some of the experienced ones and he has combined it really well. Hopefully, we can get back to those years under Martin O’Neill.†Whatever happens in the playoffs, Hobbs, the club’s player of the season and the holder of three England under-19 caps, will find his name bandied about. He says he wants to stay and give something back to the club. If that is a throwback to another era as well, then so be it.

Something definitely needs doing about the reserves system. It just makes things difficult for top clubs trying to nurture players.

 

[themn]

He's Leicester's Player Of The Year.

(If this has been reported in the above article, my apologies).

 

[Rafiagra]

Maybe we can buy hime back

 

[HC]

[quote author=Hardcastle link=topic=32921.msg848807#msg848807 date=1240233837]
Hobbs has been quality for Leicester, I hope we keep him for a lil while longer

Always looks quality and one for the future. I'd like to see us hang on to him, although I think he'll get noticed sooner or later anyway whether it be in our ressies or in the Championship.


[/quote]

Boom.

Yeah they got him for peanuts. He's been quality. Got absolute twatted in the neck while ago against Cardiff.

Jay Bothroyd should be off the pitch by now

 

[manwithnoname]

You don't have to be anywhere *near* world class to break through into our team

The evidence of fucking clowns like Lucarse, Insewer and Eggnog are ample proof of that

 

[LarryHagman]

You stand no chance of breaking through with a name like Jack Hobbs.

A christian name like Emiliano and a surname like Insua should do it. You can be as shit as you like with that and it won't matter a jot, you'll get years in the first team.

 

[SaintGeorge67]

He's no Jack Robinson

 

[StevieM]

[quote author=Brendan link=topic=40151.msg1101801#msg1101801 date=1273413211]
You don't have to be anywhere *near* world class to break through into our team

The evidence of fucking clowns like Lucarse, Insewer and Eggnog are ample proof of that
[/quote]

You would have been calling him "Hobnob" by the time he'd made 3 full appearances.