Henn-mania

Welsh talent has featured quite prominently in collecting football awards over the last few days. Jason Koumas deservedly picked up the ‘Championship Player of the Year Award’ at the ‘Football League Awards’ in London on Sunday. Close to winning that gong for himself, Gareth Bale had to settle for the award for the ‘Football League Young Player of the Year’. Cardiff City’s Chris Gunter was deemed the ‘Championship Apprentice of the Year’, an award Lewin Nyatanga won last season. I’m sure it won’t do his growing confidence any harm. His team mate Joe Ledley received the ‘Goal of the Year’ award for one he scored back in August against Barnsley. Not a bad haul overall and with Ryan Giggs playing his 700th game for Manchester United last weekend it was generally a good week of achievements for Welsh football.

The story that captured both my attention and imagination this weekend was that of goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey. If you haven’t heard of him yet you might do soon if his record continues. Wolves stopper Hennessey is in the middle of a successful loan period at Stockport County. Since January he’s kept nine clean sheets totalling at 810 minutes of football helping Stockport to nine wins in a row. This record breaking run has lifted them from 15th place to 6th in League Two catapulting them into a promotion race and has earned him the ‘League Two Player of the Month Award’ for February. Obviously Hennessey can’t take all the credit for this run but you’d have to admit it looks favourably on him that the run coincided with his arrival at the club. What makes his achievement even more incredible is that these nine games are the only professional matches he’s ever played. After six clean sheets Hennessey revealed in an interview that the Stockport fans had affectionately started singing ‘Wales Number One’ during matches. After nine games without conceding you could suggest those fans were closer to the mark with a chant which originally may have been sung in jest. He’s already broken into the Under 19 and Under 21 squads, I read somewhere on the net this weekend that he apparently scored a 40 yard free kick against Turkey Under 19s. A writer in Western Mail this week said he’s already savouring the prospect of him and Lewis Price battling it out for the Welsh No 1 jersey. So at 6ft4 Wayne Hennessey could be destined to be the biggest thing to come out of Beaumaris since…well...ever.

As an Everton supporter I have come to learn not to get too carried away when a player shows signs of early promise. In the late nineties when Everton were annually involved in relegation dogfights they were forced to rush the development of their younger talent. Michael Ball, Francis Jeffers, Michael Branch, Danny Cadamarteri and Jon O’Connor, all thrown in at the deep end, had initial success when bursting onto the scene and naturally at times of trouble it was hoped these players would be Everton’s ticket back to the big time. Strikers Branch and Cadamarteri both seemed prolific at first but along with O’Connor they moved on then slowly slipping down the football leagues going from club to club. Believers of their own hype, Ball and Jeffers earned big moves away from Everton but the pair never really fulfilled their early potential. Therefore I try to approach any talk of the next big thing with caution. I do however appreciate it’s difficult not to rush things when resources are thin. Wales have been pushing their youngsters through the ranks for years. You can see it in the current Welsh squad, many of our players are eligible for the under 21s and some could even play for the under 19s. But in fairness if they’re good enough and are better than what else is on offer they should play no matter the age. If things continue to go well for Wayne Hennessey he may get his chance at full international level earlier than expected.

Good luck against Barnet on Saturday Wayne. I’m sure I’ll have jinxed everything for him now.