No more local heroes- What happened to the Liverpool production line

04 Mar 2009 - 15:25:37


David Ngog's first Barclays Premier League goal for Liverpool
last night was a turn around in fortunes for a gangling 19-year-old who, it's fair to say, hasn't set Anfield alight since he arrived from Paris Saint-Germain last summer.
Off the mark: David Ngog celebrates scoring against Sunderland
But it also prompted a question about the state of Liverpool Football Club. If Rafa Benitez is happy to pay a rumoured £1.5million for a young, unpolished, foreign player, what does that say about the club's stock of home-grown talent?
Liverpool may have won the FA Youth Cup in 2006 and 2007, but Benitez's transfer dealings don't suggest the next Steven Gerrard is going to be unearthed any time soon.
The Liverpool youth set-up, which became the Anfield Academy in 1999, used to be a production line of top class players. Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen and Steve McManaman all learned their trade in Liverpool's youth teams.
They were nurtured by former Reds winger Steve Heighway and learned exactly what it means to be a Liverpool player.
'The Liverpool Way' - a 'holistic', 'player-centred approach' - is still, apparently, the way of life on Merseyside, but where is the next generation of home-grown talent?
When we were kings: Phil Brazier lifts the FA Youth Cup with Liverpool in 1996
Since Liverpool won the 1996 FA Youth Cup with a team including Carragher, David Thompson and Michael Owen, which young Scousers have graduated to become Anfield legends? None.
What went wrong?
Heighway retired from his role as academy director in May 2007 after 19 years of coaching at the club.
The man who won four league titles, two European Cups, two UEFA Cups and an FA Cup during an 11-year playing career at Anfield walked away with some parting verbal shots at Rafa Benitez, particularly with regard to the manager's attitude towards the youth set-up.
Reserve football was 'meaningless'; managers are under too much pressure to try young players at first-team level and Heighway, the self-confessed 'best coach of 17- and 18-year-old players in this club', should be left to do his job.
But the rot had set in long before Heighway's departure. Fowler and McManaman were followed by the golden generation of Owen, Carragher and Gerrard, as well as players such as Thompson, Joey Barton, and Dominic Matteo. But after that, well, what did happen to Anfield's great hopes? Sportsmail looks at the shining lights who couldn't cut it at Liverpool.
Moment of glory: Neil Mellor celebrates scoring for Liverpool in 2004
Neil Mellor The Sheffield-born striker and son of former Manchester City player Ian Mellor progressed through the ranks at Liverpool, scoring goals aplenty for the Under 19 and reserve sides before getting his chance in the first team.
In August 2003 Gerard Houllier sent the promising centre forward to West Ham for a year-long loan, but injuries undermined Mellor's spell in London. He returned to Anfield, where Champions League football and a long-range winner against Arsenal in front of the Kop followed. A knee operation to cure tendonitis saw the striker spend most of 2005 on the sidelines.
A loan spell at Wigan Athletic followed, before Mellor moved to Preston North End in 2006. Injuries have restricted the appearances of the centre forward, now 28, at Preston and he has been most effective as a substitute.
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Stephen Wright
Stephen Wright You know your best days are behind you when the Coventry Telegraph describes you as a '28-year-old former Liverpool trainee'.
Wright, a boyhood Everton fan, progressed through the Liverpool youth ranks, enjoyed two loan spells at Crewe Alexandra and broke into the first team squad at Anfield. Appearances for the defender, however, were limited and Wright joined Sunderland for £3m in 2000.
After experiencing promotion and relegation with the Black Cats and impressing on loan at Stoke City as he recovered from surgery on his ankle, Wright was released by Roy Keane in January 2008. He joined Coventy City last summer.
Danny Guthrie
Danny Guthrie Liverpool picked up Guthrie when he was 16, after the player had been released by Manchester United. He made just three first team appearances for Liverpool, all as a substitute, and was sent on loan to Southampton in March 2007.
A season's loan at Bolton Wanderers followed and Guthrie showed he was a Premier League player by making 27 appearances for Bolton in the top flight. He then joined Newcastle United in July 2008, apparently at the bequest of Kevin Keegan (unusual in Newcastle's transfer dealings), and has established himself as a first-team regular at St James' Park.
Guthrie's rash challenge on Hull City's Craig Fagan in September, which broke the player's leg, was a low point, but the midfielder has proved to be a useful signing for Newcastle.
Stephen Warnock The Ormskirk-born defender was a promising graduate of the Liverpool Academy and was called up to train with the first team squad in 2001.
Loan spells at Bradford City and Coventry City, where he picked the supporters' player of the season award in 2004, followed, and Warnock was rewarded with a first-team debut in Liverpool's Champions League qualifier against Sturm Graz in August 2004.
Warnock then became a useful member of Benitez's squad, making 20 Premier League appearances in 2005-06, for example, but joined Blackburn Rovers in January 2007.
The defender has become a first team regular at Ewood Park and won his first England cap against Trinidad & Tobago in June 2008.
Red hot: Stephen Warnock scores for Liverpool three years ago
Jon Otsemobor
Jon Otsemobor Perhaps most famous for being shot in the buttocks by a gunman in a Liverpool nightclub in October 2003, Otsemobor made just six first team appearances for the Anfield club.
He got his chance after impressing in the Under 19s and during a loan spell at Hull City, but was then loaned out again to Bolton Wanderers, where he played just one game, and then to Crewe Alexandra a year later.
Otsemobor was released by Liverpool in 2005 and joined Crewe on a permanent deal, before moving to Rotherham. The right-back then joined Norwich City on a free transfer in July 2007.
John WelshWelsh joined Liverpool at the age of 10 and progressed to the first team squad in his late teens. Despite making a substitute appearance in the Champions League, Welsh failed to become a regular in the starting XI and joined Hull City in 2005, initially on loan.
The midfielder won four England Under 21 caps with the Tigers, but broke his leg in March 2007 after a challenge with former Liverpool team-mate Neil Mellor, then playing for Preston North End.
A loan spell at Chester City followed a year later, but Welsh could not break into Hull City's first team and joined Carlisle in the January transfer window.
Youthful exuberance: Liverpool players, including (far left) Richie Partridge and (No 32) John Welsh celebrate as Liverpool beat Spurs in a Carling Cup quarter-final penalty shoot-out in 2004
Richie PartridgeA Republic of Ireland Under 21 international, Partridge was released by Liverpool in 2005 after making just three first team appearances and having spent the 2002-03 season on loan at Coventry City.
The winger then joined Sheffield Wednesday for a year, before moving to Rotherham United in June 2006 and Chester City a year later.
Injuries have troubled Partridge's career but he has made 21 appearances, nine as a substitute, for the League Two side this season.
Liverpool 2 Sunderland 0: Ngog helps to lift the mood for mournful Kop
It's official, Liverpool are better without Torres... but only just! Sportsmail's game-by-game guide to the Spain star's impact at Anfield this season
Help us out: Rafa begs Newcastle to halt United surge
Spurs flop Ramos gives Raul and Real confidence to beat Liverpool at Anfield
LIVERPOOL FC NEWS FROM ACROSS THE NET