Sam Robinson’s Blog: Believe the hype

When Dale Jennings burst onto the scene against Charlton on September 18th, little under two months ago, few would have predicted that his rise to prominence amongst the Tranmere Rovers squad would come so soon.

Since his debut, Jennings has grown into a key asset for Tranmere despite playing only ten games for the first team. His first goal for the club came away to Bristol Rovers; the only goal in a 1-0 win for Tranmere. He followed that up a month later with a brace against MK Dons in a man of the match performance to celebrate being given his first professional contract which runs until 2012.

Upon signing the contract, Jennings said, ‘It is a great day for me, all apprentices dream of the day they sign their first professional contract. I’m really pleased the club has given me this opportunity and hopefully I can repay them on the pitch.’

The seventeen year-old top-scored for the reserve and youth teams after joining Tranmere’s Centre of Excellence as an under-sixteen with nineteen goals and already has five goals for the reserve team this campaign.

With blistering pace to go with trickery, Jennings has the key assets to make a good winger as proven against MK Dons when right-back Danny Woodards was withdrawn after twenty-five minutes due to being unable to cope with Jennings – a testament to his performance that day.

Whilst being a fresh new talent, there is an air of unpredicability surrounding Jennings for the opposition. However, the real test of his talent is to come as, over the coming weeks as teams begin to learn about Dale, he will need to find new ways of beating his man and contributing to the team success.

If he is doubled-up on, it leaves space for another player elsewhere on the field which can only benefit Tranmere so even if he doesn’t have an impact on the game with his feet then his movement could also be key for the Whites.

As Dale progresses he will attract scouts from clubs across the land and he would do well to keep his feet on the ground given the hype surrounding him. He would do well to listen to an experienced professional like Ian Thomas-Moore, a veteran of the game in comparison to most of the Tranmere squad, to improve his all-round game.

Some Tranmere fans say it is about time we had another quality player come off the production line as the days of Ryan Taylor, Jason Koumas and Iain Hume are long-gone for the Wirral club. If Jennings can realise his potential he will surely demand a large fee and emulate the successes of the likes of Taylor and Koumas.