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| Danny Ings could make his first Liverpool appearance against Bournemouth |
A QUICK glance towards the Bournemouth dug out tomorrow night will bring the memories flooding back for Liverpool new boy Danny Ings.
Of the critical day in his young life when the south coast club’s manager Eddie Howe offered a worried teenager a three month contract.
The time he spent on loan at non-league Dorchester experiencing a crash course in football’s dark arts.
A move to Burnley, only for injury to deprive him of developing further under Howe’s tutelage.
“He’s obviously had a huge impact on my career. He started it off, really.” Ings admitted. “I was under Joe Roach the Bournemouth academy coach but I was injured for a lot of my second year as a scholar.
“I think Eddie and Joe sat down together and decided to still give me an opportunity. They gave me a three-month contract which was almost like a trial.
“It went well. Eddie then gave me a year and sent me on loan to Dorchester and it went really well there. I came back and he put me in the team straight away.”
Ings might have graduated into the England Under 21s, made a big impact in the Premier League with Burnley and secured a glamour move to Liverpool but life in the Conference South has never left him.
“I think that if it wasn’t for the loan spell at Dorchester and playing in the lower leagues I would not be where I am now.”he said. “When you do it that way, I think you appreciate everything a lot more, for example the facilities, the way we are looked after with the training and coaching.
“But you never forget your roots and where you have come from. It makes you who you are and makes you stay humble. I can’t thank everyone down there enough, really.
“They gave me the games, to toughen up a bit - playing with men at Dorchester when I was 17 and 18 years old. It made me who I am today and I am proud of it.”
It’s also proof that you don’t have to be snapped up by a Premier League academy at the age of eight or nine to earn a good living in the game.
“No, you don’t.”he agreed. “I think it is happening more and more, really. You see a player coming through from nowhere every now and again and getting a top club. It shows there are players out there.
“It is obviously a tough business to get into, and if you are not at an academy it’s tougher. But it makes you prouder. It’s more of an achievement.”
With Ings hitting the goal trail for Dorchester and on his return to Bournemouth it was little surprise Howe paid his former club £1 million for the striker to join him after a managerial move to Burnley.
But Ings added: “Unfortunately I suffered a knee injury and didn’t get the chance to work with him as much as I would have liked to.”
By the time he was fit again Howe had headed back to his spiritual home, masterminding Bournemouth’s amazing journey towards the Premier League.
“He’s a fantastic man and a fantastic manager and deserves all the credit he keeps getting off everybody. I knew he would go a long way. He’s done a fantastic job at Bournemouth and long may it continue.”Ings said.
“It’s unbelievable to see where they have come from. When I was a schoolboy there they were nearly falling out the Football League, and now they are in the Premier League.”
Ings also believes that his time under Howe’s Burnley successor, Sean Dyche, has also left an imprint on his career.
“Sean Dyche was great to work with as well. He helped me develop over the years he was at the club. He’s another guy you could speak to and he helped develop my game.
“He was really good with man-management. He knew exactly what he needed to get out of the players. Both managers (Howe and Dyche) were unbelievable to play for.”
Now he believes his game can be taken to the next level under Anfield boss Brendan Rodgers - one which Dyche has always maintained will include playing for the England senior side.
A goal in a 5-1 behind closed doors friendly against Welsh League side TNS at Melwood last week helped boost his confidence ahead of Bournemouth’s visit to Merseyside.
“I’ve settled in really quickly. It was a pretty quick decision to join Liverpool as soon as I knew they were interested,” he said.
“I was totally focussed and trying to keep Burnley in the Premier League. But as soon as the season finished I sort of knew where I wanted to go straight away.
“It was everything. Obviously the history of the club, the players that we have here. It is a quite a young team full of talented players that I can learn from.
“There was also the manager’s philosophy and how he likes to develop young player. I knew if I came here I would become a much better player.”
The star quality 23-year-old Ings is seeking comes from hours of watching former Arsenal forward Thierry Henry at work.
“You look at the runs he used to make, the amount of goals he scored. The times he used to get into one v one situations with keepers. He was so precise, so quick and clinical with his finishing. He’s a player I used to look up to.”he stated.
As for managers - Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe reigns supreme.
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