Last updated at 12:30, Thursday, 22 October 2009

It is a rare footballer who sends a message of gratitude to the manager that refused to pick him, who won’t hear a word against the figurehead who waved him out on loan with the suggestion that he wasn’t good enough to play in his team.

Gary Madine

Introducing Gary Madine. From a hotel room in Coventry – the 19-year-old’s temporary home after the season’s most unlikely transfer – comes something that is close to a thank-you letter to Greg Abbott, the Carlisle boss.

That Madine suddenly stands on the brink of a dramatic career breakthrough, after being whisked away from life on the Brunton Park fringes by a Championship club on a three-month loan, is a remarkable thing in itself. More so when it comes just over a month after an early-hours episode in Carlisle city centre which led to a fine for being drunk-and-disorderly, and the staining of the striker’s bright young reputation.

Chris Coleman, the Coventry City manager, has slapped a chunk of his reputation on the hunch that tells him Madine, upon bouncing back out the gutter, can eventually convert his goalscoring potential in a higher division despite his minimal first-team form and opportunities at Carlisle.

The fact Abbott – himself desperate for goals and points in League One – consented to Madine’s move suggests he has already passed his own unflattering judgement on the striker’s talents. Yet the young man himself cannot bring himself to take issue with the Carlisle chief, and the events of the early hours of September 6 have something to do with that.

“Greg was really good to me about that,” says Madine about his regrettable evening spent in police custody on the back of his alcohol-fuelled misbehaviour outside a Botchergate nightspot.

“I was so disappointed in myself and I felt I had let him down, more than anything. We fell out last season, which not a lot of people know, and he could have bombed me then. But he didn’t. I appreciate he could have done the same this time, but again he dealt with me very fairly.

“I think what happened got built up out of all proportion – people get arrested every night, and for far worse things – but because I’m a footballer it’s on the front page.

“Having said that, I’ve definitely learned my lesson. I felt really bad for the gaffer and it’s not something I want to go through again. Next time, I will keep my head down, walk away and leave it at that.”

In a short burst of conversation we hear the typical teenager’s blend of naivety and contrition. Naivety that a professional footballer can get on the wrong side of the law and expect the details to be tucked away in the news-in-briefs; and contrition, which sounds perfectly genuine, and tells you that the aspiring centre-forward has tucked away an unsavoury memory for future purposes.

The immediate future concerns Madine's sudden opportunity with Coventry. On Sunday he was spirited down to the West Midlands to complete his eye-popping loan transfer. On Monday he trained with his Sky Blues team-mates for the first-time. On Tuesday he was an unused substitute in their 2-0 defeat at Cardiff City.

The fact he has three months to catch Coleman’s eye is more than enough to catch Madine’s own gaze. But there is still time for a glance back to Cumbria.

“A permanent move here would be brilliant for my career, and if I get the chance I will have to take it,” he says. “But if I do, I will still be a bit gutted because it will mean I will have left Carlisle without really getting the chance to do well there.

“They have done so much for me, from the day [youth team coach] Eric Kinder brought me to the club, but so far I haven’t been able to repay them, and the supporters, by scoring goals for them.”

Why this chance hasn’t consistently dropped into Madine’s lap is a subject for fervent terrace debate. The big Geordie’s own take surprises you with its humility.

“I know people will point the finger at Greg, but it’s not down to him,” he says. “It must be something I’ve done. Maybe I’ve not been training as well as I could.

“Last season he said he didn’t want to put the pressure of a relegation fight on an 18-year-old lad, which is fair enough to an extent. If I had gone in, had a bad game and we had dropped into the relegation zone because of it, people might have started turning on me which could have been disheartening.

“A year ago I came off the bench and scored a couple under John Ward and thought I might be pushing for a start. But John and Greg are different. John was nice to me, whereas Greg treats you like a man, tells you like it is, tries to make you grow up quicker.

“I have always felt ready, but there are no problems with Greg. He’s a nice man, but it’s business – he will pick the team he thinks is going to win, and you have to respect that.”

It is easy, perhaps, to be so philosophical from the exciting position Madine now finds himself in. It’s equally simple to forget his relative youth and inexperience – something of which he believes a section of United’s supporters have been guilty.

“I only turned 19 two months ago,” he says. “It seems like I’ve been around a long time but maybe people expect too much, too soon. And you can’t really judge a player on five minutes here and there.

“When I was first coming through, Carlisle were getting 8,000 crowds, playing well, and they were brilliant. But when things aren’t going so right, the fans can be a bit harsh. But I know it costs them money to watch football, and they are entitled to their opinions.

“I admit that I read that [CUFC Online] messageboard a lot. I probably shouldn’t, because it seems only a couple of people ever have a good word to say about you. And you end up taking that sort of criticism onto the pitch. When the ball’s coming to you, you start thinking about the grief you are going to get if your first touch isn’t good. Now, my first touch is one of my best attributes, but if you read that website, you would think I couldn’t trap a bag of cement.”

It can be assumed that Coleman has not taken heed of the online jury. The Coventry manager has already identified that Madine requires extra strength and speed in order to tease out his natural gifts. A training programme is being tailored accordingly. In the meantime, the striker prepares to sample the Ricoh Arena for the first time this Saturday – a foaming local derby with West Brom – and the latest stage in his dramatic rise.

“I thought I would be going on loan to a League Two team, so I was surprised when my agent told me Coventry were keen,” he says. “I didn’t think I had done enough to warrant that, but it’s obviously a great opportunity.

“From the moment I came down, I have been made to feel really welcome. There is no arrogance or ‘big-time’ from any of the lads, they just treat me like one of their own. Although Westy [ex-United goalkeeper Keiren Westwood] is just the same bully I remember from Carlisle!

“I wasn’t expecting to be on the bench on Tuesday, but I enjoyed the experience. When one of the strikers went down injured, I had to start warming up and the butterflies started, but as it turned out I didn’t get on.

“I’ve got to be confident about my chances. I am here on merit, not because I’m a nice lad. The manager has seen something he likes and I just have to get my head down and work hard. I’ve got a lot to learn but if I get a lucky break, who knows where it will lead?

“It’s not a case of having a point to prove. If I do well but Coventry don’t take me, I will be going back to Carlisle a better, sharper player. So it will stand me in good stead either way.”

Maturity beckons Madine. So does a remarkable opportunity, one which must have appeared decidedly distant in the small hours of September 6. Despite the “lesson” he absorbed in the hardest terms that night, his affection for Carlisle remains intact.

“I’m missing it already,” he says. “As soon as I get the chance it will be Carlisle I go back up to, not my home town Newcastle, to see people.

“I love the place. I’ve grown up there.”

First published at 11:37, Thursday, 22 October 2009
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk