By Chris Dunlavy
ASK any pundit to assess the merits of England striker Rickie Lambert and the same themes always trip off the tongue.
Great touch and vision, excellent technique, the ability to pick a pass. Yet according to Dave Challinor, who played with Lambert in his formative years at Stockport County, those very qualities delayed the 32-year-old's rise to superstardom.
“People always say Rickie was a late developer,” says the 38-year-old, who joined the Hatters in 2002 and spent two years playing alongside Lambert, then just 20.
“But it wasn't to do with his ability. It was to do with his position. He had a fantastic range of passing, a lovely touch, great ability to shoot from long range. And because of that, everybody saw him as a midfielder.
“It wasn't until he moved to Rochdale and then Bristol Rovers that he started playing up front and really discovered himself as a player. From then, he never looked back.”
Lambert hit 28 goals in 64 games for Dale, then 51 in 128 for Rovers before helping Southampton rise from League One to the Premier League with a phenomenal tally of 106 in 207. Now he has three in five for England and is on the plane to Brazil.
“I'm doing my A-Licence up at St Georges at the minute, so I saw him when all the England lads were up last week,” said Challinor, now manager at AFC Fylde.
“Unfortunately, the Prime Minister was here to meet everyone so I only got about a minute to chat! But it was good to catch up and it was obvious he was in dreamland.
“What's great is that he's still a top lad. The story he's had and where he's come from – he'll never forget his roots, or the people who helped him get here.
“He's still the same down to earth lad he was at Stockport and when you see him interviewed on TV, that's what comes across. It obviously a dream come true for him to play alongside his idols.
“Now he's an idol himself and I can't think of a better one. Looking at Rickie should give every player at every level the ultimate motivation to keep plugging away.”
Unfortunately, while Lambert's star has risen, Stockport's fortunes have nosedived. A third tier side in those days, financial problems mean the Hatters now sit in Conference North.
“It's such a shame when you look at the players they've produced,” says Challinor. “Rickie and Ash Williams who played in the Premier League, Gordon Greer who is captain of Brighton. If that side could just have stayed together a bit longer, who knows what it could have done.”
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