Watching videos of John Terry has made me a better player

English Football League / David Artell / 27 September 2007 / Leave a Comment

Morecambe's no-nonsense defender David Artell tells us about role models, getting battered by Sheff Utd and why his money is on Didier Drogba

It will be interesting to see how much success Avram Grant has at Chelsea. He certainly has big shoes to follow as Jose Mourinho is one of the best managers around. I cannot see him being out of work for long and although we won't see him in the Premiership anytime soon it wouldn't surprise me if he came back to manage on these shores in the future. There's already stories of unrest in the Chelsea dressing room and I think the biggest challenge facing Grant is to be just as inspirational as Mourinho as it seems that this was his greatest attribute- he got the best out of all his players. The same goes for other Premiership managers such as Martin O'Neill and Sam Allardyce. Some footballers can be complex individuals and can come with excess baggage so to be a good man-manager and inspire players is a fantastic quality to have.

The most inspirational manager I have worked under has to be Billy Russell, my youth team manager at Rotherham United. He didn't just teach me about football, he taught me about life, about earning a living and about being a man. I went from immature school kid to grown man in one pre-season. He hammered me every day for 2 months but I'm thankful he did as it was a great grounding for what lay ahead. I remember one day in pre-season where he made everybody carry on running just because I started to walk when I should have been 'on the bobble' (just above a walk). I wasn't very popular that day! He produced players that made Rotherham United a lot of money but didn't get the recognition he deserved and has subsequently moved on to Hull City.

One of the things that Billy Russell asked us to do was to look up the meaning of the word 'professional' in the dictionary and make sure we understood what it meant. He also made sure we watched as much football as possible to learn from others, which is why I never get tired of watching John Terry. His desire to stop the other team scoring is second to none and many people don't appreciate his contribution to Chelsea's recent successes until he's not playing. We all like to see the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho perform their vast repertoire of tricks but for any centre half who needs someone to look up to, then for me you can do no wrong by watching Terry.

Back to old Morecambe now and I'm sad to say we finally succumbed to Championship opposition in the Carling Cup on Tuesday and we certainly couldn't have any complaints. They were far better than our previous opponents in Preston and Wolves and if Tuesday is anything to go by then odds of Sheffield United to be promoted seems very generous at 4.7. The gaffer didn't rant and rave after the game, which is usually the case after a 5-0 drubbing but he told us our main objective is to be in the Carling Cup next year and not to be feeling sorry for ourselves come 3 o'clock on Saturday.

With Michael Owen looking likely to miss several weeks with a torn groin, he has drifted in the Premiership top goalscorer market. Although Emmanuel Adebayor is in a rich vein of form and current favourite at 6.8, I can't see it lasting all season. The odds that stand out for me are those for Didier Drogba at 16.5 as when he is fit, he is a certainty to play. The only spanner in the works could be the upset caused by Mourinho's departure and whether he feels he needs to move on in January too, as well as the fact that he will miss three or four matches when he's away at the African Nations Cup. But he's a class player and I suspect he will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season despite this.

Fernando Torres at 7.2 looks inviting but with Raphael Benitez rotating his players at will, the question is whether he will play enough Premiership games to stand a chance of being the most prolific goalscorer come May. Anyone looking for an outside bet will be tempted by the odds offered to Andriy Shevchenko at 60. With him now seemingly the first name on the team sheet he might relax in front of goal and his pedigree of scoring goals certainly speaks for itself.

David Artell plays for Morecambe Football Club:

www.morecambefc.com