ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20130, 15 December 1928, Page 20

ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL.

BARTERING OF PLAYEfIS.

large sums change hands. COMPARISON OF PRE-WAR DAYS. [from our athletic CORRESPONDENT.J LONDON. Oct, 20. Within a week two English frofessional players have been transferrer! to new clubs, and nearly £19,000 have rhanged hands. Tho Arsenal ' paid £IO,OOO odd for David Jack, of Bolton, who in pre-war days would have bc»en regarded as a very ordinary player, and Newcastle United disgorged £BOOO o<!d for Jack Hill. Burnley's centre half, wlio as a pivot may bo one of England's .best, but who in the days when English football was graced by such players as -Alec Baisbeck, Charlie Thomson and Willie Wedlock, would not have been considered among the elite. The player who would bring most money in England to-day is "Dixie" Dean, . Everton's centre-forward, and it can be said that if ho were put on the market, his fee would be quite £15.000. Dean is undoubtedly the greatest centre-for-ward among England's talent, and it can be said that tho people regard him as an idol. Myself, while admitting his cleverness, 1 consider it is accentuated by *he fact thdt at the present time there are few leaders of skill in the country. In other words. Dean looks to be a gem because the others are of such a poor standard. Gift o! Old Days. The fact that Dean can control a ball, and then shoot on the run are something so rare that the English critics go into ccstacy over a gilt, without which no centre of other days would dared have posed as a first-class man, unless lie possessed these virtues. It is because the bulk of English centres are deficient in what v, - as regarded as ordinary skill in tho old days, when such men as G. O. Smith, James Quinn, Vivian Woodward, .Mb Shepherd, to mention but a few, graced tho game. Certainly Dean would not have overshadowed his rivals in those days, as he is doing to-day. Furthermore, Dean is merely an individualist, but probably this is not his own fault, for in the present trend, of modern football, it is not necesisary for a leader to keep his wings plied, neither does he combine with his inside forwards. A Leader's Task. His job is confined to standing on the lialf-way line, or a little beyond, and waiting until tho ball comes in his direction. Centre-forwards do not participate in any combined movements, and unless they ore served by astute inside men, and an attentive centre-half, of which .there are very few in tho country, centre-for-wards in reality , become ornaments. One can excuse the exuberance of the British football patrons in making an idol of Dean, for lie certainly does remind one of some of those brilliant men we had operating in pre-war days. Personally, 1 am disappointed with British Soccer. 1 think the amended off-side rule has 'ruined good football. At any rate «.ve are getting very littlo of the "latter nowadays. ' Incidentally, a (-cam from Berlin recently beat tho pick of England's premier amateur League. A sign of the times.