From the Sunday Times:
Jonathan Douglas from Clones never dreamed that when Damien Duff left Blackburn he would take his place
As the headline writers launched into overdrive on Friday morning, an English team arrived back from Spain that hadn't disgraced themselves or brought dishonour to their country. Graeme Souness and his Blackburn players touched down in Manchester and left quietly for their homes, two days of diligent training and first-team bonding in Marbella behind them. In the career of 22-year-old Jonathan Douglas from Clones it was another small but significant step.
Even the words - Jonathan Douglas from Clones - hint at an unlikely story. When he went home for his Christmas break, Douglas told his family that his days at Ewood Park were numbered. He was entering the final stretch of four years at the club. A decent innings, but he was certain he would reach the end of the season without adding to the six first-team appearances he'd already made.
He wasn't cut up about it. It was just football's reality. Last November he'd come to the end of a productive three-month loan spell at Blackpool. Steve McMahon had liked him enough to offer him a deal until the end of the season. Douglas thanked him for the offer but said no thanks. He wanted to see out the remainder of his contract at Blackburn and see what other options came along. He was confident enough for that.
But what happened next exceeded his wildest dreams. That Souness was having trouble filling the left-wing slot vacated by Damien Duff didn't seem of much consequence to Douglas. As a midfielder he could count versatility among his gifts but he didn't see himself as a left-winger. And Souness had myriad alternative options. Too many for Douglas to entertain even the faintest hope of a break.
To his horror, however, Souness discovered that millions of pounds of talent could not solve his predicament. One by one they came and failed: David Thompson, Brett Emerton, Steven Reid, Vratislav Gresko, Lucas Neill, Matt Jansen, Paul Gallagher. In desperation Souness called for Douglas and the results have far outweighed expectations.
His call-up came for the 4-3 home defeat by Bolton in the second week of January and he has started each of the six games since. If he hasn't set the Ewood Park stands buzzing, like his great friend Duff once did, Douglas has impressed with the attitude, aggression and desire that are the pillars of his game. Souness, unsurprisingly, has hinted strongly to him that a new contract will be offered before the season's end.
"I really can't describe the feeling," Douglas says. "Before Christmas I thought I was finished at Blackburn. I couldn't really see how I was going to get a look in and I was thinking about sorting out my future elsewhere. I'm just enjoying myself right now and long may it continue."
He is no Duff, and the lazy comparisons annoy him, but the number of players available to Brian Kerr who are playing regularly at the summit of British football is so small that it is impossible not to enthuse about his progress. And there is something about Douglas, his slow but steady ascent through the ranks, that suggests his fire will still be burning when other flames have long since flickered out.
The burning ambition comes, in part, from his roots. Clones has never been known as a hotbed of the game. In a sporting context, the only things that spring to mind about the town are Barry McGuigan and the Ulster final. But whatever soccer tradition was going Douglas was firmly hooked up to it. His father John and uncle Norman had played junior soccer for Clones Town. His sister is the club's current treasurer.
Paul Johnson looked after him first at Clones Town, then he graduated to Monaghan United. Johnson followed and joined up with John Heffernan. Together they were Douglas's mentors, the focal point for his talent. "He was like a mini-Roy Keane," says Heffernan. "He'd the same kind of drive. From the time of 10 he wanted to be nothing else but a soccer player. He was no work at all. He wanted it more than anyone else."
Douglas had two objectives: to make it as a professional footballer and to stay loyal to his roots. Even when the tradition was for talented rural players to migrate to the big Dublin clubs, he stayed put in Clones. The feeling is that it checked his progress at Ireland under-age level but he got on as best he could. At 14 he was playing in the Monaghan under-18 team, by 16 he had made his full League of Ireland debut.
His first flirtation was with Celtic. They might have signed him but for Liam Miller arriving on the scene around the same time. But while he was on trial at Celtic, Blackburn played them in a pre-season friendly and Douglas caught their eye. He'd been a Blackburn supporter since his childhood, so the sell was an easy one.
His progress was never meteoric. He was in the Ireland under-16 squad that, historically, lifted the European championship crown in 1998. From those ahead of him in the pecking order John O'Shea, Andy Reid and Miller have made sustained progress. But others, inevitably, have failed to train on and Douglas quietly, stealthily has stolen past them. Attitude and heart and desire.
In doing so he has had to contend with adversity. When he thinks of the journey he has made to this point, he thinks of those who have meant most to him along the way. His brother Jeffrey, a talented footballer who'd been on trial at Luton Town, and Paul Johnson were two of the dearest. Both died in tragic car accidents within a year of each other and their memories remain with him every footstep he takes.
"It will be seven years at the start of this month," he says of the accident that claimed his brother's life. "It was a terrible shock when we heard the news. It's something that spurred me on to try to do well. A big part of it will always be for Jeffrey. I always say a little prayer for him before every game. I just wish he could be here to share this with me."
When he thinks of Johnson he recalls his battered old blue Cavalier with 60,000 miles on the clock. Every Saturday Johnson would bring six of them from Clones to Monaghan to play games and their shared bond was intense and inspiring. Losing them was terrible beyond words but it toughened him for the road ahead.
He needed the mental strength his life experience had given him when he ruptured his cruciate ligament in April 2001. His career hung by the flimsiest of threads. "Your first thought is, 'Oh no, this could be the end'," he says. "But the staff here were incredible. The physio, Dave Fevre, was the physio at Man United when Roy Keane did his cruciate. He's the best in England. If I was feeling down they'd send me back to Ireland for a couple of days. Without them I probably wouldn't have got through it."
Within 12 months he'd made his senior debut against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup but it has taken another season to build his strength back up and to get in a position where he could challenge for a first-team place. Now that he is there he's not allowing himself to get carried away. Alan Kelly is always there with helpful advice and he speaks to Duff at least twice a week. They help keep his feet firmly rooted.
"I wouldn't be overawed," he says. "I try to take everything as it comes. If something happens and I don't get my place I won't go complaining about it. I'll just try to work hard and get my place back."
These are good times, though. He's already faced Chelsea and Newcastle and the Premiership leaders are due at Ewood Park on Saturday. Douglas's slow crawl has suddenly become a steady canter.
