Oliver Gill

Pogue Mahone

Closet Gooner.
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Feb 22, 2006
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"like a man in silk pyjamas shooting pigeons
Apparently one of the brighter prospects in the academy this season.

Don't think is old man ever played football at any sort of level.

Quite a coincidence that his kid ends up good enough for our Academy, isn't it? Can't blame nepotism either, he seems to be actually quite good.

Interesting, in a nature vs nurture kind of way.
 
He looked like a class act in the Milk Cup.
 
he has been handed the squad number 45 today.
According to Today at Old Trafford.
 
oskarutd said:
he has been handed the squad number 45 today.
According to Today at Old Trafford.
Click to expand...



18 months ago I thought he was pretty poor but he surprised me by playing better in the reserves than he had in the academy.
One of the most improved players during the last year (he needed to) still a long way to go to have any chance of playing at the top level however if his improvement continues who knows.
 
RedPhil1957 said:
18 months ago I thought he was pretty poor but he surprised me by playing better in the reserves than he had in the academy.
One of the most improved players during the last year (he needed to) still a long way to go to have any chance of playing at the top level however if his improvement continues who knows.
Click to expand...

Good post Phil. I'd agree with all this.
 
Well done, Oliver. Let's hope the Megastore is prepared for the rush of Asian and Scandinavian day-trippers desperate to get their hands on a kit with his name and number on the back.
 
You don't have to go back 18 months - you can simply go back exactly 1 year. He was torn to shreds against Chelsea in the FA Youth Cup 3 round - but to come back so strongly after that disaster shows that he has some character.
 
Hmm, would people be less sceptical about the lad if there was no family link?

Probably.

Personally, I can't say he's ever really stood out to me. Then again, defenders don't always need to do eye-catching things to be doing a good job.
 
From the Daily Mail:

Manchester United's injury crisis is so bad that Sir Alex Ferguson calls up rookie Oliver Gill... son of chief executive David

article-1233861-0781BC29000005DC-790_306x376.jpg


The worst injury crisis in modern Manchester United history has forced Sir Alex Ferguson to include the son of chief executive David Gill in his squad for Tuesday night's Champions League match against Wolfsburg. United arrived in Saxony on Monday without 15 first-team players and with only one regularly selected defender in Patrice Evra. With three defenders — Jonny Evans, Rio Ferdinand and John O’Shea — expected to be out until the New Year, Ferguson’s defensive reserves are in tatters. It has meant a sudden call-up for 19-year-old Oliver Gill, the son of Ferguson’s boss and a central defender who only signed pro terms in the summer. He spent much of the spring choosing between an academic career or a stab at professional football.

United have had to invoke UEFA rules to include Gill and four other unknown youngsters in their squad as he was not named on the list given to European football’s governing body before the competition started. He is not expected to start against Wolfsburg but may well be on the bench and was involved in training here on Monday night. Ferguson said: “It’s his first year as a professional. He has been combining education with training for the last couple of years. He’s 19 now and has decided to take the big step forward and we admire him for that. He is one of a few young players we have here and he is doing very well. It doesn’t concern me (about his father). If he’s good enough, he plays. That’s the name of the game. I had a son (Darren) who played for me for four or five years. He was treated the same as any other player and Oliver will be treated the same way.”

Gill was told on Sunday night to report to Manchester airport on Monday morning after the full extent of United’s injury crisis became clear in the wake of their 4-0 win at West Ham on Saturday. Young Gill has been on the club’s books since he was 12 but was combining his studies at Manchester Grammar School.
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Having the sons of managers and coaches in the team is nothing new.

Johnny Aston junior had to work through the cries of nepotism in the 1960's with his Dad John Aston senior at the club as youth coach. John once told me that he actually had to work twice as hard to make it in the team.

Wilf McGuinness' son Paul was at the club in the early and mid-1980's ......Paul was a regular in our reserves and of course is now our u/18 coach.

Tommy Docherty's son Peter was on our books while Tommy Cavanagh (assistant manager to Docherty) had his son Tom also on our books as a keeper in the early 1970's.

Matt Busby's assistant Jimmy Murphy, had his son Nick as a professional. He was a very good midfielder and once named as a substitute for the first team in the late 1960's early 1970's but he was not called into action.

Additionally many of you know that Brian McClair's son Liam also featured in the Milk Cup a couple of seasons ago.
 
...and of course Darren Ferguson who has a Premier League Winners medal during his brief spell with the first team.
 
As I said in the other thread, don't see why he didn't have a good go at being a footballer. Plenty of time for uni later if it doesn't work out, not like unis have an age limit.

Unless he doesn't like football or something, which is a possibility at the professional level.
 
He's probably on the fast-track to a corporate job with United or one of their partners/sponsors through his dad, which I'd assume he (or anyone) would see as more prestigious than a short career in the third or fourth tier of English football.

As I said in the other thread, I'd guess the 'contract offer' was pretty much a formality or mark of respect - all parties involved likely knew he wouldn't be continuing at United.
 
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