Congratulations to Sam Byram for winning the npower Football League Young Player of the Month Award for March. Now we’ll just have to hope that Leeds can keep hold of him over the summer.
After making made his first-team debut in the 4-0 victory over Shrewsbury Town in the Capital One Cup, Byram went on to make 52 first team appearances (including three as substitute) and scored four league goals in the process. Two of these came during March, and went some way towards winning him the award.
Byram told the Football League’s official website "Overall, I'm happy with my form this season. I've made a few mistakes but learnt and got better from them. I am looking to improve, I practice in my spare time and physically I think I will get stronger and faster. I think I’ve done all right to say that it is my first season.
Brian McDermott added: "I'm delighted for Sam that he has won the award, first and foremost he is a really good person. He wants to learn and get better. I have found that around the place so far, the players are respectful, engaging and want to get better. Sam is not one to sit back on his laurels - he has got potential, he is keen to learn and I am sure he will go on to fulfil it."
The Head of Youth Development at The Football League is none other than our former defender David Wetherall, and he said: "Sam played a big part in the club's pre-season preparations and he was deservedly rewarded with a first-team start at the beginning of the current campaign. With a number of stand-out performances he has never looked back and at the age of 19, he has a very exciting future ahead of him. I look forward to keeping a close eye on his progression."
The emergence of Byram has undoubtedly been the highlight of a distinctly average season for Leeds, though I would like to see the club sign a good quality right back to allow him to play further up the field. I think he has more to offer in an attacking role, and none of our existing midfield players seem to be comfortable playing wide on the right.
Inevitably there has been speculation that Byram could be the next in a depressingly long line of academy products to leave the club, and some reports have suggested that even Man City could be interested. But it would be too early in his career for him to move to a club like that, where he could only hope to be a bit-part squad player in the way that Jack Rodwell has this season.
Should Byram be sold during the summer it would confirm the worst fears that some of us have about GFH, so let’s hope that they can prove that they have the resources to be able to keep Byram while still adding to the squad, so that our talented new manager can build a side capable of challenging for promotion in 2013/14.