Ask people at Nottingham Forest about Ryan Yates and you will largely hear the same things. On any given day, he is somebody who is very likely to be found chatting to the kit man or passing the time of day with one of the ladies who help to serve food at the training ground.
As Steve Cooper puts it, he is just a “hugely likeable” character; a people person.
Advertisement
At the Nigel Doughty Academy, there is a wall full of photographs and shirts. Each represents a player who has come through the youth ranks to make it into the first team. There are many stories among them, ranging from Joe Worrall who used to be a ball boy at the City Ground before going on to captain the team, to Arvin Appiah, who is now plying his trade in Spain, with Tenerife.
But Yates’ tale is among the most compelling, with the 24-year-old having overcome many hurdles — and numerous doubters — to plot a course to the Premier League.
Yates has played in all five divisions, ranging from the National League with Barrow, to League Two with Notts County and further spells on loan with Shrewsbury and Scunthorpe in League One. There were some, in the not too distant past, who questioned whether he was good enough to play Championship football.
Last weekend — among company that included players of the calibre of Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino and Virgil van Dijk — Yates did not look out of place. In fact, he produced one of his best performances yet, amid the 122 starts and 21 sub appearances he has made for the club he first joined in 2005.
GO DEEPER
'He'd treat every bit of advice as precious' - Ryan Yates' long journey to the Premier League
“It did not take that one performance to show what we see every day,” says Cooper. “When you look back at that one game, you can see what he is. He is just a brilliant lad and a real professional. He has amazing strength of character and does his best to improve every single day. But he will not want to hear any of that. All he will want is to focus on how he can be at his best and on how he can have an impact again. He is a really likeable guy. You hear me talk about character and belief quite a bit. If you want to get to the top, you have to have that. He certainly has that.”
Post-Liverpool, Cooper singled him out as being the perfect example to the next generation, partly because of that fierce brand of determination that was also perfectly embodied in Forest’s previous game, in Brighton, when Yates stopped a shot with, well, his nuts, took another painful kick to the same spot and suffered a black eye and a bloodied nose after taking a boot to the face. He needed two ice packs.
Advertisement
“Honestly, you know I will give anything to try to make sure this club does well. We will continue to battle. Let’s just keep that going,” says Yates. “I am loving it, even in the tough moments. I am finding out about myself and how far I can push myself, mentally and physically. I believe I will only improve with the minutes I am getting against the kind of opposition that I am.”
When Leandro Trossard lined up a shot from the edge of the box at Brighton, Yates spotted the danger…
… but ended up blocking the ball with a delicate part of his body.
Yates is also a different character on the pitch. ‘Lovely’ and ‘nice’ are words that few opposition players are likely to choose to describe a player who is not shy about winding them up, be it via an aggressive challenge or an equally sharp word in their ear.
“That is part of a player’s armoury now. Physically you need to be able to do your job. Tactically you need to be able to listen to what the manager wants. Technically you need to be able to deal with a football,” says former Forest midfielder David Prutton. “But there is another side to it as well, which is your personality on the pitch.
“Some players are brooding characters who just get on with their jobs. Then you have the mavericks who see themselves as performers; as entertainers. Then you have people like Ryan, who get themselves involved in the minutiae of the game, who see it as a battle. Whether it is psychological, mental or physical.
“He is in an environment that he has been working to get into for years — there has to be a certain amount of front, when you try to step into that. Until you believe that you can play that part, you almost have to act like you believe it. He has a great sense of humour — and I am not saying he will be running around making jokes. But you can use that, whether that is by getting in the face of the opposition, charming the referee or winding somebody up.
Advertisement
“If he can gain an advantage by taking on that persona, then it is absolutely something that he must embrace.”
Prutton will be familiar with the path Yates is walking, having come through the ranks at Forest under Paul Hart during a previous era when the club produced a host of bright young talent, including Andy Reid, Michael Dawson and Jermaine Jenas. Prutton joined the Forest academy in 1995 and made his first team debut four years later, going on to make 155 appearances for the club.
“There is a similarity there, when it comes to players who have been attached to the club since their schoolboy days, being part of something special now. We got very close,” says Prutton. “This team managed to do what everyone else had been trying to do for more than 20 years — get Forest back in the Premier League.
“Ryan was a big part of that. It is a very likable group of players and that is a big part of it. I have never seen another Forest player say anything untoward about Ryan.
“When we were going well as a young team under Paul Hart, it was a pleasure to come in for training. I looked around the dressing room and everyone got on. There was a lot of piss-taking but also a huge amount of respect. I have been in some shocking dressing rooms where you look around thinking, ‘You are a prick, you are a prick and you are a prick’. And people were probably looking back at me, thinking the same.
“It does not take a rocket scientist to work out why those teams were not a success. I am not saying you have to like every one of your team-mates. All I am saying is that the professional respect has to be there. If you can marry that up with a mutual understanding of the club, it is a match made in heaven. When I was at Wembley (for the play-off final), you could see all of those things. You could see the togetherness. It was glorious.”
But even as he indulged in his ‘swimming’ celebrations on the Wembley turf, to reflect the chant “If Yatesy scores, we’re in the sea”, which was coined at Blackpool but remains popular now, Yates still had a point to prove: that he would be able to cut it in the top flight.
Advertisement
A pre-season injury hampered his progress, with Yates not starting his first Premier League game until late August. But he has since established himself as a key figure, making eight starts and two sub appearances. With club captain Worrall having been on the bench, Yates has regularly worn the armband.
Over the past few years, he has worked constantly on his passing; on having the confidence to deliver first-time balls. This season Yates’ passing success rate is 83 per cent, which is second only to Orel Mangala (83.8 per cent). Yates average number of aerials won (1.8) is beaten only by Steve Cook (2.6), while he had made the third most blocks (0.7), behind McKenna (0.9) and Worrall (0.8). He also has attacking threat. Yates’ average of 1.6 shots per game is the highest in the side, just ahead of Neco Williams (1.4).
“He does have an incredible work rate, he covers a lot of ground… I realise these are the minimum requirements,” says Prutton. “But he has also matured and evolved with the coaching of Cooper. It was all topped off by his performance against Liverpool. The challenge now for Ryan is to look at good, solid Premier League midfielders, who get a decade worth of service at the top level.
“They are consistent, they are combative, they are super fit and they contribute. They do not go missing. They have strength of character and personality. Now the question is whether he can do that once every six or seven games or can he do it in every other game or even in every game? Can he work himself into a position where more people say, ‘Fucking hell, that kid Yates can play’?
“Consistency is what elevates a player from being in the Premier League for two minutes to being one who can play there for a decade. The bare bones he has, the tools he has at his disposal — he does have that in him.”
Yates had a great chance in the win against Liverpool to open up his Premier League account.
Morgan Gibbs-White plays an excellent through ball after spotting Yates’ run.
Yates hold of Fabinho and has the goal in sight…
… but he was denied by a fine save from Alisson.
Yates has scored 16 goals for Forest but has netted only once this season, in the EFL Cup at Grimsby.
“He has not got the goal return that he should have,” says Prutton.
“If I am talking about him objectively, he has what it takes to be a solid Premier League midfielder. If I talk about him subjectively, I am rooting for him to show that because he is a thoroughly decent fella and clearly loves Forest. In these most cynical of times, that is a lovely thing to be able to say about somebody.”
(Top photo: Jon Hobley/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)