Hartlepool United boss backs 'brilliant' young midfielder to carve out career in Football League
Hartlepool United manager Nicky Featherstone has backed Jamie Miley to carve out a career in the Football League following a "brilliant" second half display during Saturday's remarkable comeback win over Solihull Moors.
The 22-year-old, who is set to make his 50th Pools appearance when his side entertain rivals Carlisle United on Wednesday night, lashed home his second goal of the season at the weekend from long range. At the time, the young midfielder's piledriver drew Pools level in a game Featherstone labelled as must-win before a strong second half showing saw the visitors clinch all three points in the West Midlands.
Having struggled in the opening stages of the contest as Pools quickly found themselves two goals down, Miley grew into the game after ending a run of 11 matches without scoring before asserting himself in the second half, winning the ball back, starting attacks and impressing with his purposeful passing.
The challenge now for the former Newcastle man, whose brother Lewis has established himself in the Magpies first team, will be to produce performances like he did at Damson Park on a more consistent basis. Blessed with plenty of talent, vision and determination and with impressive footballing pedigree having developed through the ranks at St James' Park, Miley has shown what he can do in flashes this season but has often left Pools fans wanting more.
Following a positive first few months at Victoria Park - the youngster scored a 96th minute equaliser on his debut against Braintree Town and produced a series of promising performances after sealing a permanent move from Newcastle in January last year - big things were expected of Miley ahead of the new campaign. While there have certainly been memorable moments such as a defence-splitting assist during August's win over Altrincham as well as a stunning long range strike in November's victory against Truro City, Miley has struggled to nail down a regular place in the Pools side and has sometimes found himself shifted out to the right flank, a role he's never looked comfortable in, or left among the substitutes.
Even so, Pools fans are still harbouring high hopes that Miley might be the man to lead them back to the Football League and Featherstone, widely lauded as one of the club's greatest ever midfielders, certainly seems to think he has the potential to propel himself to a higher level.
"I thought he struggled in the first half an hour but I thought after that he was brilliant," Featherstone said when asked about Miley's performance at the weekend.
"After his goal he took charge of the game, dominated second balls and started a lot of attacks for us in that second half. Especially when we had that sustained pressure, a lot was coming out and he was collecting the ball, feeding our attacking players and taking up good positions.
"I've spoken to Miley quite a few times since I've been here. I want him closer to the box, especially when we're attacking. As we've seen on a couple of occasions, against Truro and at the weekend against Solihull, he's capable of a clean strike. He's got a really nice strike, he directs it well and he's quite composed at the edge of the box. Personally, I'd like to see him a bit higher up the pitch so he can get in more positions where the ball drops to him at the edge of the box and he manages to get a shot off.
"He can definitely play higher, his ceiling is above this level for me personally; it's just about getting the best out of him on a consistent basis. He's young, he's got loads of ability and loads of potential to play higher. Hopefully that'll be with us, but I can see his career propelling and playing in the Football League, that's for sure."