One to Watch: Randell Williams
Only three and a half years ago, Randell Williams was playing in the ninth tier of English football at the Mile End Park Leisure Centre and Stadium – a leisure centre which also features a four hundred and thirty nine seat capacity stadium.
Like many, Randell Williams was an unpolished diamond who was discovered on the streets of London and subsequently signed by one of the biggest football clubs in the country. However, unlike many of the success stories heralded for their meritocratic rise to fame, Williams didn’t make it.
Despite joining Tottenham Hotspur, he was latterly released and had to drop eight flights of football to join Essex Senior League side Tower Hamlets in order to fulfil his dream of being a footballer.
In a tumultuous early career, Williams was then signed by Crystal Palace before again in the aftermath of a few unsuccessful loan spells, he was once again released by a Premier League club before he had even been given a debut appearance.
Last night, Williams stepped out onto the hallowed turf of Wembley albeit in eerie circumstances. With five goals and fourteen assists before the impromptu extended break, Williams had individually contributed towards 35% of Exeter City’s goals during the regular season as he revelled and thrived with the onus being placed on him. With the weighty responsibility bestowed upon him as Exeter City’s chief creative influence, he was one of the main driving forces why Matt Taylor’s side even reached the play-off final.
Whilst Williams and his team-mates were unsuccessful in their pursuit of promotion to League 1, as it will be in fact Northampton Town taking their place, Randell Williams who is now entering the final year of his contract with the League 2 club will be on the radar of many clubs much higher in the upper echelons of the Football League.
Last summer, Town were linked with a move for Randell Williams. If you are unaware or the name has slipped your mind, I would not blame you as Williams was one of hundreds of names that were linked with a move to Town after their return to the Football League.
The untimely and murky departure of Danny Simpson after a money-related dispute and the sizeable hole which could be left by the potential departure of Elias Kachunga who, despite underperforming the past few seasons remains an influential figure, is also set to leave at the end of his month-long contract extension would mean that Town’s right-hand side is completely vacant.
Having already expressed an interest once, it would come as no surprise if Town were to reignite that interest this summer and attempt to prise Williams’ away from the Grecians. With a cultured left-foot and technical ability befitting a much higher level than League 2, Williams has been one of the stand-out performers in the league and someone who looks destined to play at a higher level.
Whilst his vision and creativity from out wide would be greatly received and appreciated, perhaps one of the most notable features of Williams' game is his deliveries from dead-ball situations. Previously, the Cowleys have placed great emphasis on set-piece efficiency in both boxes citing that 25% of their goals should come from this avenue of chance creation, however, Town has miserably underperformed.
With experience operating anywhere on the right flank, Williams has the flexibility and versatility to play either further forward as a winger who can also track back and offer some defensive solidity or as a forward-thinking full-back who can add another dimension to an attacking game plan when overlapping from a deeper position. With Town looking set to lose their most senior right-winger as well as having already lost their most senior right-back, Williams would arrive with the immediate incentive of having the opportunity to make either position his own.
Of course, it would be a gamble. The gap between League 2 and the Championship (hopefully this is a precursor to Town remaining in the division) is an enormous chasm regardless of how well you have performed in League 2 and it is one which has proved insurmountable for some – see Reece Brown who is now exiled at Peterborough United as an example.
However, I expect the Cowley brothers to trust their intuition and instinct with their expertise lying further down the footballing pyramid. With a managerial mantra which places such emphasis on education, man management and nurturing potential, I would not be surprised to see Town have a change of tact and strategy in the transfer market, one in which sees Town pursue lower league domestic talents that can make the step up to the Championship and flourish.
If Town does opt to take that approach like I expect many Championship clubs to do in these testing financial times, in an over-saturated market, many clubs will undoubtedly look to capitalise and profiteer from Exeter City’s unfortunate misfortune in pursuit of Randell Williams, that club may well be Huddersfield Town.