Danny Cowley: Sean Raggett will be a “top player” for Norwich
Lincoln City manager Danny Cowley says that new Norwich City defender Sean Raggett will become a ‘top player’ in the future.
A few eyebrows were raised when the Canaries activated the £350,000 release clause in the player’s contract before loaning him back to the Imps but Cowley thinks that Raggett will soon prove his worth.
As reported by the EDP, Cowley said:
[Sean is] an outstanding young player. If I look at the progress he’s made since he joined us just over a year ago, from part-time football into full-time football, he’s made incredible progress. He’s going to be a top player and not only have Norwich signed a top player but a top person as well, he’s a credit to himself and his family and we’re really proud of him here.
The League Two boss went on to explain that people close to Raggett were trying to get him to go on strike in order to push through a transfer but the 23-year-old chose not to do that as he had to much respect for his manager and his teammates.
He was being wrongly advised, in my opinion, by a lot of people to not play for us and to try to force the move through. He didn’t because he wanted to stay true to himself because he wants to be someone who is judged on his actions and credit to him because he was under real pressure not to play from certain people prior to the Wycombe game. He decided to play and put the team first, the team before himself really, and he played like an absolute warrior on the day and he’s been that good ever since.
Cowley went on to say that he thinks all parties involved will benefit from the decision to let Raggett stay at Lincoln on loan until at least January.
I think between us we’ve got the right pathway for him because he’s still young, he’s only been full-time for a year, prior to the Wycombe game this season he had never played a Football League game. So the exposure now to Football League games will continue his progress. He’s making such rapid progress here that’s he’s had that sort of springboard effect so it would be crazy to take him away from his environment at the moment while he’s improving day-in, day-out.