Sunday, 11 October 2009

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake Bio

Ebanks-Blake came through the youth ranks at Manchester United, impressing for both the Academy side and the reserves. He was part of the United squad which won the FA Youth Cup in 2003.

He was handed his Manchester United debut in October 2004, replacing David Bellion late in the 3-0 Carling Cup victory at Crewe Alexandra. But the striker had made only three appearances before he was loaned to Belgian feeder club Royal Antwerp for the second half of 2005-06.
On his return to Old Trafford he was sold to Plymouth Argyle for £200,000 and took his chance with both feet.


The fast, powerful striker made his debut in a 1-1 draw with Wolves and had to wait until his seventh appearance to finally score his first goal. In fact, he scored just three goals in his first 31 games for the Pilgrims. Then it all clicked.

In the run-in to the 2006-07 season, Ebanks-Blake bagged seven goals in the final 13 matches of the campaign. He followed that up with 25 goals in all competitions in 2007-08, some of those for Wolves, making him one of the most sought-after strikers in the Championship and the division's top scorer with 23 in the league.


However, the player had a £1.5m release clause in his contract and it was only a matter of time before a bigger club activated it. He moved to Wolves in January 2008.
It proved to be a superb piece of buisness by Mick McCarthy. He scored 12 goals in his first 20 Championship outings in the run-in after making his debut in a 3-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace.


The England Under-21 international again finished as the Championship's top scorer in 2008-09 with 25 goals.

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