Mills: Will Lankshear Is a Magnificent Finisher, but England Can Wait

Speaking exclusively with BOYLE Sports , former Leeds and England defender Danny Mills has run the rule over a fiercely competitive Championship .

Mills has hailed Will Lankshear as a genuine goal poacher for Middlesbrough while urging patience over an England call, and backed the model of developing and selling young players.

The former right-back has also given his verdict on West Ham sacking Nuno Espirito Santo , the appointment of Scott Parker , Burnley 's change under Fabio Celestini , and Norwich 's revival under Philippe Clement .

Middlesbrough

What Are Your Thoughts on Middlesbrough So Far?

There are lots of good teams in that division. West Ham , you'd expect, will be there or thereabouts; Scott Parker is going in there now. Swansea have had a fantastic start, and there's Middlesbrough and Wolves too. Middlesbrough 's issue in the past was that they created so many chances but couldn't finish them.

Will Lankshear is a magnificent finisher. I saw him at Oxford first-hand, still very young, and he'll get better in terms of his play outside the box. What they've got now is a team that creates chances and a real finisher, a goal poacher. So I would expect them to be there or thereabouts.

Should Will Lankshear Be in the England Conversation?

There's a huge difference between playing in the Championship , playing in the Premier League and then playing at international level. It's a massive difference; ask any player who's been through that in recent years.

For him, it would just be a case of keep playing where you are, keep doing what you're doing, see where you end up with Middlesbrough next season, and go from there. He's doing fantastically well, absolutely off the charts, but he's still very young with a lot of learning and improving to do.

Sometimes what you don't want is too much too soon. He's in the under-21s, and I would leave him in there for now if it was me.

How Do You View Middlesbrough's Model After That Sell-On Fee for Morgan Rogers?

We've seen in recent years that the business model has changed. Teams understand now that bringing in young players and making them better is the way. EPPP ripped the heart out of the academy system, really, so all the top clubs took the best young players very early, and clubs were not getting huge fees for them at that stage.

What they're trying to do now is hold on to these players a little bit longer, develop them and give themselves a chance.

We've seen it across the leagues; it's going back to the old days of giving players an opportunity, plenty of game time, improving them, and then selling them on and doing the same thing again. It's no different from the Brentford model or the Brighton model. So identification and recruitment are absolutely key.

West Ham United

Was It the Right Decision for West Ham to Sack Nuno Espirito Santo?

They made an appointment the next day with Scott Parker , so they obviously sounded him out to see if he'd be interested. It's been difficult for Nuno because he was almost up against it from the beginning. A lot of fans were maybe not particularly happy with how the team were playing, and they were favourites to go back up, so every time you lose, it's a question of whether you sack him. There is so much pressure on that job to bounce straight back into the Premier League . Time will tell if it's the right decision. They've got a talented squad and should be there or thereabouts; it's now up to Scott Parker to make that happen.

Is Parker the Right Choice, Given His Premier League Record?

Scott Parker got promoted with Burnley with a style that you can't exactly call the West Ham way. West Ham fans have been going on for years, wanting a manager to play the West Ham way. Is that the way Scott Parker plays? Not from what we've seen so far.

Will he change? Does he have different players at West Ham ? Possibly. Scott 's done very well and is very organised as a coach, but time will tell. Even West Ham have had managers in the past who were successful; Sam Allardyce got them promoted, and fans still weren't happy; David Moyes won a trophy and still weren't happy. For West Ham , just be careful what you wish for.

The Rest of the Division

Does Burnley's Appointment of Fabio Celestini Fill You With Confidence?

Burnley have had a huge turnaround in players; so many left, they had a new manager coming in, and now another new manager as well, which is never easy. If you keep the squad together, you probably expect to bounce straight back, but they didn't. It's a huge turnaround in recruitment, and you've got to blend all those players together and get them playing the right way.

It hasn't worked so far; they've changed their manager again, but they've got some talented players and a decent squad. Can they turn it around? Time will tell.

How Big a Boost Have Norwich's Three Recent Wins Been for Philippe Clement?

Before Philippe Clement came in last season, Norwich were languishing; they made that change, and he came in and turned their fortunes around. They went on a really big push towards the end of the season and weren't a million miles away from the play-offs in the end.

So you'd expect them to carry on, but it's a very difficult, competitive division, and you will get times where you have bad runs of form. You just have to stick to your principles, keep doing the right things, and hopefully your players come out on top.

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