The Garrulous Jay – Mr Boring

Much was made last week of Mo Salah’s announcement of his departure from Liverpool FC at the end of the season. While the Egyptian undoubtedly warrants his “Liverpool legend” status, one of his erstwhile team mates at the Club broke a remarkable record a month earlier that few players will hope to challenge.

A Google search for “James Milner nickname” may return ‘boring’ as the top result, but on the 21st February this year he surpassed Gareth Barry’s Premier League appearances record of 653.

At age of 40 he has now made 657 appearances and counting, and is one of just five outfield players to have featured in the Premier League at this age or older.

Milner has enjoyed an extraordinary career since making his debut for his hometown club, Leeds United, in 2002 at the age of 16. At the time he quickly became the League’s youngest ever goalscorer and to this day he remains the third youngest.

He has won the Premier League title three times, the Champions League twice, the FA Cup twice, the Football League Cup twice and a host of less prestigious awards to boot. He has also represented England on 61 occasions.

Milner’s determination to back himself and further his career was evident in the bold decision he took not to sign a new contract at Manchester City in 2015, so that he could move to Liverpool on a free transfer.

This would have come as no surprise to those that knew the player well. By the time he signed for Leeds he had represented Yorkshire Schools at cricket and gained 11 GCSEs, most at grade A according to one report.

As the manager of a fantasy football league team – the mighty OK Yare FC – for 24 seasons I spent many years preparing for the pre-season player auction.

The twin challenge was always the same: not over-spending on star players – the Salahs of their time – whilst spotting those ‘boring’ players that would command a lower price but always deliver on the crucial points-per-pound metric over the course of a season.

The parallels with investing are both obvious and striking. Star stocks, funds and fund managers may deliver great results for a portfolio over a short period of time, boosting overall returns.

But buying and holding solid, perhaps unexciting funds or companies, with a track record of consistent returns and an investment approach or business model with a defendable ‘moat’ are also key to long-term portfolio performance.

Although I cannot recall ever signing Milner for OK Yare FC, if he was a investment he would be a core holding in my portfolio.

Vamos Señor Aburrido!