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bushfighter

Listed below are comments made by bushfighter between Thursday, 21st August 2008 and Thursday, 26th February 2009.

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Improving football for kids 3:28pm on 26 Feb 2009 this is a really good topic to blog on Gav.

thinking back to my days of youth football. we had two full size picthes at primary school and all football was played on this so we were on big pitches from 7 years old. When i think back it's amazing how you found your position through your main assets. As a big lad with a big boot and not much pace I played centre back and goaly up until i was 16 as i was the only kid who could kick the ball any distance. without pace i was no use anywhere else. it wasn't until i was 16 when i discovered that as well as kick the ball a long way i was also very accurate that i started to play in midfield. between the ages of 7 - 16 how I would have loved to have used a smaller ball, played on a smaller picth with smaller goals.

I've done some coaching in my time and even was considered technically good enough to do a stint with simon cliffords brazilian lot in their sheffield franchise a few years ago. luckily there was no concentration on actual games at all -e very kid got a football (small ones too) and it was skills we worked on. The hope was that when the kid had a game - on the park, at school, sunday league etc - they would hopefully use the skills learnt.

not sitting on the fence I think there's not enough distinction between skills and game mentalities. maybe kids should not play competative footy till they reach their teens and everything before that should be skill based and more importantly fun. we do produce footballers with good technical skills but I think we coach a lot of it out of kids as they develop or the game mentality means its never fully developed.
Review of the week 3:36pm on 04 Feb 2009 re post 3 - city have bought the wrong keeper if they think given is an organiser. no defence he's every played behind at newcastle has ever looked organised so i doubt he's suddely going to develop schmeicel-like organisation skills overnight.

good shot stopper though although you already have hart and young schmeicel.

good blog fletch and i think you're so right re kinnear. i've seen the interview since and it's a complete slip of the tounge from kinnear with no malice at all but he'll be well glad to get shot of someone who obviously was waiting for the chance to leave and pounced on it. good job dear bobby is not still in charge with his nack for getting his players names wrong.
No carping about Kaka coup 4:02pm on 16 Jan 2009 i don't really have an issue with the kaka sale. its a lot of money but won't really harm the transfer market just in the same way that the large fee for zidane didn't really push up prices.

what will affect the prem though is the silly money for average players. iut's been a bit loco since chelski started flogging the millions but you can already see that city will try and pslash the cash to land bellamy and santa cruz as well. the price for bellamy is absurd. he's a journeyman striker who creates a bit with his pace and will probably leave west ham for around 15m. it's this type of transfer activity which pushes up the porice of averag eplayers and then clubs like wigan just won't compete.
How I long for a proper Christmas 09:51am on 16 Dec 2008 Anoher good blog Gav.

I have to say the christmas period must be a little offputting when you either have to train or travel for a match. i certainly couldn't do it and gladly suffer my meagre job for the chance to spend a few days of with the family - i get more excited about christmas than i did as a kid for this very reason. I also assume the wrong result etc means a duller christmas when you return from boxing day duty?

Have you ever been injured over christmas? does this mean you get more time with the family?

nice story re proctor. he was a favourite at rotherham in his time - a real trier who had a lot of skill and application and even had a few highlights at the very top in his sunderland days. he and martin butler where a good strike partnership at millmoor but we did a good deal to swop him for byfield (i think).
Review of the week 3:35pm on 10 Dec 2008 big story of the year - rotherhan, luton and bournemouth all start in the minus sparking a relegation battle even before the first whistle had been blown.
What makes a good manager? 08:51am on 09 Dec 2008 Another great blog Gavin. I fully understand your 'back to basics' explanation - even though dortmundowl seems to taking it as a personal offense!

It's not that you and the wider team aren't giving 100% all of the time but its the compartmentalisation of the game - individually and the team - which can make all the difference. When things are going against you and pressure builds up for results certain things can be ignored as the manager, coaching staff and players strive to turn the tide.

'back to basics' is something that works whatever job you're in. I know it myself that sometimes I get lost in my work and some products that I produce miss the fundamentals (can be as simple as use of language which makes understanding my point harder than it should be) when I'm focusing on certain areas and the whole thing fails to click as it should. It's not that I havene't given 100% - it's just small things that you tend to ignore to focus on others.

You could see this in my own beloved club rotherham a few seasons ago. when alan knill took over during our relegation year from the championship we were dire in every respect. In the close season you could definatly see we went back to basics as in the first home game of the season we were tight and compact, marked well with good energy and passed the ball neatly. Set plays were a disaster though and you could see the focus in the build up to the game was all about open play which was where we got killed in the relegation.

keep up the good work Gav - the blog is a pleasure to read.
Of sleep and dream teams 2:33pm on 02 Dec 2008 this blog is one of the best things on the bbc site at the moment.

being a rotherham fan i'm a real big fan of guy branston. he played for us when we were in the championship and at that time he had a bit of pace as well as his aerial ability and freakish strength. i'll never forget when norwich came to millmoor (a classy 4-4 encounter) and branston was sent off in the tunnel at half time. there was obviously some handbags going on as the players entered the tunnel but as branston waded in the tunnel was visibly shaking!

keep up the good work Gav - you're worth your weight in gold here!
The pressures of youth football 07:31am on 28 Oct 2008 hey Gav - been reading your blog over the last few weeks and it's become the first thing I look for on the website.

youth football is a funny thing - the dipping standards and training techniques are incredible depending on where you go. a large amount of trouble is is that most parents have no idea which kind of set up is good/bad for their children which is a real shame - a basic lottery. you do raise an interesting question for specific training/qualification for children based coaching though - maybe trevor brooking can take this up?...

I used to coach in the brazilian soccer school system run by simon clifford. this was my first experience of coaching but in my opinion it was spot on. the kids each got a football (size 3 for the younger ones) and the emphasis was on fun and making a lot of noise! roughly we kept swithcing between skill sets and games and its amazing how after doing a skill set of stopping the ball, turning etc the kids would all be trying it out as soon as the game started. its a franchise system with an emphasis on making money but at least its not governed by the drive to find/keep good players.
A Millers tale 3:34pm on 09 Oct 2008 ooh to
ooh to be a miller!

The turning point was moving out of millmoor. You could see it needed to be done and luckily for us Stewart had the guts and the brains to do it. yes it severed us from our home but it will hopefully provide us with stability in the long term - something the booths' value on millmoor would never have done.

credit to the players and robins too. must be difficult trying to sell a club like rotherham given its current position but he's wheeled and dealed and brought in players who are ready and willing to take the challenge on.
Daley ready, but don't count out Waterfield 4:14pm on 21 Aug 2008 peas81 - the water jets help the diver differentiate between the surface and the bottom of the pool which, without the jets, are hard to tell apart. in Beijing where the depth is many metres it can be incredibly dangerous if the divers can't tell where they'll hit the water.

not sure why on your second point but could it be that's where they're comfortable if they dive in synchro?

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