Voidspark Works

Socket.Kill

January 14, 2026

So basically I was developing something entirely different, which was discarding a great deal of killmails via the redis stream from Zkill, and I thought why not do something with that data, as a result I developed a web site which is essentially a short hand tool for kill mails, I am not aiming or challenging anything whatsoever, just doing something with discarded data so I hope you find it useful, if you don’t and don’t want to use it, then that’s okay aswell. Just happy to make a contribution - please visit Socket.Kill to see what the hell I am talking about :)

Lessons in Bombing

August 25, 2025

Apparently im good at explaining things?

Change the Face of Football

July 30, 2025

It is without doubt that grassroots coaching is slowly and surely challenging the status quo of “the elite”. Every weekend mums and dads go out in force to devote their time to the development of young footballers across the country. It is this commitment that is most admirable about the grassroots coach. It is the prerogative of most of these coaches to provide a fun environment for their kids, focussing upon growth and development.

Q and A

July 30, 2025

Our first in a series of Q&A following the subject of coaching we are joined by a coach from the world of Scottish football.

Notes

July 30, 2025

This section is essentially a collection of notes and ideas which can be used to add to your knowledge base. A few of them might provide a baseline to add to what you already know.

Matrix Code

July 30, 2025

@echo off

Volume 1

July 30, 2025

Since I was a kid I always loved football, sadly when I got older I developed zero talent in becoming an actual footballer so the next step was to coach. I discovered that I had an ability to teach, more importantly I got a real buzz from the rewarding environment of player development. A while ago (pre twitter) it was difficult to track down decent sources of information in order to develop your ability further so I made the decision to write them all down, I already had my own skill level when it came to online work (currently at university getting a degree in that!) and so a tumblr blog was born. Over time it grew and grew to a point where a friend of mine ended up showing it around to an academy in florida.

Coaching - The Ultimate Thread

July 19, 2025

I have been a coach for a number of years now and throughout those years I have had a number of experiences which contributed to my development at doing what I do. Instead of these thoughts and experiences rattling around in my brain a couple of years ago I made the decision to write them down, that’s where my blog was born. Many hours and beers went to dreaming up a name for such a uniform resource locator. These wonders of coaching would be written into the stars, eventually thecoachingcolumn.net was engraved onto the records of a well known and interesting domain registration site. I’m told that the hits I have received, word press related features tell me there have been over 100,000 of them, have made it all the way to an academy in Florida so technically worldwide (which is exciting) and also made it locally to some of my friends in the coaching world.

A Girl

July 03, 2025

She wakes up, her cool blue eyes protesting the painful, searing light illuminating the room. Lifting herself up from the cold concrete flooring, she notes the cheap-looking table and chair dominating the cell, along with the worn-out leather armchair neatly placed in the corner. Eventually, she adapts to the bright light and overlooks the interior of the imprisoning room. There’s a robust and secure entrance to the room; any skillful attempt to escape would be met by a solid wall of cold steel. A vast mirror hanging from the main wall creates the classic illusion of making the place seem bigger than it actually is. The walls are high-quality brickwork coated in a reflective shade of white paint, as if to intensify the brightness of the room.

Q & A with Caitlin

July 03, 2025

Today we have a very special guest, not going to say much because that’s something we want her to do. So without any further rambling lets see how special our guest is today. So for our lovely audience, make those introductions? My name is Caitlin O’Hara, I’ve been involved in football of the female variety for a number of years, more specifically player coach for Glasgow City Ladies. A coach you say, tell us more? I’ve coached since I was a youngster, maybe 16/17. I was down doing some extra training one night at the pitch when one of the youth teams were down. The group of kids looked like they were having such a good time, as did the coaches. That’s what probably caught my eye at first, eventually going on to work with that group, learning from the other coaches and then progressing to taking my own sessions. I guess it all snowballed from there. I went on to be an assistant coach at the West Regional Performance Squads at U16s level which I loved. I learned so much about myself as a coach and about the game. I had great mentors and it was a real step up for me working with elite players. It was really out my comfort zone at first but looking back it really shaped me into who I am now as a coach. I am currently a lead coach at u12s of Glasgow City Youth Academy, the girls have just made the transition into 11 aside complete with the challenge of playing in a boys league. The girls have been on a real journey and it’s fantastic to see them reap the rewards from their hard work. So what drew you to the prospect of player development? I strongly believe that at youth level winning should not be the be all and end all. It is far more important to develop yourself as a player both technically & tactically. Everyone develops at different rates and stages in their careers. Winning is great, everyone loves to win but it’s so much more important to see the process and the journey that you go on. Go outside your comfort zone, challenge yourself against stronger players, faster players because it will be of huge benefit long term. Personally I don’t see the point in going out and playing teams you know your stronger than and putting 10 past them. Who’s that helping? What does anyone learn? You will actually learn more being on the other end of that score. It allows you to reflect and think on what you can do better, how you can improve, make quicker decisions, play in tighter areas. I think that’s why I was drawn to player development, it’s not all about right now in this moment, it’s about doing things in your time and seeing the long term benefit. Make mistakes, who cares. Football is a game of mistakes, that’s the only way you can learn. Do you have a specific philosophy when it comes to player development? I wouldn’t say I have a specific philosophy, no. I like the players to get on the ball and move it around. I like them to be creative and express themselves. I encourage them to play with both feet at all times I think it’s massive for players even at a young age to be adaptable. Play in different positions, learn new roles and responsibilities. I’d say for me that’s what I build my foundations around. I think it’s so important to see past the footballer and see the person. Take time to get to know how your players are, how there day was, what interests them. Make sure their environment is fun and somewhere they enjoy coming develop and learn. Build good relationships and team morale. Build confidence and re-assure them it’s ok to make mistakes. This way they will play with freedom and they will flourish. With those foundations do you have anyone in your age group that you would consider a success story? It’s difficult to pick out just one from the age group I’m currently working with as they are still young and finding there feet. Although not a success story, there has been 4 or 5 who have moved up and played at U15 level which is 3 years above them. That gave me a great sense of pride and motives me even more to give a platform to the players so they can go and showcase what they have. In terms of a success story I’d have to go way back to when I first started out coaching with Tommy Little at u13s, he had a great pool of players who all came through the u16s West Regional Squad. The majority have now played for their respective national teams and at first team level, but if there is anyone specific it would be Brogan Hay. She has been at Glasgow City through every single age group and has now made the City senior team. Even from a very young age she had great technical ability. She would do things on the ball that you just wouldn’t believe, what sets Brogan apart from the rest is her attitude. She leads by example with her 100% committed performances, inspiring her team mates to offer the same levels of hard work and energy. One to watch! Going back to you mentioning your group are in a boys league, how is it different? Yes we actually played 7aSide in the boys league as well but recently made the transition to 11 aside earlier this year. It’s a lot different, firstly moving into 11 aside already provides its challenges with players having to adapt to the change of size in the pitch and covering bigger distances, not to mention having more players on the pitch and learning different formations and positions. Boys are naturally much more quicker, more powerful and stronger than girls so it gives the girls a chance to play at a higher intensity than what they would if they were in the girls leagues. I wouldn’t say there is a difference at all technically or tactically. It’s just having to deal with the physical attributes. The girls have to play with fewer touches, in tighter areas and have to make decisions more quickly. The boys don’t give you time to take 3/4 touches, get your head up and play or they’ll be in on top of you. I’d be lying if I was to say it’s been easy. It’s been a real learning curve and the girls have had to overcome a lot of hurdles but credit to them. they have dug in and continued to stick to our principles and now they are seeing positive outcomes. What do you have in mind for this season, for yourself and for your group of kids? Personally just to keep learning and looking for ways to improve. I’ve got a great bunch of coaches around me who continue to push me to be better everyday. Eventually hoping to secure my B Licence if all goes to plan. For the kids, hoping to get as many as possible into regional performance squads, also looking to get a few to turn out for the squads above their age. I’d be more than happy with that. Its also worth noting that she was awarded young coach of the year 2015, so another fact to inspire any up and coming coaches to take these ideas and create your own approach. Thanks again to Caitlin for her time today, hopefully you have enjoyed todays words and see you next time

Storyline

July 03, 2025

“The salt water stings, fuck me does that sting” Rick thought to himself rubbing his eyes, regaining focus he observed the immediate surroundings, the town in front of him generated a feeling of frustration, so many questions marks. Closing his eyes he thinks back to his most visible memory to his mind’s eye, last thing he remembers was editing a badly worded story by one of his idiot reporters

Eulogy

July 03, 2025

Good afternoon, everyone.First of all, I want to thank you all for being here today—although, knowing my mum, all the fuss and attention would make her so uncomfortable!My mum had all the classic ingredients of a good old fashioned parent, strong willed, stubborn and according to my dad quite a good left hook. But underneath that presbyterian attitude to life, there was a wonderful human being.As most of you know, when I was around 14 I was diagnosed with epilepsy. Due to a load of complications, I was a guest at most of the hospitals in north lanarkshire and glasgow.Without fail she was always the first person at my bedside with a shopping bag full of chocolate and juice. She couldn’t make things better medically. She was just being Mum which is what she did best.She was never one for big emotional displays, but if you paid attention, she gave more than you ever asked for. She showed love in actions, not words.When I was young and stupid I was at mates house, true to form there was alcohol and unreasonably loud music, next thing I know my mum bursts in the room, we all thought we were being hunted down for under age drinking, turns out she was just handing me my medication that I had typically forgot about. She was fiercely protective to the point where she was prepared to barge into someone’s house.I got a call from her randomly at 3am whilst asleep, turns out she learned of the terrible tragedy at the clutha bar and just wanted to make sure I was home safe.When I told her I wanted to restart my life by going into higher education, she pulled out all the stops to make sure I had the best chance at success. She believed in responsibility. In getting on with things. In putting others first—even if it meant carrying the weight herself, but she was always at her happiest with all her boys with her.I looked at a lot of works to see what might fit for today, but I kept coming back to Dante’s La Vita Nuova—because it captures, better than I ever could, the way she shaped who I am:> “In that book which is my memory,on the first page of the chapter that is the day when I first met you,appear the words: Here begins a new life.”Today, I say goodbye to my mum forever. And strangely, it feels like a part of me has died with her. So I hope you’ll all join my family in spending a lifetime remembering her.Thank you.

Q & A With Rixx

July 03, 2025

So, if you are a regular you know the routine by now. We are back again and to me it seemed sensible to get another CSM candidate along for a conversation. So here goes.

The Bosman Ruling

February 14, 2022

So the talk of today is Gareth Bale, 100 million euro man has been discussed and examined endlessly to the level where people are cursing the very existence of sky sports news. Today I have made the healthy decision to avoid hurling myself aboard that particular bandwagon. What I’m going to have a look at is how the world of football, claims were made that the evolution of the “expensive player” stemmed from the bosman ruling. Jean-Marc Bosman was a player for Royal Football Club de Liège (RFC Liège) up until the year 1990, where the midfielder decided to look for a new place to ply his trade, dunkirk based french club USL Dunkerque who were keen to bring him on board, so the two parties started talking and an arrangement was suggested. They came across a stumbling block, as it turns out RFC liege had a price tag on bosman that Dunkerque were not willing to pay (as were the ways then) So as a result they moved on and looked elsewhere, and bosman was left with an unhappy employer who subsequently reduced his wages and was demoted to the reserve team. This presented a clear problem for bosman and he has to act quickly, notifying the EU court of justice and subsequently a collection of litigious and boring people examined the situation, deciding that “restrictions will be banned on foreign EU players within national leagues and allowed players in the EU to move to another club at the end of a contract without a transfer fee being paid” This event coincided with a newly established cash flow coming into football, and the rule was fully established in 1995 and it is said that this revolutionised the world of football, changed the attitudes of clubs and player, empowering agents and “playing staff” to negotiate much more financially healthy deals benefitting them and the agents directly, leaving clubs unable to profit from the development of players and academies. Now such an amount of money changing hands is regarded more as a fashion statement, a political point to ensure you are favourite for the next presidential election. Where is Bosman now? The work he done to resolve this dispute resulted in him becoming reasonably wealthy, but mentioned cash was invested poorly and the resulting impact triggered a descent into depression and alcoholism, he now according to sources lurks in jail, as he was on the business end of a year’s sentence for reacting furiously to his girlfriend’s refusal to supply him with a alcoholic drink. The man who created a revolution, benefited the least from it.

Count Dankula - Update

February 14, 2022

Following a break from writing I have returned today with an update, you may have been made aware of the count dankula nazi pug case that made the news worldwide a couple of years ago where newly established comedian markus meechan made a you tube video, the premise of the video was that his girlfriend was expressing how cute their dog was, a pug, so markus’ idea was to make the pug the least cute thing imaginable, in this case a nazi. I will let you come to your own conclusions and do your own research, personally I am a great believer in observing all the facts and most importantly in this equation, free speech.

Eve Online - Fleet Meta Distress

February 14, 2022

A couple of days ago something shocked me.

A Carnival Atmosphere

February 14, 2022

The world evolves in wonderful ways, new innovations take us by surprise with outrageous regularity and today we look at the concept of iBaller.

Phantomite - Q&A

January 26, 2022

So since you all missed out on your bi-weekly dose of between 2 keepstars, I thought I would make an extra effort and produce another one of my try hard articles. As promised I continue my series of conversations with various different victims of my social media DM’s

Coaching - Suggestions

January 26, 2022

To get equipment ready and put away after session - I have significant experience working in this environment, training sessions setup and warm up setup was ready and prepared before the team would show up for training on each training night.

Academy Snippets

January 26, 2022

Thought I might write about the ideas because I’m shit at using presentations.

Biggest and most important issue is your overflow of players, keeping in mind this is never a bad thing. My idea would be keep your senior and core players together as a senior performance team, the second group would be the additional players that are talented enough to play but have been unproven.

The two groups can be given several names, senior reserves? performance and development?

Team A and Team B is my best choice as the name makes less of a psychological impact than the rest.

The third team can become a bit of an experiment for you, If you are still enjoying an influx of players this can be used as a platform for football, an experience perhaps for younger players to experience of being part of a team, to experience pitch side environment and the right attitudes to show. You could use this team as a sort of exhibition group, send them to be part of tournaments, training abroad. then you could use it as a platform to recruit further players.

There is also the idea of what is deemed a drop in, someone to enjoy some basic coaching without the intimidation of talented footballers, people can drop in from the streets for a small training sessions at very little cost.

Staff

In terms of a management, get more coaches

Minimum 3 per group, this allow training sessions to flow and for it to be a more enjoyable experience for each one of the players. You can never grow short of coaches. The better quality the training sessions the more chance you have of player retention.

I don’t know what access you have, but have a chat with your local educational school. A common thing that happens here is on a short term basis a lot of physiotherapists are sourced from universities in scotland, it allows the students to enjoy some real life experiences using their knowledge and gives the club some professional protection against potential injuries.

Use the same idea for other aspects of management e.g sports analysts, personal trainers, coaches, medical related subjects, other sports.

Crystals Girls - Nicole Cums to England. By Jessica Collins

January 26, 2022

Sweaty and tired from what feels like an endless day of packing, I secure another long strip of thick black masking tape over the folds of the cube shaped brown cardboard box in front of me relieved that it is the last one, I use what little strength I have left and push it up against the wall beside the others ready for the removal van in the morning.

Command Line Matrix Code.

January 26, 2022

Key this into command prompt and you should get something resembling matrix visuals.

Coaching - Standards.

January 26, 2022

An interesting thought occured recently, throughout my time as being a coach I often spent time thinking about certain aspects of conduct and so on, one that confused me the most is arguing with the referee. Not something I spend anytime doing as personally I feel that in this case you would lose the respect of the referee, also on a more superficial basis it isnt like the referee is going to listen and decide to change his mind based on your argument, the decision is final and he will not be persuaded based on your argument. As the great Brian Clough once said “people forget the referee doesent have a slow motion eyeball”

The England Team – A Scottish Perspective

January 26, 2022

The great Tom English recently wrote about the success of the England Team, with that I was inspired to add to his opinion with my own, I felt it was important to expand from Scottish perspective and add my own thoughts. That and I like to talk about football.

Scottish Footballers. A snippet.

January 26, 2022

Every coach in scotland wants to make a difference, to develop and improve our academy efforts into something more in depth and elaborate than your typical and straightforward colin hendry.

Fixing Faction Warfare and Low Security Space

January 26, 2022

To make it clear, this was not written by me at any point or in any way. Credit goes to Corvus

International Responsibility

January 25, 2022

Recent international events made me think, the thumping of San Marino sparked an interesting with regards to the 8-0 score line, to experience such a devastating defeat cant be good for the soul.

Coaching - A Guide

January 25, 2022

I work as a coach in the world of scottish football and developed a great deal of experience which I would like to share with you. The idea behind this is simply to express how I got the stage I am and see if someone else could benefit from some of the information, perhaps if you wish to become a coach or currently are a coach and looking for some fresh ideas?

Q&A Mike Azariah

January 25, 2022

Hello, today is the first in a number of Q&A articles that I am excited to produce for you guys. My hope is that it will offer a little more insight into the life of various different aspects of the game we all love to hate. No time to waste so let’s get started.

Categorisation

January 25, 2022

This may not be a blog based on coaching, I purely make it because I am a coach. There are roughly 11,000 registered in scotland so better get started figuring out who I am.

YOU

January 24, 2022

‘Spoiled Alert’

Mute - The Movie

January 24, 2022

I have always been a big fan of Sci-Fi, the likes of Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and Blade Runner being the almost stereotypical choices of entertainment. When meandering through netflix I often go for the unusual, landing on the word cyberpunk MUTE caught my interest right away. A cast including Paul Rudd and Alexander Skarsgård it proved to be a promising recipe for an evening’s viewing.

Anti Ganking Text

January 24, 2022

Greetings.

The Change that never Happened.

January 18, 2022

An old article I wrote many moons ago.

Twitch Channel Trailer

January 18, 2022

Broadcast for Reps

January 11, 2022

I was blessed with the opportunity to contribute to this video. More importantly listen to the message, its important you know.

End of year video

December 18, 2021

Thought I would pick up my end of year video and add it to my youtube channel. Non of this is made by me by the way :)

Eve London

December 18, 2021

Something I wrote a couple of months ago as a promo for eve london.

Olmeca Interview

December 16, 2021

After a long absence we have returned we a very well reviewed and enjoyed experience of asking questions that no one wants the answer too. This time we have a very special guest, someone who I have enjoyed many blops fleets with, my favourite aspect of the game.

Interviewing Myself.

December 16, 2021

Well hello, got an incredibly special interview this evening, more special than any other interview or conversation you will ever get to have in the history of eve. I think I speak for everyone in saying we are all obscenely excited to hear who this special conversation involves.

Riches

July 10, 2020

This was written a VERY long time ago, when I was in my early stages of learning to write so you may notice some aspect of it are a little more dramatic than they should be.

Player Development

July 10, 2020

This was originally written for a previous volountary role related to youth football in scotland.

The Faith of Zeman

May 28, 2020

Prologue – This article may sound a bit like a love note, but bare with me. A man who consistenty remains faithful to the 4-3-3 formation or “geometry” Zdeněk Zeman achieved cult status in Italy, even being serenaded by La coscienza di Zema (Zeman’s Conscious) The Prague born coach was inspired to obtain a patentino by his uncle, Čestmír Vycpálek, who brought him in to help with a number of local amateur clubs. Zeman was made famous by his Foggia (fojjea) side of 1989, at the time lurking in Seria C he was appointed by then owner and chairman Pasquale Casillo. Zeman’s style of football was quickly installed which led to the phrase Zemanlandia, which is used solely to indicate the approach. High pressing and intensity, offside and frenetic movements’ of the players and the ball creates exciting and spectacular football which is considered trademark. The style of football combined with a Youthful Bepe Signori and co created rapid progression from the midst of Serie C to Serie A and the brink of UEFA Cup qualification. Over his 30 year career Zeman has managed nearly 20 clubs creating the careers of a number of legends, Nesta, Signori, Petrescu and Shalimov, the playing style creating many goal scoring opportunities, a recent example is his Pescara team who recorded 90 goals in 42 games along achieving automatic promotion to the top flight of Italian football. Unusually his name has also reached beyond the world of football, as mentioned beforehand singer songwriter and well known Roma fan Antonello Venditti wrote La coscienza di Zema (Zeman’s Conscious) over the years he has also been the subject of many biopics, the main subject being the mentioned Foggia. To mark his return to Roma after a 13 year absence made an unusual appearance on the Wall Street Journal “Soccers Jedi”

Q&A With Gary

August 28, 2019

After a long absence I welcome Morton Women’s head coach Gary Forbes, so we dive straight in!

Flash Card Info

July 27, 2019

Remember I know I did a good job
1 Parent said they’d seen an amazing transformation
It’s one daft mistake, I’m only human.
The association and club made significant mistakes also.
I have made it through awful times before
I am getting help to get better
I can still experience connections to other and get pleasure.
I know there are people who care for me and are there for me.

Another Q&A

July 07, 2019

After a little break we are back asking more questions, today we have another coach from somwehere in the UK happy to give his own thoughts and expressions in the world of football. Lets get started!

Mental Health Support

May 11, 2019

I am so excited to say that the Scottish Association for Mental Health have granted me permission to express my encouragement for their cause through my blog, a small “signpost” will be added to the header as a simple note of support. The charity is the biggest and most effective force that helps people who suffer on a daily basis through any sort of health condition, the world is evolving and support and talking points are improving but conditions are often still considered a taboo subject so I would like to say thank you once again.

Q&A with Alfie Tate

May 06, 2019

So tell us a little more about Alfie Tate?

Thoughts

January 17, 2019

At this moment in time, I felt it was important to write about sexism in football. Firstly, as women’s football has been a subject of interest personally for many years. I have been a coach in that part of the football universe on and off for a few years now and the experience provides a glimpse as to what the women’s game has to offer. Secondly, the issue of sexism within football has showed up more recently and I predict with do so time and time again.

Waving to football

November 06, 2018

Another routine that worked out quite nicely for me, highly flexible also.

Conditioning

November 06, 2018

I picked this up from the world of Futsal.

Timing

November 06, 2018

You have 90 minutes training available to you

Delivery

November 06, 2018

This was an idea I came up with to improve my delivery, this was during nights when I was bored with college work, cables and computers and wanted to invest some time in something else.

Academy staff ideas…

November 06, 2018

Minimum 3 coaches per age group, this allow training sessions to flow and for it to be a more enjoyable experience for each one of the players. You can never grow short of coaches. The better quality the training sessions the more chance you have of player retention.

Academy thought's

November 06, 2018

The following is some information I picked up through experience, was a little passage that i wrote to a club where he was at a loss as to what to do with so many players.

An idea channel

November 06, 2018

The following is just a collection of ideas, I hope these golden nuggets of wonderful information prove productive.

Notes

November 06, 2018

There can be occasions, and don’t get me wrong they are rare, where the opposition are highly disrespectful, where teams argue everything, generally do everything in their power to breach the unwritten rules of sportsmanship. This may anger you or frustrate you, keep it in mind that this is not your problem, work towards maintaining your established high values and standards in terms of your attitude and conduct.

A rondo for a minute

November 06, 2018

This is a routine that I love, I spend time using it every week and it has provided me with an end product, please spend time adapting it to your own requirement or just simply use it as it. Each drill that will be explained is set out on the principles below.

The blog of all blogs

November 06, 2018

have been a coach for a number of years now and throughout those years I have had a number of experiences which contributed to my development at doing what I do. Instead of these thoughts and experiences rattling around in my brain a couple of years ago I made the decision to write them down, that’s where my blog was born. Many hours and beers went to dreaming up a name for such a uniform resource locator. These wonders of coaching would be written into the stars, eventually thecoachingcolumn.net was engraved onto the records of a well known and interesting domain registration site. I’m told that the hits I have received, word press related features tell me there have been over 100,000 of them, have made it all the way to an academy in Florida so technically worldwide (which is exciting) and also made it locally to some of my friends in the coaching world. So, all this basically means is that it makes me incredibly proud to present to you the fact that some of these ideas, original or stolen, have contributed to the development of some young and old players in the UK and further away.

Warm Up

September 28, 2018

Run down length of cones both feet in gap between each cones x2
Repeat Sideways left and Rightx2
Side step through cones x2
Backwards Sidestep x2
Sprint length of cones x1
Reaction Sprints 360 Degree
Rondo/Passing/Sequence Passing

Player Made

July 24, 2018

Something made by a young player, impressive work.

QA with Tony McInally

July 04, 2018

First of all as always let us know a little bit about yourself?

Stretching

June 14, 2018

Another addition to the blog is a source of information for stretching, providing in depth choices addressing potential injury risks and action taken to prevent injuries through appropriate stretching. Please see here.

Concussion

June 14, 2018

Just a small post, adding some resources as part of the blog and one of the biggest concerns in football across the board is the lack of structure and procedure in relation to concussion. A physio that was at my previous club considered this source to be one of the most useful in terms of education for the sidelines. Please see the resources section of the blog to see what else is added to the blog.

Freestyling

June 13, 2018

Just an idea, a few years ago I came across a couple of players that almost had an obsession with the F2 freestylers, couple of guys that have made some success out of some demos of some nice technical ability. The idea was that I was working with a younger group and to inspire I got an older player in to pick out a skill, offer a demo then allocate some time out of your training session for these younger players to practice this. This from a coaching perspective gives you the opportunity to observe the psychological aspect of your players, who can offer that extra determination in terms of getting better, who can be inspired and so on. If the idea pays off you should potentially see your group maybe trying those skills out on the pitch.

Possession

May 16, 2018

This would be one that is used pretty often, I have created a nice illustration to show what I am talking about. The layout is approx 30 by 30 (the white cones)

A Q&A of sorts...

May 02, 2018

Our first in a series of Q&A following the subject of coaching we are joined by a coach from the world of Scottish football.

The Interview

April 30, 2018

Things have been a bit quiet around here so I am excited to report I have went out and recruited some coaches to write about what they love doing, a fundamental part of coaching is having a passionate interest in what they do so my hope is everyone that kindly takes their time to read some of the text will benefit in some way. Watch this space!

FBA Voting

April 05, 2018

Good afternoon,

A blogging thought

March 18, 2018

I found myself recently talking in twitter and actually potentially making sense, so the following text is simply thoughts. If you want to take anything on board that’s good, if you don’t well that’s okay aswell.

Walter

March 10, 2018

A wonderfully insightful interview, showing important aspects of coaching and the value of experience.

Morton

February 12, 2018

For our lovely audience would you be kind enough to introduce yourself?

Curneen on America

February 09, 2018

Here at YFS we speak to a variety of people, all walks of life and who perform all sorts of roles for the sake of the beautiful game, we were lucky enough to have someone different along to have a conversation. Gary Curneen is the current head women’s soccer coach at Cal State University, Bakersfield, and the founder of Modern Soccer Coach Education. His role is full-time in nature at a college in the US who compete at the Division I level. When asked about the role itself “like most people in the game I am passionate about developing players, teams, to succeed on and off the field”

Morton's Youth Development

February 09, 2018

We are seeing more and more prospects emerge from the fully reconstructed academies of Scotland, former full timer Derek Anderson leads the way as Head of Youth Academy, tasked with identifying suitable individuals to be added to the ever expanding ranks. In terms of qualified persons Anderson secured himself a UEFA “A” Licence and has playing experience with Hibs and Kilmarnock.

Perhaps the greatest of them all?

February 04, 2018

As you can tell I am a great fan of Messi, they shouldn’t really even think of making comparisons as he is not only unbelievable in terms of his ability, his attitude and conduct is on par. See below for another demonstration of his skill.

Messi Magnificent

January 29, 2018

Utterly ludicrous free kick accompanied by the great and romantic Ray Hudson.

Something to write about

January 20, 2018

As you may have noticed I do like to write, mainly using that voice in my head without the filter to express my thoughts on coaching ideas. I would be keen to branch out into writing in other places but it appears to be something difficult to do without a degree or something else on your CV, in this case its purely a hobby of mine. Please get in touch through my personal twitter and we can work together.

The former playlist

January 18, 2018

A little while ago I made an effort to put together a few videos consisting of some drills and ideas that could potentially be useful, cant say it worked out how I would have liked but it would have been a waste to simply delete them so I edited them all together into one big video. Hope its helpful.

An image tells some stories

January 05, 2018

Hello Folks.

World Football Academy

January 04, 2018

Another site link on the cards today, at the moment I appear to be suffering from a case of insomnia so as a result I will be spending some time writing some lovely words promoting the work of the great Raymond Verheijen and the concept of periodisation. The site that he leads offers lessons on various different aspects of fitness wether it be logical or practical usually in 60 minute nuggets, I highly recommend you research some of his stuff. Select the link below.

Reviews all round

January 03, 2018

Hey

The Football Romantics

January 03, 2018

Recently discovered a web site that is just wonderful, designed for the football romantic it consists of so many different items that are out of the ordinary, basedin scotlands capital I recommend a visit if you enjoy the non mainstream footballing text pay a visit to https://www.6yardbox.co.uk

The Master of Football

December 03, 2017

Quick share this afternoon, the guy in video claims its for use during the summer to keep you sharp. Ignore that.

Feedback on the Beta

November 02, 2017

Recently we gave out a whole 10 versions of a partially written PDF based on the wonderful subject of coaching - looking for your thoughts on what could be done to make it even more wonderful. Click on the following for some input. https://goo.gl/forms/72Qd3DcbTxLjEurC3

Waving to Football

October 31, 2017

Another routine that worked out quite nicely for me, highly flexible also.

Historic Writing

October 14, 2017

More source stuff, written all the way back when Lennon left.

Quality Control

October 14, 2017

This is an important moment for football.

Morton Prospects

October 04, 2017

Breathing Space

September 18, 2017

Small note,

The Gaming Industry

September 18, 2017

A small post this evening,

Q&A With Michael

September 16, 2017

Good afternoon,

One Versus One

August 13, 2017

Back to actually writing about football!

A football orchestra

July 29, 2017

A fantastic idea to improve first touch.

Value of Rondo

July 27, 2017

Bask in the beauty of rondo.

Warm up

July 26, 2017

Small clip showing 5v5 plus floater for a warm up session, ideal choice to add to your program.

Barony of Blackhall

July 19, 2017

A small invitation today, old friends of the blog Barony of Blackhall are hosting their own event on the 5th August, the purpose being there are opening their freshly built facility to be shared with a local Rugby team, see below.

We are hosting a Gala Day on Saturday 5th August with a football tournament consisting of local Paisley teams.

QA Westerlands

July 17, 2017

Good afternoon,

SSMAFL

July 17, 2017

Took some existing text from the web site and made it better (i think)

The Last Confederations Cup

July 17, 2017

So evolution has taken it’s toll, the scalp has been claimed, the fear factor lost.

Blochairn Match Report Again

July 17, 2017

The Classic Match report, was never any good at it but I thought to keep hold of it anyways.

The Racism Chat

July 17, 2017

Womens Football

July 17, 2017

Today we look at some history, more specifically the history of women’s football. In 1920 a decision made by the Scottish Football Association to place a ban on the possibility of women’s football being played in any official sanctioned game, the result meaning no official grounds by SFA affiliated clubs could be used, the ban lasted much longer than the majority of European countries. Nevertheless some football teams toured the country to play on grounds available to them. In 1971 the ban of Women’s football was lifted after it was put to the vote by UEFA, it was a landslide victory with thirty one of the thirty two members voting to have the ban removed, the one being Scotland.

Glasgow and District Youth Football League

July 17, 2017

Today we pay a visit to the Glasgow and District Youth Football League, the seven year old league has three sections, 13, 14s and 19s, the league is designed in such a way to allow a substantial development phase throughout the two younger age groups to ready the potential to be showcased in the 19s section. The formula has proven successful, consisting of over 150 teams it is now bursting with talented footballers, the teenage enthusiasm looking to follow in the footsteps of someone like Andrew Robertson. To date the 19s section gives us a strong selection of teams, three of which now boast an unbeaten record, which in itself is a important talking point but obviously the main focus of the younger age groups is development so today’s conversation is how the talent for this sort of performance is offered up. First club in question is Arsenal BC which has a similar structure in place to the league, having only formed in 2012 the small Glasgow based club are focused on quality rather than quantity having only two age groups in place, they express their football through a U12s group along with the aforementioned 19s, development taking place at the Firhill Complex. Antonine Blacks are a different case, the club was formed in 2001 it has grown to a level where scouting parties from professional Scottish clubs are weekly visitors. Moorlands BC have constructed from the ground up, years of work culminated in being awarded the quality mark in 2013, the Uddingston based club have again for a full range of age groups providing a safe place for each individual to develop and progress onto the next level. Each club also boast sizeable wins to their name, and after six games each club have still to taste defeat, evidence suggests that it will take something special to put a stop to such impressive progress.

Match Report

July 17, 2017

The Glasgow wind was providing its typical spring bite as Blochairn hosted their final game against the soon to be folded Whitefield who will go through a restructuring including the scrapping of the name which has been in existence for the past 6 years, rising from bottom of the strathclyde saturday morning leagues to become a formidable rival to long term Historically each fixture has been considered a high stakes affair and this one was no different. The match began with each team showing the expected determination that has given each club so much silverware in the past. The opening phase proved an unfortunate one for the home side, ball landed at right back, who launched a long and hopeful ball towards the visitors number 11, picked up and he surged towards the box and hit a low hard shot which deflected in off one of the central defensive pairing, 1–0 to Whitefield. The Blochairn players took the event personally, their 3 forwards players clearly displaying their attacking intent and pacey striker Garry Carmicheal proved to be a constant threat for the Whitefield defence, although the referee came to the rescue on a number of occasions ruling him offside, the home dugout making their feelings heard about the referees decisions. A frustrating afternoon for blochairn, poor finishing and a on form opposition goalkeeper proved to be a stumbling block for the players in green. Long range effort parried by the block goalkeeper Craig fellows was one of the players who took interest in increasing his teams lead, a long range effort scuffed wide. Not to be discouraged he found space in beetween the lines and had another go, struck 20 yards out made i 2–0 to whitefield. As the hosts began to tire Whitefield broke quickly and channeled the ball down the left hand side, the winger moved forward with intent and crossed low, collected by Craig Fellows who who left footed it beyond the reach of John “stark” Starky for his second of the game and to make it 3–0. Blochairn pushed to to clawback their disadvantage but it was to no avail and the game finished 3 goals to the good for visitors.

Leith Athletic FC

July 17, 2017

The origins of the Leith Athletic FC can be traced back all the way to 1887, where the club consisted in a variety of forms until 1955 where they met their unfortunate demise. Fast forward to 1996 and the name Leith Athletic was revived with more of a focus around boys football, with player development in mind the system has gradually expanded to eventually consist of a full range of age groups including a talented senior team. The overall aim is to provide a safe and comfortable space for youngsters of all ages to play a sport that they love. Now the club has become a whole lot more, making a contribution to the local community is always high on the agenda. In contrast to the clubs original story, the modern version is a magnificent success, in 2005 Paul lee played for Scotland amateurs in a match against Leinster, the same year Danny Swanson, now Dundee United, Douglas Thom and Shaun Woodburn all were capped for Scotland u19s. Developing the club further Edinburgh Athletic were absorbed in 2008, subsequently gaining a place in the East of Scotland Football League. 2009 brought the clubs first piece of silverware defeating Eyemouth United in the Alex Jack cup. After their position in the league 2011 saw promotion to the what was then 1st division, the club have now become an established member of the newly formed 15 member league. Twenty years old the clubs success has met another milestone, proof that player development can support a long term success story, along with a dash of good will from the local community.

Football Blogging Awards

July 13, 2017

I was really pleased to hear that the blog was accepted into the football blogging awards network, this consists of a network of blogs and fan sites writing about a variety of different things from football manager to barcelona.

Fresh Material

July 12, 2017

Done some reorganizing and rewriting to keep the standard of text up, obviously the main focus of the blog is to offer up some dedicated ideas to coached looking to source in some new material, so I have also added a page dedicated to such a cause so head here to tap into said category.

Delivery

May 06, 2017

Over time I have learned that there are 2 elements to coaching, delivery and the tools available. Your job is to create the tools and deliver them effectively. For a long time I had a major problem with the delivery aspect, in order to solve that problem I put together this formula.

Professionalism is Key

March 23, 2017

An interesting thought occurred recently, throughout my time as being a coach I often spent time thinking about certain aspects of conduct and so on, one that confused me the most is arguing with the referee. Not something I spend anytime doing as personally I feel that in this case you would lose the respect of the referee, also on a more superficial basis it isn’t like the referee is going to listen and decide to change his mind based on your argument. The decision is final and he will not be persuaded based on your argument. As the great Brian Clough once said “people forget the referee doesn’t have a slow motion eyeball”

Spanish Magic

March 22, 2017

Good evening. Some promotional writing in mind, a great and dear Spanish friend has developed a website where coaching is the centralised theme, presenting something fresh and different to coaching. The wix related product offers up a resource of drills and some text as inspiration and motivation to any coach that wishes to add a different feel to his/her coaching style. They propose a different methodological point of view as well to develop not only the players’ ability but also to give coaches a different and fresh point of view.

Cup Final Strike

January 15, 2017

Below is an example of a wonderful day of football,

Youth Football Scotland

January 15, 2017

Something I have been doing for a while now but now given it a little more attention, youth football scotland are involved in youth football covering scotland…

Cruyff

January 13, 2017

An idea I had, why not have a link to the one man that is a massive influence on what happens on this blog, so off you go to have a look at the wonderful Johan Cruyff’s personal wiki documentation to make sure you know everything there is to know about the great man.

Rondo

January 13, 2017

Short description for you.

Coach of the Year

January 07, 2017

Today we have a very special guest, not going to say much because that’s something we want her to do. So without any further rambling lets see how special our guest is today.

The Performance Director

December 17, 2016

Malky McKay Malky McKay recently has been appointed performance director for the SFA, so the question must be asked where does this selection come from and what exactly does McKay bring to the table in terms of fresh and innovative ideas? First of all we ask the question of what exactly does the job entail, Brian McClair grew frustrated by the supposed lobbying experience he had to endure throughout his 17 months in said role, so in Stewart Regan’s words the role required a “different style of leadership” McKay’s journey to date is sprinkled with examples of infrastructure related efforts, most importantly Cardiff city where he spent a significant chunk of time developing further dimensions to the club to create a stronger outcome for the club. Which produced results. So perhaps the SFA were looking for more administrative orientated individual? Whilst unemployed MacKay has spent time in conversation with contacts widening and improving his football knowledge base on and off the pitch, the result is a written manual, the theme being McKays ideas on building a clubs infrastructure which he had leatherbound. Obviously not all of the ideas will be directly applicable to the performance director role, but it is an example of his ability to devise and implement frameworks. So can this link up with the expectations of the SFA? Its also clear that he is apt as establishing contacts, he has the support of managers of both halfs of the Old Firm and Aberdeen, he also has strong contacts with a series of high profile and well respected people in football including the great sir Alex Ferguson, if indeed the time comes words of encouragement and inspiration are needed. The anti racism groups have given their blessing, which is a plus but the controversy around the text exchange will continue to hang over him. The SFA clearly believe that he can make a difference, as employing McKay is something that wasn’t an obvious choice and certainly a risk. More questions will be asked over the footballing aspect of things, it is well known that it’s a challenge in itself to sell new ideas to the associtation, can mckays diplomatic persona produce the results that Scottish football demands? Only time will tell

7 challenges to running a non-league football club

September 15, 2016

England is regarded by many, inclduing the sport’s international governing body FIFA, as the home of football. But working out such grand titles isn’t just about the game’s history. Neither is it about the country hosting the world’s richest domestic football league in the Premier League and football behemoths such as Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and more.

Changing the face of Football

September 11, 2016

Q&A with ScottishDex

August 08, 2016

My name is ScottishDex, and I’m the owner and writer behind voidspark.org/

So, what’s the story?

Shape Training

August 03, 2016

Really simple idea, set your group out in the desired shape.

The Perfect Pass

August 03, 2016

Divide your training group into 4 teams and have them stationed and lined up at each of the markers facing the yellow marker.

Messi the Greatest

July 07, 2016

Sequential Passing

July 07, 2016

Group of players, on this occasion we will say 12. 6 wear yellow bib, 6 wear blue bib. 1 ball.

Conditioning

July 07, 2016

Picked up from the world of Futsal.

Freestyling

June 26, 2016

If there is anyone that you would like to use to develop the technical aspect of your players, or to provide a skill to develop?

Shannon Hibs Academy FC

June 08, 2016

First to be published on the column are the “Overlap Kings”

Women's Football

March 28, 2016

20 years in the making.

March 28, 2016

Q&A with Danny Barrett

March 23, 2016

Danny Barrett: My name is Danny Barrett and I am currently a coach with Arsenal Boys Club 2007-2010. I began coaching when I was 15 years old. I was given the opportunity to help primary School in my local area and this is where I would say I got the coaching bug.

SSMAFL

March 03, 2016

Another blog to add to our wealth of links, today we have the SSMAFL or Strathclyde Saturday Morning Amateur Football League.

The Velvet Revolution

February 18, 2016

An audio version written beautifully on the fine magazine which is called the blizzard, on this occasion it explores the comparisons between Van Gaal and Cruyff, detailing the past successes and thoughts.

The View of the Gaffer

February 08, 2016

A new friend of the blog deserves a mention, preferring to remain anonymous the gaffers view is the thoughts of a manager of an amateur club, honest and direct the blog sheds some light on the pains of organizing and maintaining operation of a traditional club.

The Crossbar Challenge

February 07, 2016

Something class to add to the conversation we had with Westerlands the club has created an excellent video with the team enjoying the classic crossbar challenge.

Youth Football Scotland

January 30, 2016

Something personal, I was given a little task to produce a edit from a collection of clips from Youth Football Scotland, didn’t want to let it go to waste.

Craig Joyce & 6,8 or 10

January 28, 2016

Good Afternoon

Westerlands LFC

January 28, 2016

Good afternoon,

6, 8 or 10

January 14, 2016

A post dedicated to conversations, alot of which you will have alot of coaching.

QA with Dougie

July 27, 2014

Todays reason for bothering everyone is an interview, in this piece of chat we talk to Dougie, a learned coach from Dundee on an endless quest to better himself in the world of coaching and all things football related.

Maximum Intensity

July 22, 2014

Layout - Usually works as a preseason routine, layout markers (yellow) in a triangle shape. Get your players to line up at one corner of the triangle. (blue)

Comedy Element

July 20, 2014

We have become feature freaks recently, a new one has been introduced you will notice on the right here noted “puns” which will add a bit of light hearted comedy to a very serious blog. Back in the day when we were all young and exciteable the weekends showed us the legendary football italia, including the amusing chat whilst eating and dessert at a famous landmark segment. The legend that is James Richardson is equally as famous for his puns, so the idea is that a good supply will be constantly on show for your enjoyment.

It used to be about pigs...

July 14, 2014

As you well know the layout of this routine, set your group out in a circle (red) decent distance beetween each other. 1 ball of course ask the group to start moving the ball beetween each other, gradually picking up the pace to where the players are sharpened up enough to be able to use two touches, one for control another for a pass.

Emotional Attachment

July 07, 2014

The thought occurred to me after my experience with a couple of youth teams how the care you put into the coaching you add to your team extends futher than simply footballing matters. On one occasion I moved on from my favorite role of looking after an U11’s team of girls, for a variety of reasons most importantly to spend some more time with my family due to one of my parents falling ill.

Q&A Coach Lee Moroney

July 06, 2014

Something a little different, Coach Lee Moroney is to give us a detailed account of his profile to date, the question is, will you be impressed?

Space Invaders

July 06, 2014

This routine is from Lee Moroney of St Anne’s GAA Club, Dublin and Head Coach of CoachApproach Ireland

Movement and Spatial Awareness

July 06, 2014

This routine is from Lee Moroney of **St Anne’s GAA Club, Dublin and Head Coach of **CoachApproach Ireland

Modernisation + Realism = Preseason

July 05, 2014

The basic definition of Pre Season is to prepare the squad for the season ahead, in terms of fitness and tactics. We can complicate these things by adding silly factors of periodization, testing and all the rest of it. This approach is complicated and tiresome. Keep it simple, basic and fun.

Old School Coaches 3L’s

July 05, 2014

(I’ll apologise now if I lose my temper during this piece)

Pumpherston United

June 27, 2014

Today’s link is the fine Pumpherston United who are your traditional edinburgh young team. In constant development as they are a relatively small club, but the web site is jam packed full of information all things west lothian related, along with numerous sponsorship’s offering all buisness opportunities west lothian related. You getting a theme here?

Triangular shapes

June 27, 2014

A wonderful little routine which covers so many aspects of what you are looking for in a exercise, improving concentration, accuracy of pass under pressure, weight and angle of pass.

Messi Strike

June 22, 2014

Something that will live long in the memory.

SAQ

June 22, 2014

Evolution of coaching these days has introduced more and more terminology, a new one is SAQ.

Goalkeeper Footwork

June 22, 2014

Coaching Point - An important factor to a goalkeepers development is his footwork, should be second nature to a goalkeeper to have a stable movement.

Coerver Event

June 09, 2014

Yesterday i attended an event called the coerver road show, basically a presentation and some practical expressions to demonstrate the essence behind the Coerver Coaching is a three hour event discussing and detailing everything about coaching, I had a blast.

Goodbye to Youth Development

June 07, 2014

I speak to you as a rangers fan, of this i make no secret and i hope that some of you will harbour a small amount of sympathy for me considering the past goings on. What we will do though is examine the supposed rebuilding process McCoist has put our team through, now there is no doubt about it many a time has he cemented his name as a legend in rangers history, when he took his place as manager that is a very different story.

Celtic Job

June 04, 2014

Neil Lennon has moved, looking for something new and fresh following a hugely successful four years at the helm of celtic, a club very close to his heart.

Scottish Soccer Show

May 26, 2014

A little note referencing a new friend of the blog, the Scottish Soccer Show writes about all things scottish football, sometimes controversial other times fantastically well written. So if you are keen on all things Scottish Football head over and have a look.

Van Gaal

May 19, 2014

With Van Gaal to be appointed the new successor to Ryan Giggs’ short lived dream. What must be next for this hectic club in the downfall. But with this new appointment United fans have something to smile about about and that comes from the potential transfers from German duo, Kroos to Reus and an exciting Dutch domination and yes Arjen Robben the man who does not know how to pass has been linked with a surprising move to Old Trafford.

Out of the envelope situation...

April 21, 2014

Some time ago the the Blackburn chairman at the time, before they were acquired by that random poultry company and indeed suffered relegation, reported that 82% of the clubs turnover goes to wages alone, which pays testament to the size of the problem presented to the Premier League. Debts mounting for smaller clubs now there are reports of more and more clubs being issued with warnings or winding up orders. A survey was done analysing the levels of debt involved in all uefa licensed clubs, the results at that time the 19 clubs in the premiership (at the time of the survey Portsmouth were in the premiership, and because of their administration they were declined a licence) were collectively in more debt than all the licensed clubs in Europe, keeping in mind that’s around the region of about 300.

Fans of loyalty

April 21, 2014

Today I’m again out of date but I remember something a while back that I would like to write about just for the humorous and frankly mind bending factor involved. The bizzare incident happened during the 2008-9 when a supposedly loyal sunderland fan sued his beloved club after being smacked on a head and subsequently knocked out cold by a wayward shot, a certain nutter called Djibril Cisse from what I can remember (yeah that’s how out of date I’m being) was the executer of said shot, after attending a training session on a cold winters day. On a personal note in my opinion this is ridiculous, this is on the same terms as a woman suing the cigarette factory for her husband dying of cancer, but on with the point. This brings a question, what has happened to football? I mean don’t get me wrong here, the much maligned joey barton made one of his many outspoken points commenting on how players are becoming increasingly disconnected from reality, and that frankly most of them are (insert profanity here) so yeah the players, or playing staff as they are referred to now, have contributed. Gone are the days, and I’m risking sounding like an old man, when it was just about football, no one cared about anything else, no one cared that you were that inebriated that you couldn’t say your teams name, you just hoped your team would win, and if they didn’t you just would get more drunk. If you look up youtube there are endless compilations of accidents happening on and off the pitch, most of which are quite funny.

Racism

April 21, 2014

Recent events indicate a somewhat confusing front, don’t expect any comedy. Long has it been something that the world would be better off without, much like the battle with cancer, humankind doing everything in their power to eradicate it from the world and yet the deadly disease continues to runamok. As you probably well know racism has made an appearance recently, as mentioned in my previous article, events involving Suarez and JT being the main areas of focus. To tackle the issue of racism, which in past years was exponentially more rife, the organisation Kick It Out was created, which “works throughout the football, educational and community sectors to challenge discrimination, encourage inclusive practices and work for positive change” and 2014 will mark 20 years of campaigning and the organisations existence. Its has proven to be a productive thing both raising awareness and intervening only when necessary. One part of the mentioned protest is that there are not enough black people in managerial roles in football, have people not thought that it’s a simple case of black people are simply not involved in managerial positions by choice? One curious aspect recent events was a number of players refusal to wear the t-shirt supporting the cause. The action hasn’t really been thought through if you consider it for a moment. The whole tradition of eradicate any form of negative in life is to show a united front, a collection of people supporting a cause, when it is undermined the tradition is to reinforce it and remove/punish all those who undermine it when it comes to humans. Cancer is much the same, its a negative thing in life, we do and continue to do everything in our power to remove it from the world. To refuse to wear the supportive t shirt encourages suggestion of lack of support, creating a contradictory effect where when a statement should be made to reinforce a sense of “this sort of thing is not welcome in our sport” the numbers that support this cause diminish. So what you need to ask is what else could have been done to make a statement to racists out there? In my opinion racism will be one of those things, you will never eradicate it fully, much like cancer.

The Handshake

April 21, 2014

Unless you have spent the last few weeks on some remote island where there is no connection to the outside world, if so lucky you, you would more than likely learned of the frankly pain in the neck ferdinand terry lack of handshake affair. What we will do today though is examine as to what the point of the handshake is, why it’s there and whether it should remain there. The official description is as follows “In sports or other competitive activities, it is also done as a sign of good sportsmanship. Its purpose is to convey trust, balance, and equality. If it is done to form an agreement the agreement only official until the hands are parted” The handshake routine was introduced at the start of 2008 as part of the FA’s “respect” campaign, to promote the idea to respect your opponent whether it be a minnow or a giant. This ritual was derided by many fans at the time as the traditional time to congratulate or commiserate with your opponent has always been after the game as a show of respect for his performance. One of the first to use the ritual to his advantage was Luis Suarez, who had been found guilty of racial abuse during the Man Utd/Liverpool game when he admitted calling Patrice Evra a “Negro” and was banned for eight games. In the return game at Old Trafford in February Suarez refused to shake Evra’s hand prompting further outrage and Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA made a strange comment at the time saying it was a shame that it couldn’t have all been sorted out with a handshake, which reinforced many people’s view that FIFA refuses to take the issue of racism seriously. The John Terry/Anton Ferdinand situation is different to the Suarez incident in that an off duty police officer, who watched the match on TV and can lip read claims that Terry racially abused Anton Ferdinand and called him an F** black C***. So in comparing the descriptions and the point of the actual handshake along with the events that transpired involving said sportsmen, would you consider Ferdinand right to use this opportunity to make a point, or should Ferdinand be much more a grown up and avoid moving issues to on the pitch and keeping the pitch involved in football instead of personal gripes?

Torres the great

April 21, 2014

A number of people have came up with the idea that the great Fernando Torres is now no longer great, I would entirely disagree. Funnily enough I’m going to tell you why as well. To begin with we all know the reputation he developed at him time at Liverpool, scoring on a regular basis with an almost surreal variety of goals, signs of the rare “complete forward” Rafa, manager at the time, had build a team guilty of being somewhat one dimensional, the key product being the lethal combination of Gerrard and Torres, but when either was injured Liverpool rapidly ran out of ideas. Switching to present day Chelsea have made the mistake of channeling the 90% of the responsibility to Torres whilst setting out the team in a way that does not suit the player. The added problem is the involvement of the charming Ambramovich which has clearly proven to be a counterproductive element to the current scenario Chelsea and Torres find themselves in. Now to a potential solution? Take the idea of the great Italian Gilardino, his time playing for AC Milan wasn’t the most productive, mainly as he was given the goal scoring responsibility, he was put under a great deal of pressure to deal with that responsibility, the weight of the world on his shoulders so to speak. As a result it had the similar counter productive effect on the player. He was subsequently sold to Fiorentina, where he appeared more relaxed and focused, mainly because there was no focal point in the team at the time. Personally I am a great fan of Fernando, and I am hating how he appears to be the shadow of the great player he used to be. The great ability demonstrated at Liverpool lost in a sea of politics, billions of pounds and a fan base suffering from a case of self entitlement. Its clear appointing Rafa is the chairmans clear mission to attempt to justify the price paid for the Spaniard. Wether this will work out is a different story. So a potential solution would be a short term loan deal, allow him time out of the limelight, to focus on what he does best.

Fun and games...

April 20, 2014

A friend from twitter has something lined up for us.Players line up outside 18yd box, 1 player goes in goal, coach plays ball in & 1st player in line shoots first time. If they miss or saved,

The Dome

April 18, 2014

Some thing that would be an interesting idea, Borrusia created something called the robonaut.

Playlisting

April 11, 2014

The classic playlist option from youtube. Which is nice.

Shape Training

April 11, 2014

This routine is mostly ideal at 7s level, as it transmits the importance of keeping a decent shape when without the ball.

Footwork

March 30, 2014

Layout - 2 footballs, 2 players, 11s or 7s goals and your GK

Possession Box

January 29, 2014

To start with a 20 by 20 possession box, 8 players in there 4v4.

Shuttle Running

January 19, 2014

Another routine based on the periodic training mentioned in previous posts.

Interview - Eastfield Star

January 14, 2014

Good evening folks, The point of today’s broadcast is just a bit of fun, to make public the efforts of the modern amateur team, and their ongoing mission to progress and develop into the ultimate football club. For todays interview we have gaffer wullie mclaren eastfield star with me to answer a few questions.G

The Barrier

January 12, 2014

Another duplicate post, please go back to the barrier to learn what I’m talking about.

YouTube Action

January 04, 2014

Some more refurbishment work done to the column.

Gated Possession

December 16, 2013

Layout - Have numerous gates scattered across a 7 aside pitch

The Double

December 16, 2013

Layout - A goalkeeper and 2 players 11 aside goals and goalkeeper.

Why I coach…

December 05, 2013

So tonight I was chatting with other volunteers and we added up the number of hours we put into football on a voluntary basis. Mine is about 10-12 hours worth on a normal week without any funding bids or extra events, that is the normal training, matches and admin. If I got minimum wage for this I would earn £61.90-£74.78 pw but instead I spend a good amount on petrol each week. To most people this sounds complete madness, why would you do that if you don’t have kids involved etc? But I just love coaching! It made me think why? What really motivates me as a coach?

The Spanish

November 17, 2013

An article from a while back I found, quite like it.

Professionally Amatuer

November 17, 2013

Yes yes, I know I talk too much but you will suffer more, i have another something to talk about.

An Expensive Player and an Alcoholic

November 17, 2013

Something written a long time ago, way back when Bale was sold to Real Madrid. Thought it might be fun to read considering the highly irritating nature of the coutinho saga.

Was Holloway Treated Badly?

November 17, 2013

So Ian Holloway has left Crystal Palace by mutual consent which basically means they have asked him to leave and Holloway always tries to do the best for the club and what club want so he agrees to leave. If he has been asked to leave because of results fair enough because they haven’t played well at all and as much you can say it’s Crystal Palace what was they expecting they don’t go up in to that league thinking were just going to go down they try to stay up.

Arrogance is not Attractive

November 17, 2013

Recent international events made me think, the thumping of San Marino sparked an interesting with regards to the 8-0 score line, to experience such a devastating defeat cant be good for the soul. To date there takings in the world cup qualifying rounds tells a grim tale, played 6 lost 6, not securing a single goal whilst conceding a blood chilling 29. Having never actually won a competitive match in their existence, FIFA consider them worthy of keeping the 203rd spot in the world rankings warm. So such a collection of facts and figures suggest their standard of football isn’t the greatest, without factoring in the microstates modest population of over thirty thousand. The disgraceful writing skills of the chief sports writer for the BBC suggesting “the merits of such an embarrassingly one-sided World Cup meeting will be debated again.” So what is the point of San Marino. These people asking this question suggest that they simply waste everyone else’s time in the football calendar and cancelling such events would most likely allow additional “nando’s” time. To begin with playing for your country is something alot of players are fiercely proud of, having that opportunity taken away from you isn’t going to go down well. Second of all would it not be considered more a matter of responsibility, do you really want to play for a national team which is almost guaranteed total destruction? Take a look at the England team, success goes to the extent of making it to an international tournament, then that giant shiny self destruct button is pressed once more. Scotland is next in the spotlight, it’s common knowledge that never in our existence have we made it past the group stages of an international tournament. We must have a look at ourselves before we question the merits of other national football teams. Success and progress appears to be relative more than anything else.

The Barrier

November 17, 2013

Stage 1 Layout - your starting 4 defenders on matchday.

T Zone Test

November 17, 2013

Create a sizable T shape with four markers.

Keeping everyone fit...

September 07, 2013

This is a fitness exercise that works with adults only, DO NOT use this in any youth development environment whatsoever.A line of markers at the edge of the box, setup something similar at the half way line. Distance should work our approximately 35 yards, line of your players starting one of the markers and they have 7 seconds to make it to the other, when reached they have 7 seconds to rest then ready themselves to start again, and the running begins to bring the group back to the original starting point. That would be considered done twice, this routine is to be completed 8 times. Once a set of 8 is completed, the players get 120 seconds rest and subsequently start again.75% speed.6 sets of 8 is the usual philosophy but this can be adjusted based on your teams fitness levels and your own judgement.

Technique + Fun

September 07, 2013

Scoreline…

Fitness

September 07, 2013

Fitness is something that is very important in football, as you know if you aren’t fit enough you wont be able make enough of a difference, and that is a guarantee.What you have to do is keep it in perspective though.If it is entirely required for your squad to focus fully on fitness improvement, keep in mind something called the fatigue factor, your players body will indeed do its job in terms of performance when fit, but it needs time to recover during a fitness routine.Maintain the philosophy of short and sharp, do not let any fitness session last for more than an hour. Minimum breaks allowed and maintain a high intensity level. Including these protocols (you will be hated for it) will see an excellent result.

Triangular Passing

September 07, 2013

Layout

Raymond Verheijen

September 07, 2013

Raymond Verheijen is considered a pioneer of fitness. His methods and philosophy is something that I like and want to use on so many levels, have a look at some more of his stuff @raymondverheije - the philosophy of “short and sharp” is something he follows closely and has a clear view of the science of fitness.

Control the possession

September 05, 2013

Not sure if this is an original or not, but I couldn’t sleep one night and I came up with the below. As it turns out there is a similar routine included in the Coerver Diploma.

Keeping warm during football

July 28, 2013

One of the most important aspects of the match day is the warm up, ideally the routine should be uniform and regular each fixture, this ensures that each player knows the process and can focus on the muscle warming and preparation.

Favourite Position

July 22, 2013

Always remain open minded to the potential versatility of a player, have a look at what the player can and can’t do. Maintaining that state of mind may work to your advantage, what is your problem, what alternative’s do you have at your disposal, think what alternatives do you have and what further alternatives are your afraid to use. Take the risk as there will be the reward. At what point does this disallow you from adding the player to the potential position?