coaching stories
28 Mar 2013
Viva Pep and the Spanish Revolution!
When the FA formed in 1863 the course was set for our beautiful game to become the dominant global sport. Since then a handful of coaches have had a lasting impact on the way the game is played.
26 Mar 2013
Coaching a Team to Defend as a Team in a Small Sided Game
I am often asked how coaches can effectively coach a team. Many coaches can put on practices and drills to improve players’ techniques and skills, but coaching a team to work together to achieve a specific team objective can be difficult and intimidating for many coaches. In this blog, we look at the topic of coaching a team to defend effectively as a team. In this example, we look at a UEFA B practical curriculum topic and play an 8 v 8 game. The principles and structure of defending shown here are equally applicable to coaching 4 v 4 games through to 11 v 11 games.
13 Jan 2013
Referee Technology – The case for a ‘Review Official’
Football is by far and away the biggest sport in the world. Its sheer beauty is its simplicity. Two teams compete and try to score more goals than the other. How simple is that?! The teams involved attack, defend, attack and defend. The action quickly swings from end to end. The players are supreme athletes playing the game at a super fast pace. At the highest level of football all this action is captured by an array of cameras that show the action from every angle possible. The technology allows the action to be shown in super slow motion and it can be analysed by the experts in the studio in a matter of seconds. This superb TV coverage is then utilised and analysed by the media to focus on the more controversial moments that occurred during the game. These controversial moments are mainly focused on the decisions the officials got wrong and provide a main talking point for fans up and down the country, helping to sell the newspapers and generate interest through other media.
13 Dec 2012
A follow up on the Mark Clattenburg debacle
So the debacle and disgrace that was Chelsea football club's complaint against Mark Clattenburg has been investigated and Mr Clattenburg has been cleared by the FA. Once Chelsea football club had made the complaint, the football association were duty-bound to investigate this absurd complaint. How Chelsea football club ever had the nerve to lodge this complaint against Clattenburg is beyond the comprehension of most right-minded people. But fair play to the football association, they responded in the right manner, investigated thoroughly, and cleared Mr Clattenburg fully.
01 Nov 2012
Opinion Piece – Mark Clattenburg Investigation
According to local folklore, during the Napoleonic wars, a French ship of the type Chasse Marée was wrecked off the coast of Hartlepool, a seaside town in the North East of England, not far from where referee Mark Clattenburg originates from. The only survivor was a monkey, allegedly wearing a French uniform to provide amusement for the crew. On finding the monkey, some locals decided to hold an impromptu trial in the town square; since the monkey was unable to answer their questions, and many locals were unaware of what a Frenchman may look like, they concluded that the monkey was in fact a French sailor. Just to make sure, the animal was thus sentenced to death and hanged in the town square on the Headland.