Murray Park ?

[bluebear54 0]

Auchenhowie's done alright, to be fair, and some good players have come through.

But what we should be striving for is some GREAT players to come through.

I think a priority should be to learn from the German, Dutch and Spanish methods.

I think we've got some great Bears and servants of the Club there, but now more than ever, we need bang for our bucks.

Auchenhowie should become one of the best nurseries in Europe - nay the world.

To achieve that, we need the best staff, and the best scouts.

Do it right, and it will pay for itself fivefold.

[craig 5,195]

Auchenhowie's done alright, to be fair, and some good players have come through.

But what we should be striving for is some GREAT players to come through.

I think a priority should be to learn from the German, Dutch and Spanish methods.

I think we've got some great Bears and servants of the Club there, but now more than ever, we need bang for our bucks.

Auchenhowie should become one of the best nurseries in Europe - nay the world.

To achieve that, we need the best staff, and the best scouts.

Do it right, and it will pay for itself fivefold.

 

It isnt just a Rangers or even Scotland thing. It is UK wide.

 

I have been on a FIFA coaches course and a coaches course led by Jacques Creviosier who leads the UEFA training at Largs.

 

Apparently for us in Bermuda to get our equivalent of a UEFA C licence (we cant get the licence as Bermuda is a CONCACAF member) we will have about 40 hours of training and coaching sessions (both theory and practical). To get that C licence in the UK is about 20-25 hours.

 

To get the B licence you do need to go to Largs and it is a heavier qualification which requires 120 hours.

 

However, where the big difference between the UK and Europe is.... is that almost 100% of the coaches in the UK carrying the UEFA A licence (just one step down from the Pro licence) are involved in the game at the professional level - and by professional I mean the 1st team and reserve team.

 

My opinion only, but I happen to think that by the time a player hits the reserve team it is often too late for their development.

 

Contrast that to Spain - the majority of their coaches with the UEFA A licence are coaching kids from 6-14 - which is the most critical time to get hold of these kids and work on their technique, game awareness, movement, positioning etc etc.

 

It isnt just Rangers - we are like most other professional clubs in that we only pick the kids up once they hit 10 years old (or older). The difference is at the grass roots levels prior to the kids coming to the pro clubs.

 

That is a bit simplistic of a view but it certainly goes some way to answering why there is a lower amount of talent coming through - remember, football is competing with technology for these kids, unlike in my day (and I am still only 39) when all we wanted to do was play football, this day and age many more kids would rather play their Nintendo, PS3, XBox or PS Vita....

[andy steel 0]

Quality analysis. Well said, that man.

[UCF2008 0]

However, where the big difference between the UK and Europe is.... is that almost 100% of the coaches in the UK carrying the UEFA A licence (just one step down from the Pro licence) are involved in the game at the professional level - and by professional I mean the 1st team and reserve team.

 

One frustrating aspect on this front is that in the UK we've never got a shortage of out of work coaches - in a lot of cases some of the best and most experienced - who spend their time on the golf course / writing for rags / appearing on TV & radio / doing ANYTHING BUT coaching. It would appear it's not just the kids that need encouraged to spend more time on football.

[bluebear54 0]

Thanks for that Craig. Your points are well recieved.

I've never coached - but from a layman's point of view, I'm not so sure about this Nintendo reason/excuse. They have Nintendo/TVs/Computers all over the world. However, Spain are producing fabulous talent, as are Holland and as are Germany now. Denmark and Norway continue to throw up pretty good journeymen who are streets ahead of ours.

If we look at the national team, we are failing abysmally. Teams like Norway and Denmark were teams that we gubbed consistently if we go back to the 60s. So what happened?

The kids in Scandanavian countries have much more access to hitech stuff than our kids, but they still produce more intelligent and rounded players than we do.

We can have a discussion about different stages of development, agreed, and I don't think the clubbing culture has helped the talent we produced who were in their late teens. I don't think that particular thing would be appreciated in the aforementioned countries. I may be wrong.

But yes, you're right, we should be starting earlier, and young kids should learn the fun of football. What it is to have the ball. So four a side, five a side and upwards etc.

But, with all due respect the Nintendo thing, I don't buy in to.

With the right staff, the right strategy, Auchehnowie could be producing a decent profit.

Otherwise, what's the point?

[pete 2,499]

I'd say it's a 99.9% no brainer that Murray Park will be renamed. I'm just wondering

why it's taking so long to get it done.?

Murray Sport complex.:tongue:

[Darthter 542]

with all due respect the Nintendo thing, I don't buy in to.

 

I think it has a lot to do with it.....kids are preferring to play footie in the PS3, online with their mates, than actually go out with a ball.

 

I also blame the parents. They should be encouraging the kids to put down their controllers and get outside. The parents should be getting involved in local teams, doing anything they can. However, there are far too many parents out there who show no interest/support in what their child is doing. We have had this @ my Archery club - the parents are fine if they can drop the kids off & leave, but if you insist that they stay to watch over their child, they are very rarely seen again!!!!

[UCF2008 0]

I think it has a lot to do with it.....kids are preferring to play footie in the PS3, online with their mates, than actually go out with a ball.

 

I also blame the parents. They should be encouraging the kids to put down their controllers and get outside. The parents should be getting involved in local teams, doing anything they can. However, there are far too many parents out there who show no interest/support in what their child is doing. We have had this @ my Archery club - the parents are fine if they can drop the kids off & leave, but if you insist that they stay to watch over their child, they are very rarely seen again!!!!

 

That's quite a valid point, as the supervision aspect is one which has certainly had an impact... Less youth clubs and less school teachers willing to take on the responsibility of extra curricular activities due to bureaucracy and the surrounding legal issues involved in supervising kids these days.

[craig 5,195]

Thanks for that Craig. Your points are well recieved.

I've never coached - but from a layman's point of view, I'm not so sure about this Nintendo reason/excuse. They have Nintendo/TVs/Computers all over the world. However, Spain are producing fabulous talent, as are Holland and as are Germany now. Denmark and Norway continue to throw up pretty good journeymen who are streets ahead of ours.

If we look at the national team, we are failing abysmally. Teams like Norway and Denmark were teams that we gubbed consistently if we go back to the 60s. So what happened?

The kids in Scandanavian countries have much more access to hitech stuff than our kids, but they still produce more intelligent and rounded players than we do.

We can have a discussion about different stages of development, agreed, and I don't think the clubbing culture has helped the talent we produced who were in their late teens. I don't think that particular thing would be appreciated in the aforementioned countries. I may be wrong.

But yes, you're right, we should be starting earlier, and young kids should learn the fun of football. What it is to have the ball. So four a side, five a side and upwards etc.

But, with all due respect the Nintendo thing, I don't buy in to.

With the right staff, the right strategy, Auchehnowie could be producing a decent profit.

Otherwise, what's the point?

 

You make a valid point Re Technology but is it not also proven that the UK has, generally, one of the world's highest %age of lazy kids ? Either way, I shouldnt have used that reason as a catch all - I think there are other more important factors than that. That said, technology was only one thing - there are other things they would rather be doing too, like just hanging around, or the movies etc etc. There are a bunch of other distractions, plus they dont tend to focus the same way as we used to - I played football and nothing else other than golf as it was a summer sport whereas my football was my winter sport. These days they have so many competing interests.

 

But if we want some of the real reasons it comes down to, sadly, he failings of the SFA as well as the clubs - for the most part although, again, there are other reasons.

 

The Scandinavian countries, as far as I am aware, have far better facilities than we have - there are public pitches in Copenhagen which have 8 all-weather pitches, gyms, dressing rooms, video rooms etc. The facilities are just better and more money has been spent on the infrastructure.

 

Coaching is another reason. I think it is absolutely appalling that people running professional youth systems will turn a talented player away simply because they arent physically big or strong enough. Scottish football still has a large element of that (I think elfideldo, in one of his youth team reports, mentioned that Sinclair prefers the physicaly stronger kids) which, to me, is appalling even in Scotland. Kids dont develop physically until they hit their teens anyway - yet we still over-emphasise the physical aspects at too early an age. The proportion of coaching that goes into fitness is too great at the early age groups - they may be the fittest kids on the team but if they cant control a ball or pass it 5 yards they wont amount to much.

 

Kids from 6-12 should be far more involved in simply, as you say, having fun with a football. They have fun, they keep playing. They keep playing, they will learn.

 

You mention 4 and 5-a-side. The accepted norm these days is that small-sided games for kids should be no more than 4-a-side - more than that and kids dont get enough touches. Man U have implemented this approach in their academy - their small-sided games are always 4v4.

 

But if you want a little insight into the MAJOR reason why we arent seeing the talent coming through and why we are being left behind then I will tell you a little story that Jacques Crevoisier told us when he was here in Bermuda the other week. As we all know, the French seemed to come from nowhere to win the World Cup in 1998. The reality is that those seeds were sown in the late 70's when the French introduced Clairefontaine (their national academy). They knew they were getting the WC and they completely overhauled the game but it took them 20 years to see the benefits. They also managed to get the education ministry to make football mandatory in ALL schools and they had to give each kid 2 hours a week (I think) of football. We in Scotland dont have the patience.

 

Spain ? They do the same. They saw what the Dutch did and they implemented a long term plan - according to Jacques their plan has been THIRTY (30) years in the making. These nations dont just come from nowhere, they have a vision - and we lack that vision in Scotland.

 

Another thing that the Spanish do is they have it mandatory for all schools to include Futsal (indoor football but not as simplistic as indoor 5's - far more complex game than that, despite looking easy). And you know why Futsal has made such an impact on the Spanish national team ? Because of how a Futsal court is laid out and how any players they use. You can fit 7.5 Futsal courts on a regular football pitch. Futsal is 5-a-side. If you put the Futsal players on a football pitch you would end up with a game of...... 37-a-side. So.... given that, just think how little space those Futsal players have when playing by comperison to football. Very little. Also, just think with a game that gives limited space to the players what would happen if your first touch is poor ? You lose it. Also, Futsal is so quick of a game and with so much movement that every player plays in defence AND attack. Futsal has become an integral part of the Spanish schooling system for sport.

 

Only two countries have ever won the Futsal World Cup - Brazil & Spain. And both those countries play attractive, attacking football too. Their players are very comfortable on the ball because they have a grounding in Futsal, garnered a very good first touch, vision, movement and a willingness to be a team player because, in Futsal, if you dont play as a team player you will get found out quickly !

 

The game in Scotland is playing catch up - and we are BADLY behind most other footballing nations. It needs a complete overhaul - but I dont see a "tone at the top" willing to make that happen.

 

IMHO, if we want Rangers to push the envelope with regards to producing better talent what they really need is to have a club philosophy and then have every single youth team play to that style of system. And we also need to get MORE coaches with the appropriate UEFA licencing.

 

Unfortunately though we, like all other Scottish clubs, are a results driven business. I also went to a symposium with a youth academy director from Man City - and one thing he said has always stuck with me (and may explain partly why Scottish clubs are flailing) is this "My team can go out and beat Man Utd 5-0 and you would think that is a success. However, it isnt. The ONLY way I am successful in my job is if I produce players who eventually end up in the 1st team". Results dont matter to them, the development of the kids is the ONLY concern for them. In fact, Man U dont allow their kids to play competitive games against other professional teams until they are U14 - they want to develop the kids in the "Man U way" without the pressures of achieving results.

 

Sorry for the rant guys - I just enjoy coaching the kids so much and have gained an incredible amount of experience and knowledge from these guys. It is fascinating stuff. At least to me it is.

[bluebear54 0]

Thanks Craig. You're obviously very passionate about coaching, and make some great points. UCF and Darthter also make equally valid comment

I personally have always made an effort to inspire my kids to get involved in whatever sport they feel for.

Your comments, Craig, about the lack of facilities is all too true.

However, back to Auchenhowie, the facilities are there already.

We just need the nous and the right people. And the right strategy.

And as you say - think long term.