 | Forum
Reply | Kaerdiff forum
at 13:51 24 May 2019
I never post on there but do go on occasionally for a little browse, more out of boredom than anything else. I'm sure one of their posters is actually named 'Pembrokeshire Alan' . And on the morning that the tragic news regarding Emiliano Sala broke, I kid you not he was getting angry that the club was going to run out of time before the transfer window shut to buy a new striker.
In complete fairness his was an isolated opinion and they all told him he needed to step back and think of the bigger picture that involved the tragic loss of a young man whose life was still ahead of him.
Being a Bluebird from Pembrokeshire must somehow automatically confer 'muppet' status on you. |
| Forum
Reply | Poor destitute Huw out of pocket.
at 14:35 5 Apr 2019
One interesting fact that hasn't been picked up is that the former Chairman and Managing Partner at JCP Solicitors is a Mr Steve Penny. And according to his LinkedIn profile he is still currently a Consultant with the law firm.
This is the same Steve Penny that took Mr Jenkins and his cohort of chums to an Employment Tribunal last year and won his case for unfair dismissal.
Hell hath no fury like a former Football Chairman scorned. |
| Forum
Reply | Iptv providers
at 09:54 20 Mar 2019
Thanks for checking. I am pretty sure ESPN+ only ever live broadcast the big 3 teams over there though but will hopefully be proven wrong after the international break. |
| Forum
Reply | Iptv providers
at 14:38 19 Mar 2019
Hi Steve. That looks promising. It's a pity they don't have a full list of channels. Can I be cheeky and ask you to check if you can also pick up Fox Sports NL streams on there too, and if so what is the quality like in terms of HD and buffering issues?
I love Eredivisie football and Fox Sports NL currently have the broadcasting rights to all all the live games. I can currently pick up ESPN and Premier Sports but they will only ever show Ajax, PSV, or Feyenoord. Thanks. |
| Forum
Reply | At what age or ability level should a kid have to give up one sport for another?
at 12:58 11 Oct 2018
There was a study not so long ago of Bundesliga 1 & 2 players conducted to find out their sporting backgrounds and how much time they spent playing multiple sports v single sports as children. Those interested can Google the full details, but the overwhelming conclusion was that the vast majority of professional players in Germany's top 2 tiers spent their childhoods doing multiple sports as opposed to simply concentrating on football from an early age. It wasn't until around 14 years of age they started to specialise.
The paradox is that most world-class elite level players do seem to have just specialised in football. If you're going to get to the level of a Messi or Ronaldo then single sport specialisation could well be a factor but you'd better be very lucky avoiding injuries due to overuse of the same joints and muscles, and have an exceptionally focused mindset that won't lead to subsequent burnout and abandoning the game in your teens. Most children, even exceptionally talented ones, do not have that mindset because, well, they are just kids. For every elite level pro who took this path there must be another 999 who didn't make it due to burnout. |
| Forum
Reply | Scouting job going
at 15:53 11 Sep 2018
Indeed. I'm lucky to have great support from my parents and they understand that me and my fellow coaches are only trying to make their children better football players.
I've only ever had one issue with a parent who once told told their 7 year son after he'd made a mistake and conceded a goal to "never take on a player in your own box, just clear it." A quick 5 minute chat after the game made him see the error of his ways and to be fair he's been fine ever since.
When parents give the boys support from the sidelines that's great. But my parents aren't allowed to coach because the vast majority of them, even though they are well meaning, do not have a scooby-do about developing young footballers. If they want their sons to join a team that 'wins' they are at liberty to take them there. My way or the highway.
I know we're going a wee bit off track here too but some of the grassroots coaches I encounter every weekend are a disgrace. Putting it bluntly, grown men should not be allowed to ruin the love a child has for the game just because they passed a DBS check and went on a Leader's Award for half a day. |
| Forum
Reply | Scouting job going
at 14:54 11 Sep 2018
Wow, now that I did not know. Yes, it is astonishing, particularly since U13s is a much more sensible age for boys to start their association with a professional football club, not end it!
Luckily for Antoine Griezmann, he didn't grow up in Swansea. |
| Forum
Reply | Scouting job going
at 14:36 11 Sep 2018
Given that it's extremely hard to tell whether or not a 15 year old is going to make it as a Pro I'd say that makes it virtually impossible to even attempt such an exercise with a 6 year old.
There really is an awful lot to be said for just allowing kids to play for their Clubs with their mates until they're about 14. |
| Forum
Reply | Neil Taylor comments
at 11:21 26 Jul 2018
Quite. And his shocking red card tackle against Ireland wasn't even his worst moment of the qualifying campaign. That equalising goal at home to Georgia was entirely the result of utterly lazy defending. If you look at the replays as he's tracking back into the box he checks his shoulder and already sees that he's goalside of the player, so he is fully aware the player is there a yard or two behind him. But then he makes ZERO effort to contest the cross when it's played deep into the box, and has the nerve to wave his arms in the air protesting at the linesman. That was 2 points dropped at home and Wales were actually lucky to hold on for a draw as the momentum of the game shifted entirely the other way. |
| Forum
Reply | The mental
at 14:40 12 Jul 2018
Ironically I think they had one sitting on the bench last night, but unfortunately for him and for them this World Cup came around 2 years too soon. Loftus-Cheek will blossom into the creative #10 that they are currently lacking, a player whose development owes more to the unsupervised hours he spent playing in a South London cage football court than to Chelsea's youth academy. [Post edited 12 Jul 2018 14:41]
|
| Forum
Reply | Sunday protest
at 13:37 10 May 2018
Weirdly I've said precisely this same thing on another thread at the same time the OP posted. There are fans who advocate a complete boycott and those that want to give it to the board both barrels. The 'Valencia' option is a good compromise. Especially in the East Stand as that's where the main TV cameras point towards. |
| Forum
Reply | Boycott Sunday - Show Your Intent !
at 13:25 10 May 2018
How many here remember that when we played Valencia away the entire lower tier of their Ultras behind the far goal boycotted the first 10 minutes of the game. Then they emerged from the belly of the stand to sing protest songs. Similar action by those in the East Stand which faces the main broadcast cameras would probably be the best compromise between those suggesting a complete boycott and those wanting to give it to the board both barrels. It would look mighty embarrassing to have a half empty stand at kick off. |
| Forum
Reply | West Brom 2004 escape
at 15:30 9 May 2018
I know exactly where you're coming from with this. I could never, ever find it in my heart to willingly want us to go down, but the prospect of survival fills me with dread that Jenkins will remain in his post. What then? Another summer of disastrous transfer dealings followed by another relegation battle that starts in October? Another managerial appointment based on pragmatism with no likelihood of a return to the core values that underpinned 'The Swansea Way'?
I understand there is absolutely no guarantee that a new Chairman will look to get the Swans returning to the same core footballing values that allowed us to begin our climb into this league in the first place. But I also utterly refute the 'Better the Devil you know' approach because in the unlikely event that we manage to stay up we are most likely facing another season of this dross.
I think Albert Einstein's definition of insanity is quite apt - continually repeating the same actions each time but expecting a different outcome. Eventually when you keep rolling the dice and gambling you'll stop rolling the sixes. Last season, this season, next season, it's only a question of time before poor choices eventually catch up with you.
I guess it all boils down to what each individual fan thinks is in the best interests for the club. For many, staying in the Premier League is the absolute priority, the 'be-all and end-all'. I get that. Being in this league generates a huge amount of economic and PR benefit for the City. And no, I don't particularly want away trips to Grimsby Town either.
But at what cost? The complete loss of connection between the club and its fanbase? The accumulation of a hugely mediocre playing squad on vastly inflated wages with no connection to the City? The decreasing likelihood that there'll be enough opportunities for the next Ben, Joey, or Connor to come through, making you burst with the pride that 'he's one of our own'?
Sad times ahead whatever the outcome. None of us are winners in this. |
| Forum
Reply | So then, out of interest-What year did you all start supporting the Swans?
at 13:27 24 Apr 2018
My first game at the Vetch would've been around 1983 or 1984, and was against Watford. I have no idea what the result was and didn't really pay any attention to what was happening on the pitch because at the time I had zero interest in football. Unsurprisingly my father didn't bother taking me again that season, nor for the next few that followed.
The spark that ignited me actually came from a Primary School teacher who loved football and gave up his own free time for us to play 5-a-side matches after school. Through the enjoyment of actually playing the game came the desire to watch it live. I begged my father to take me to another game, which he did. And this one I do remember - a midweek 3rd round Welsh Cup match at home to Newport County at The Vetch in November 1986. We lost 3-1 and I'm sure Terry Phelan scored an own goal, heading it back over Mike Hughes' outstretched arm.
But from that moment on I asked my father to take me to every game. |
| Forum
Reply | Scouts 'R Us
at 17:07 11 Apr 2018
I would 'second' a move for Soufiane Boufal. A lovely, creative player that would no doubt be looking to move if Southampton go down.
But I think the right-back position is one of the biggest concerns. SC Heerenveen have a young lad, Denzel Dumfries who has been impressive this season. A strong, physical presence with decent pace. Although he plays in a 4-3-3 system he's a fit lad that covers lots of ground and gets forward a lot during games so I think he would also have the skillset to adapt well as a wingback. |
| Forum
Reply | Aaron Ramsey is a sh!thouse.
at 14:39 10 Oct 2017
Ramsey was awful last night and his poor set piece deliveries summed up the way he played. His strength clearly isn't as a deep midfielder like Joe Allen so it would have made more sense to replace Joe with Dave Edwards and keep Ramsey higher up the pitch.
But to call him a coward is over the top in my view. I was sat behind the goalposts last night and when their goal went in he came back into the box calling for the ball to restart the game and gesturing to the lads to get on with it. He always seemed to show for the ball and from where I was sat he didn't go hiding in that respect. It's just that he was nowhere near up to the job of carrying the team in the absence of Bale and Allen. |
| Forum
Reply | 18yr old Kylian Mbappe
at 10:29 28 Sep 2017
He is an extraordinary player, but the fact that he is just 18 is even more remarkable. He (or if not him then certainly his family on his behalf) have clearly made very good choices regarding his career development. Chelsea and several other big European clubs were after him when he was 14 and the decision to stay in France and move to Monaco, a team with a track record of bringing through their own players, was undoubtedly an excellent decision for his development.
Christian Eriksen did the same thing by moving to Ajax at 16 rather than join one of Europe's bigger teams (notwithstanding their history and tradition Ajax are no longer one of Europe's 'superpowers') He too is now flourishing.
If kids take a sensible, long-term view of their career path without the malignant influence of some football agents then they can definitely reach the heights of the game rather than sinking without a trace and not fulfilling their potential. |
| Forum
Reply | Criag Bellamy
at 13:17 15 Sep 2017
Having never met the bloke it would be impossible for me to say what he's truly like as a person. But I will say that 'Goodfella' was one of the best footballing autobiographies I read last year.
Most autobiographies just give the author a chance to grind their axe against people against whom they hold long standing grievances and while Bellamy certainly does this in parts of his book the difference is that he is also remarkably honest and open about his own failings as a person. For example, I was surprised about the detail he went into regarding the break up of his own marriage and his admission that it was his own selfish behaviour and inability to resist the trappings that came with being a Premier League footballer which caused his separation. It was so honest in some places that it made me cringe.
The other interesting part of the book was how he described hating his time as a young trainee at Norwich and how it was the news of an unplanned pregnancy that made him pull his finger out and work his socks off to establish himself as a first team player. Had the young Bellamy utilised contraception more effectively he would almost certainly have never made the grade as a pro footballer! |
| Forum
Reply | Clement got rid of another one ???????
at 15:08 3 Feb 2017
It's interesting that the majority of Bundesliga Clubs don't take boys in full time until they are 12. Up until that age they encourage them to participate in a wide range of sports to enable them to develop a whole range of biomechanical movements that cross between those different sports.
The issue with specialisation is that because that method has produced the likes of Ronaldo, Rory McIlroy, and Andre Agassi, that is held up as a false model of how to produce an elite level athlete. An Australian Institute for Sport study estimated that for every one child that becomes world class due to early specialisation, 99 drop out due to injuries from over-use of certain muscle groups, or burn out through falling out of love with the game.
The vast majority of kids are NOT like Martin Odegaarde. They don't want to spend hours on end from the age of 7 playing or doing nothing other than football. |
| Forum
Reply | Clement got rid of another one ???????
at 14:49 3 Feb 2017
A Pre Academy is the logical end product of an absurd 'arms race' between clubs to mop up the best local talent they can find in the hope that they'll have the next big player. As it's not possible to sign these boys until 9, they offer clubs a handy way of keeping the child under their wing until they reach that age thereby preventing other local clubs in their area from poaching them. In our case that club would be Cardiff, but I'd imagine it must be significantly worse in the London area / North-West where there are so many clubs scouting. |
| | RissoleCoughlin
|
Site Scores| Forum Votes: | 16 | | Comment Votes: | 0 | | Prediction League: | 0 | | TOTAL: | 16 |
|
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.