There are various signs that tell you winter is here, like the heavy dew in the air, the snappy chill embracing every inch of your body and giving you an early reminder of things to come. For me, it’s the thick mushy mud clambering to my football boots, cementing itself to each individual stud and making my feet feel heavy.
My car mats will never be the same, my pathway and hallway floor will now leave small trails of chunky mud, Oh Winter!
What signalled the beginning of Winter for you?
Continuation from my last moan!
Dear Parent,
So once again you have another moan at me for substituting your son, who again had a nightmare game yesterday. He played 23 out of the 40 minutes but you felt that this was a “token gesture”.
I am not best pleased with your attitude and total disregard of the team with you solely focusing on your child and whether he get’s to play the whole game or not.
Well to let you know, I have just printed out a letter which I have constructed and will be posting it through your letter box this evening. In it, it states reasons and justifications for my actions and my job as coach to protect the interests of the team, not individuals. So, as you will read near the bottom of the letter, I will continue to make changes where I see fit during the game. If you find this too unreasonable, then I am happy to hand you back your son’s registration form and wish him the best of luck in the future.
Signed: stressed coach!
Dear Parent,
Yesterday your son kicked off his second season with the rest of the team and it was a tough opener. The day before I spent much time in training going through defensive drills and all the boys were clear on what they needed to do.
When the match started, your son spent the first 10 minutes watching the attackers rush by and in no time we were 2 – 0 down. It was not your son’s fault, however the opposition started targeting their play down his side and he was not enjoying it at all.
I therefore persisted with substituting him with another defender, a more experienced player who has lost his regular place in the team because he attends Saturday school where they play sports. As you know, the match started to swing in our favour and after being 3 -0 down, we managed to end the game on 3 – 3.
You were rightly annoyed that your son only got limited time on the pitch and you pointed to the fact that it was because the other player was better. Please let me explain. This had nothing to do with ability; I looked at the match in general and felt that he was not going to have an easy ride, so I took the decision to replace him. You must remember that this is a “team game” and that I will make decisions based on whatever is in the best interest of the team. If I felt that by substituting your son with a stronger player and stemming the flow of goals, that we would give ourselves a chance, then that is what I did. My decision worked in our favour but in the process upset you, so for this I am truly sorry.
But you must remember, I only think in the best interest of the team and will not make decisions just to please parents. I have full faith in your son and I hope he can continue to take what he learns in training into the match. It’s a long season with lots of games, and things will improve.
Yours, Coach.
Words that have been zooming in my head since yesterday’s incredible fight back from the boys. I was in high spirits after the match only to be on the end of a “grilling” by a parent, I just wanted to go home after that and had a miserable day. Is it all worth it?
A few nights ago, as I was sitting upstairs listening to some music, suddenly there’s this ruffle sound coming from the hallway downstairs. It would then stop, then start up again, it was as if something was being arranged, re-arranged. I turned down the music and made my way downstairs, no sound now, no trace of anyone/anything. I dismissed it!
The next morning, I open the shoe cupboard in the hallway, the top drawer where my shoes are kept only to find this… Continue reading
World Cup tournaments and European Finals, recently, have not been seen as a great measure of how much progression a country has made in the world of football. Prime example, England’s failure at the World Cup last year and Manchester United’s battering at the hands of Barcelona. Ok this probably excludes Brazil and Germany because they always turn on something special for these kind of events. As far as European Finals are concerned, Greece hardly won the 2004 competition playing attractive and attacking football, it was more like human chess.
