Glenn Hoddle on the flawed British System

[paul_oshea]

Obviously Britain's problem is our problem

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/inte...y-8682907.html

[ArdeeBhoy]

Is it?

Before all the LOI heads jump in, don't forget soccer is not the most obviously popular team sport in Ireland a much smaller country, like it is in England & Scotland....

[nigel-harps1954]

I would argue, on a similar scale, football might not be the most popular team sport in England either. Don't forget just how big Cricket and Rugby is over there.

[Charlie Darwin]

Football is bigger in England than it is here but I'm not sure what relevance any of that has to the discussion. As long as we're beholden to the English football model, we'll continue to make the same mistakes they do.

[paul_oshea]

That's my point CD.

[ArdeeBhoy]

I would argue, on a similar scale, football might not be the most popular team sport in England either. Don't forget just how big Cricket and Rugby is over there.

Cricket, no chance and rugby, within pretty specific geographic areas. Golf and racing might come close.

Tbf, PO'S right on the basis of where all our top players go or end up.

[Stuttgart88]

I think there are enough 'enlightened' people in Ireland to make a difference but too many vested interests present an obstacle. The NDSL seems to have a great approach, for example, whereas SDSL is stuck in the Stone Age. The 'Governance of the FAI' thread discusses a lot of the issues. I'd say there is a growing if not already significant acknowledgement at underage level in Ireland that the old way of dong things should be consigned to history. Hoddle has said nothing we don't already know. He's fishing for a job, so is getting a bit of airtime.

[Stuttgart88]

Emmet Malone in today's Irish Times:

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/socc...-agm-1.1450810

The ongoing tensions between different strands of the underage game has prompted a move at this year’s FAI agm on Saturday week to double the distance young players can travel in order to play for a particular schoolboy club.

The current limit of 49 kilometres was introduced so to prevent a small number of elite, almost exclusively Dublin-based clubs trawling the country for the most talented players.

These clubs, generally associated with the Dublin and District Schoolboys League (DDSL) have generally positioned themselves to be a stepping stone to England or Scotland for aspiring young professionals. But there have long been concerns about the pressure attempting to play for them places on players in their early to mid-teens who live outside the capital.

Problems have persisted between the DDSL and the Schoolboys Football Association of Ireland with keen competition between clubs for the best young players and the compensation payments they can attract if they move to big English clubs.

Talks about the situation were continuing last night but the proposed doubling of the distance over which clubs can cast their net for young talent to 100km would represent a significant victory for the DDSL and its affiliates if it is passed.

Well at least something will be discussed at this year's booze-up, sorry, AGM.

[tetsujin1979]

is doubling the distance a negative change? The same clubs have greater reach, meaning local clubs will lose their best players

[Stuttgart88]

Doesn't sound positive to me.

[mark12345]

Obviously Britain's problem is our problem

Ya think?

It was once said that if England sneezes Ireland catches a cold. Whether that was true or not it is most certainly true of football in both countries.

Probably the most prophetic words (below) spoken in half a century about English football. And boy do Hoddle's words ever apply to the likes of Glenn Whelan, John O'Shea, Keith Andrews and the several others in the Ireland team who cannot control a ball for any length of time.

{I said to Daniel Levy when I was at Tottenham, you need to pay a really good amount of money for coaches to deal with your 10s, 12s, 13s and 14s. If we don’t make technical footballers, in 40 years’ time we will still be saying the same things.”

Is Hoddle suggesting it will take that long for England to win anything?

“We’ll always be a difficult side to play against. Are we a team that can go and win matches and outplay most teams in every level? We’re becoming less and less able technically. We are suspicious of the creative technical player, calling him a luxury. For me, those who give the ball away are the luxury players.”}

[mark12345]

I think there are enough 'enlightened' people in Ireland to make a difference but too many vested interests present an obstacle. The NDSL seems to have a great approach, for example, whereas SDSL is stuck in the Stone Age. The 'Governance of the FAI' thread discusses a lot of the issues. I'd say there is a growing if not already significant acknowledgement at underage level in Ireland that the old way of dong things should be consigned to history. Hoddle has said nothing we don't already know. He's fishing for a job, so is getting a bit of airtime.

Interesting points about the NDSL and SDSL. I live in America so that is the sort of thing I wouldn't be privy to. Speaking of living in America, I can say this. They are far more enlightened over here than we are at home. Reason I suppose is that there is such an influx of immigrants from Europe, South America, Africa etc. Kids are made to play on small pitches 7 v 7 or 6 v 6. I have coached my kids and am happy enough with a 4 v 4 game. It's all about the amount of touches they get on the ball. I played League of Ireland B level back in the eighties and I can tell you that I learned more in 6 months in America than all of my 23 years in Ireland. I've been saying this for years on this forum but we need to hire coaches from South America or Africa or even Holland as Hoddle suggests, to coach our kids. If we don't we'll be singing this song in another 40 years.

[paul_oshea]

I dont understand that cast the net thing, when was it brought in? Is it only cast your net less than 40km but greater than 100km, because i know of players at home who played underage for clubs up in dublin, or is that different again?

[Charlie Darwin]

Interesting points about the NDSL and SDSL. I live in America so that is the sort of thing I wouldn't be privy to. Speaking of living in America, I can say this. They are far more enlightened over here than we are at home. Reason I suppose is that there is such an influx of immigrants from Europe, South America, Africa etc. Kids are made to play on small pitches 7 v 7 or 6 v 6. I have coached my kids and am happy enough with a 4 v 4 game. It's all about the amount of touches they get on the ball. I played League of Ireland B level back in the eighties and I can tell you that I learned more in 6 months in America than all of my 23 years in Ireland. I've been saying this for years on this forum but we need to hire coaches from South America or Africa or even Holland as Hoddle suggests, to coach our kids. If we don't we'll be singing this song in another 40 years.

Can't speak for anybody else, but my experience in the South Dublin leagues was 7-a-side up until you were 12 or so. We all hated it at the time but it seems to be the best approach.

I dont understand that cast the net thing, when was it brought in? Is it only cast your net less than 40km but greater than 100km, because i know of players at home who played underage for clubs up in dublin, or is that different again?

It was brought in last year at the instigation of the leagues around Dublin, particularly Kildare it seems. The main objection is that a lot of kids are moving out of Dublin with their parents and then finding they can't keep playing with their club where the facilities and coaching is much better. Kildare clubs, on the other hand, complain about the big DDSL teams poaching their players.

[Stuttgart88]

Interesting points about the NDSL and SDSL. I live in America so that is the sort of thing I wouldn't be privy to.

I live in Lndon so am not close to the situation either but this guy's website has a lot of well informed stuff.

http://www.thecoachdiary.com/can-we-...h-of-the-same/

It's not just this article, the whole site is set up to discuss coaching techniques and philosophy, as well as the politics of schoolboy football. I recommend anyone interested in this topic to have a good snoop around the site. it was recommended by another poster here (cant recall who, sorry) when we were discussing FAI Governance last year.

The guy who runs the site is Antonio Mantero and I've met him a couple of times. He organised a seminar for coaches in Dublin the night before the Austria home game so I went along, and the room was full of coaches of the 'enlightened' variety. It wasn't a very big room mind you! Mitch Whitty of the NDSL gave a super talk on how they went out on a limb and turned everything upside down, so to speak. I posted on it in the Youth Development thread so won't go over it again.

I do honestly think that there is a critical mass of right-thinking coaches in Ireland but its just the politics of Irish football stopping progress. Hopefully Ruud Dokter's arrival will catalyse change.

[tricky_colour]

Obviously Britain's problem is our problem

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/inte...y-8682907.html

I though the problem was the British footballers and the FA were being punished for sins committed in former lives.