I preferred the continental style of play. To offset the climate implications of adopting this style I worked hard on an Andy Reid-type girth to keep me warm during the colder outings.
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we are almost in the top 10% of footballing countries in the world mate
we are amongst the top 26 countries in the world
pretty impressive considering are small population
whatâs our rugby equivalent in percentage terms?
think we are 4th in the world which means we are in the top 66% of rugby playing countries
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I underestimated how good we were. 4th is good going seeing as weâve never got past a quarter final in the only 15 a side international rugby tournament I know of. Are ranking points handed out for hype?
Engerlish isnât my first language mate, Im Euskadi
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Eire are a laughing stock in world football, they are famous because their fans get pissed and sing songs at international competitions
Fucking parents, obviously necessary but becoming more and more difficult for clubs. too many have unrealistic expectations for their kids, Drop them at training and fuck off for an hour or two please. Need them though for lifts to games, and sometimes to help with out with teams e.g⌠an extra adult presence at training. Know your place though, and obviously club committees are well stocked with willing parents. Getting more n more difficult to get current / former players to get involved in coaching juveniles, so teams can end up with well meaning though poor coaches.
Early morning training, fuck off Damien, youâre the caveman here. GAA teams that started this crack thought they were gaining an edge v opposition, many teams just felt they had to do it as âthe other team is doingâ. Maybe a bit in Summer when itâs bright, Irish soccer a Winter sport though.
Duff strikes me though as a lad who will learn as he goes along, research and education is everything though, learn from others, including other sports, up to 16 his players would be better off participating in another sport too. I coach u15/16s at fairly decent standard, our best players are still hurling in Summer, but now for soccer have 2 sessions + 1/2 matches weekly. Also, they kick around in their spare time, this still happens more than we realise, itâs not all play station and social media.
Soccer not the joke shop you think Kev, plenty of good people involved in recent years, Emerging Talent model while flawed has focused the minds of all involved.
Thoroughly agree with your theory of Holistic development, knowing your players differing needs and home circumstances, they all have to be handled differently, a friendly handshake works wonders
u15s GGA teams training like u15s footballers
Emerging Talent program has failed to date to produce anything. The new approaches a re actually dated approaches.
I know though, as you say, endless good people in Soccer.
However the people in control do not know what they need or how to look for it. Some of the guys who have got jobs over others is simply outrageous. Completely unqualified.
Seeing what Duff is at with Rovers tells you everything really. They havenât a notion
The Irish under age teams are littered with SRFC players mate. Aaron Bolger is the best young player in Europe
Duff is one of the best footballers we have ever produced, he has his badges
I think he is qualifies enough to train 14 year ilds
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I donât think this is allowed anymore. Child protection guidelines or something.
I think Damien Duff knows what he is talking about having played at the highest level and won trophies, get these young fuckers out of bed early and off training, fail to prepare, prepare to fail as the man says
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The Irish U17s and U19s destroyed all comers in their qualification groups over the past two weeks. The FAI has been doing fantastic work in recent years in conjunction with the clubs.
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getting up early was the key
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Confirmation bias.
Far more well placed people than us believe they are produce systematic groups but no individual class and very little real individual development.
Basically it will be found out.
Enda McNulty giving the most pointless interview ever on this subject with plenty of uneducated nonsense.
Surprised to see 8 players on the squad at Irish clubs