35-years-of-fun

I now have over 50 responses to the offer of financial support that I made recently, all of them from clubs and coaches who seem to really understand what it means to nurture talent. Sadly I cannot help each and every team or club that has asked to be...

I recently made an offer to support a team with the right ethos financially as well as with training where needed. I have been surprised as to how few emails I have received with fewer than 50 people sending in requests for support. I honestly expected...

When my sons decided that they wanted to join a football team a few years back I signed them up to their local team. Over the last 3 or so years I have often been shocked with how kids, some as young as 6 or 7 years old, are treated. For every good coach...

We all use external (extrinsic) motivators to get kids to do things. “If you do your homework you can have half an hour on you Xbox” “Tidy your room and we will go to beach this weekend.” As a temporary ‘fix’ external motivators are fine but the problem...

I asked the question “Can a kid be too motivated?” on Twitter recently and the general consensus was that no, it’s impossible to be ‘too motivated’. But I think that a player can go too far and a coach can create an environment where players are not in...

Before I go on and write about motivation I want to ask you a question. “Can you motivate me?” Be honest now what was your first thought, was it ‘yes’? Let us be clear on one thing, no person can motivate another to do something they don’t want to do....

For most football fans the media is a place that offers hope and frustration in equal measure. The 24 hour rolling bullshit of Sky Sports News is something that seems to appeal more to kids now rather than grown ups with any common sense. A lot of the...

In the coming days and weeks I will be publishing a series of articles about Emotional Intelligence (EI) aimed at those who are involved in youth football. The aim of the information I will be putting out there is to offer a realistic view on how we develop...

Its the little things that matter sometimes make the big differences and it is the little things that Mancini got right some time ago that are making huge differences right now. When Mancini was given the City job the club had a number of keepers on the...

There are 13 Premier League games left this season and City are a meagre two points clear of United. Apparently the famous ‘squeaky bum time’ is about to start and it has to be said that City have struggled to find the fluidity of football they had early...