I'm currently doing a G.A.A. tutor training course in Ireland. The course is run over four weekends, in Maynooth College. Last weekend we reviewed the Level 1 syllabus and touched upon the area of decision making. The debate was lengthy and the master tutors said it was one of the trickiest modules to deliver because of the difficulties in nailing down practical examples of how to develop it.
As referenced recently, we had planned an intra-club league over the winter but player numbers have turned this into weekly head to head battles. One of the things we can't do enough of during the year is play full pitch games so this is a great opportunity to give lads more match practice and for them to learn how to cope with different situations in a match scenario. In summary, it can help improve our decision making.
There have been two main positives from the first two games. The first is that it has brought back in some guys who had drifted. Hieler, Bobby, Pat Barrett, Will, Alan Rowan, Deccie are a few lads who we hadn't seen much of during the 2011 season.
The second positive is that fellas automatically fell straight back into the style of play which we had in the latter part of the year, without prompting from me. This confirms that it is now engrained in the mindset and when we restart training in February we can look to build and improve on it, rather than having to spend time relearning it. The new/returning lads are also beginning to learn it and that will benefit them and the team when the new season arrives.
Of course, just because it is off season doesn't mean lads shouldn't use the opportunity to improve themselves. I'm currently reading 'Patriot Reign'. It's a book that tells the story of Bill Belicheck's early years in charge of the New England Patriots when he brought a very unfancied 'franchise' to Super Bowl success and onwards to create a bit of a dynasty in New England.
In the book, it mentions a meeting at the start of one season. He starts his address by telling the group that there is not one person in the room who cannot improve in the coming season, including himself. It's a simple and apparently obvious statement but not something we necessarily think about every time we step out on the pitch. It applies to everybody in every situation. Sometimes the stronger players get into a comfort zone because within the group they get the most plaudits and as a result feel they are doing enough. You can always improve but it's up to the individual to challenge himself to improve.
Back to the decision making point. To focus the minds, we just identified two improvement points for last night’s game. The first was to shoot more, as it is something we didn't do enough of last year. The second was to sharpen our passing as last week we gave very loose passes that weren't directly to the man and we turned over a load of possession as the ball skidded away on the surface.
The tricky bit for me is to keep my mouth shut and let guys have the freedom to make their own decisions. You have to hope by doing so they will see what works best most often and what doesn't. For example, some guys went for shots from outside their range or from tricky angles. You'd expect that next week, fellas would have learned, understand their range of kicking and make the right decision.
Relating to the passing, we pointed out after one of the 'quarters' that we were turning over a high percentage of balls with long kick passes. We showed only marginal improvement afterwards but the purpose of these games is not to continuously bang the drum. Again, guys need to think about their own game, figure out what they are strong at and make sure they play to those strengths. With that said, you also need to improve the weaker aspects of your game and by not ranting and raving (too much!) when kick passes go astray, it gives lads the freedom to find out by themselves.
The key to it all is what Belicheck said to his players; we can all improve. You must approach any game or training with that mindset and then you will reap the reward through continuous reflection and adjustment.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Fun Bus II
A Belgium G.A.A. away day, a bus and Johnny Phelan’s GPS. We joked about the Munich fun bus(not really) all the way from Carcassonne Airport to Toulouse. It was going so well; Collie at the wheel, Mull manning the GPS and myself, JP and Johnny sprawled across the back seats.
We were staying in the Mercure and Mull directed us through the narrow streets towards the hotel. France being France, the entry to the car park was ridiculously narrow. The barrier said the max vehicle height was 1.80. Mull confirmed he was 1.80 and got out to do the safety check. Indeed, he was taller than the bus but we were deeply suspicious he was on his tippy toes.
The garage door opened and down we went. Collie B wasn’t happy, the roof looked to be closing in on us. He hesitated and the garage door got jammed on the back of the bus as it tried to close. We urged him on. The lads were hanging out the window guiding him down. I was at the back providing some helpful commentary.
Someone said he had four inches over head. JP got back into the bus to confirm what he thought to be four inches with his hand gesture. It looked more like four cm and the mission was called to a halt. At this stage the sweat was hopping off Colin and there were about five lads - a mix of guests and employees - watching on.
Getting back out was going to be far from easy as we had gone quite a bit down the steep entrance. I’m not sure where our driver did his test but he was struggling with the hill start. The clutch burned and burned as we edged our way back up. Then another stop. Collie B had enough and called for help. One of the French onlookers reached in to help steer our bus back to street level. Embarrassing.
I started to test the water with a few jokes. JP looked terrified at the potential consequences. Then Mull chipped in. ‘This isn’t the hotel, it’s on another bit on the GPS!’. We all took a huge breath awaiting the explosion. It never came. Collie B was just happy to be out! In the end it turned out two of us were staying in that one but inexplicably, four of the lads were around 500m away in another Mercure.
We found a suitable car park nearby and Johnny got out to confirm the dimensions were all in order. As the bus passed under the barrier, Johnny followed by foot. But then he stopped to talk to Mull and the barrier came down and knocked the glasses clean off him!! Haunted.
A dodgy start but we recovered quickly. A few beers sitting outside admiring the lovely ladies and then it was off to The Melting Pot. We were just getting into it when a fella stumbled next to our table and spilt half a pint over Colin’s jacket. There was steam coming out his ears but he held his council as it was a work colleague of one of the lads.
We thought we’d be a bit less predictable and head to some local bars afterwards. It was a tricky scene to get into. I departed around 1am. Next was Johnny, then Collie B but JP and Mull were throwing shapes until 6am.
We were up and about in decent time on Saturday in the search for a few cans. This is a very easy task in Belgium as there are night shops at every corner. JP was promoting the cause of SPAR at home where you can get anything you want, be it sausage rolls, beer or whatever. We succeeded in the end, even if they were warm.
Hagan was on the scene at this stage, already having texted through a concern that morning relating to tickets. He reckoned we had to pick them up at Castres stadium – the bones of an hour and a half drive away! We knew it wasn’t going to sell out so we didn’t panic.
The craic was good en route to the match. However, once there it was a bit of a letdown. The Munster fans were scattered all over the stadium and it was far from full. Of course, most people know how it finished; ROG knocking over a handy kick at the death.
We got briefly separated after the game but reconvened in a tennis club next to the stadium. The lads were tucking into plates of cheese and ham and had cracked open a bottle of red wine. It was a quiet kind of place, not somewhere they would be used to a good row.
I don’t know who brought up Saipan but I couldn’t hold myself. What continuously annoys me about the ‘Mick camp’ is that their whole argument revolves around how Keane ‘walked out on his country’. They flatly refuse to acknowledge the facts – which in this case are, as ‘Mick’ told us, that Roy Keane was sent home.
Anyway, another table intervened and to be honest, I’m not sure how it all came about. Whatever happened, Mull ended up pointing at one of the lads at the table and repeatedly asking him if he was from Waterford. The significance of this was lost on us. Yer man responded by telling Mull that while he was pointing one finger at him, he was pointing three back at himself. After calming Mull, we were about to leave when Hagan spilt a glass of red wine on Collie B!! ‘Paul, these are €150 jeans!’ He’d lost the group at that stage as we struggled to contain ourselves!
We’d learned our lesson the night before so stayed mainstream Saturday night. That meant Trevor Brennan’s De Danu bar. The place was hopping. We ran into a few of the Toulouse G.A.A. crew and I had finally linked up with David Shortall at this point. Shorty plays with Kinsale but only joined after I had left so I felt it necessary to give him a full debrief on a host of topics. I’m sure he felt it valuable and necessary input!!!
With no knowledge of the city, it was remarkable that we all managed to walk home unaided both nights. When we left De Danu, myself and Mull were across the street waiting for Colin. He was trying to read a map upside down and get some directions. We were eager to push on so went over to speed up the process. Feeling brave, I ‘playfully’ knocked the map out of his hand once or twice. I’m usually pretty good at judging his temper but he got very cranky. He may well have pinned me up against the wall leaving my legs dangling! Off he stormed leaving myself and Mull to rely on our instinct.
By the time I got back to the room, the whole thing had been forgotten and he extracted revenge with an exhibition of snoring.
The journey back was far less eventful if you leave out the fact that myself and Mull panned out in the airport and when we work up everyone had boarded the plane!!
Next stop London.
We were staying in the Mercure and Mull directed us through the narrow streets towards the hotel. France being France, the entry to the car park was ridiculously narrow. The barrier said the max vehicle height was 1.80. Mull confirmed he was 1.80 and got out to do the safety check. Indeed, he was taller than the bus but we were deeply suspicious he was on his tippy toes.
The garage door opened and down we went. Collie B wasn’t happy, the roof looked to be closing in on us. He hesitated and the garage door got jammed on the back of the bus as it tried to close. We urged him on. The lads were hanging out the window guiding him down. I was at the back providing some helpful commentary.
Someone said he had four inches over head. JP got back into the bus to confirm what he thought to be four inches with his hand gesture. It looked more like four cm and the mission was called to a halt. At this stage the sweat was hopping off Colin and there were about five lads - a mix of guests and employees - watching on.
Getting back out was going to be far from easy as we had gone quite a bit down the steep entrance. I’m not sure where our driver did his test but he was struggling with the hill start. The clutch burned and burned as we edged our way back up. Then another stop. Collie B had enough and called for help. One of the French onlookers reached in to help steer our bus back to street level. Embarrassing.
I started to test the water with a few jokes. JP looked terrified at the potential consequences. Then Mull chipped in. ‘This isn’t the hotel, it’s on another bit on the GPS!’. We all took a huge breath awaiting the explosion. It never came. Collie B was just happy to be out! In the end it turned out two of us were staying in that one but inexplicably, four of the lads were around 500m away in another Mercure.
We found a suitable car park nearby and Johnny got out to confirm the dimensions were all in order. As the bus passed under the barrier, Johnny followed by foot. But then he stopped to talk to Mull and the barrier came down and knocked the glasses clean off him!! Haunted.
A dodgy start but we recovered quickly. A few beers sitting outside admiring the lovely ladies and then it was off to The Melting Pot. We were just getting into it when a fella stumbled next to our table and spilt half a pint over Colin’s jacket. There was steam coming out his ears but he held his council as it was a work colleague of one of the lads.
We thought we’d be a bit less predictable and head to some local bars afterwards. It was a tricky scene to get into. I departed around 1am. Next was Johnny, then Collie B but JP and Mull were throwing shapes until 6am.
We were up and about in decent time on Saturday in the search for a few cans. This is a very easy task in Belgium as there are night shops at every corner. JP was promoting the cause of SPAR at home where you can get anything you want, be it sausage rolls, beer or whatever. We succeeded in the end, even if they were warm.
Hagan was on the scene at this stage, already having texted through a concern that morning relating to tickets. He reckoned we had to pick them up at Castres stadium – the bones of an hour and a half drive away! We knew it wasn’t going to sell out so we didn’t panic.
The craic was good en route to the match. However, once there it was a bit of a letdown. The Munster fans were scattered all over the stadium and it was far from full. Of course, most people know how it finished; ROG knocking over a handy kick at the death.
We got briefly separated after the game but reconvened in a tennis club next to the stadium. The lads were tucking into plates of cheese and ham and had cracked open a bottle of red wine. It was a quiet kind of place, not somewhere they would be used to a good row.
I don’t know who brought up Saipan but I couldn’t hold myself. What continuously annoys me about the ‘Mick camp’ is that their whole argument revolves around how Keane ‘walked out on his country’. They flatly refuse to acknowledge the facts – which in this case are, as ‘Mick’ told us, that Roy Keane was sent home.
Anyway, another table intervened and to be honest, I’m not sure how it all came about. Whatever happened, Mull ended up pointing at one of the lads at the table and repeatedly asking him if he was from Waterford. The significance of this was lost on us. Yer man responded by telling Mull that while he was pointing one finger at him, he was pointing three back at himself. After calming Mull, we were about to leave when Hagan spilt a glass of red wine on Collie B!! ‘Paul, these are €150 jeans!’ He’d lost the group at that stage as we struggled to contain ourselves!
We’d learned our lesson the night before so stayed mainstream Saturday night. That meant Trevor Brennan’s De Danu bar. The place was hopping. We ran into a few of the Toulouse G.A.A. crew and I had finally linked up with David Shortall at this point. Shorty plays with Kinsale but only joined after I had left so I felt it necessary to give him a full debrief on a host of topics. I’m sure he felt it valuable and necessary input!!!
With no knowledge of the city, it was remarkable that we all managed to walk home unaided both nights. When we left De Danu, myself and Mull were across the street waiting for Colin. He was trying to read a map upside down and get some directions. We were eager to push on so went over to speed up the process. Feeling brave, I ‘playfully’ knocked the map out of his hand once or twice. I’m usually pretty good at judging his temper but he got very cranky. He may well have pinned me up against the wall leaving my legs dangling! Off he stormed leaving myself and Mull to rely on our instinct.
By the time I got back to the room, the whole thing had been forgotten and he extracted revenge with an exhibition of snoring.
The journey back was far less eventful if you leave out the fact that myself and Mull panned out in the airport and when we work up everyone had boarded the plane!!
Next stop London.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Silence Wears Thin
I’d be a big fan of the off-season. As much as I love training and playing hurling and football, I also love having a few months off to do as I please. If I want to play another sport I can do so, if I want to go drinking a little more frequently I can do that too. I find myself appreciating giving the body a rest more and more these days though.
Others are getting itchy feet already and we are not even three weeks into the winter break. The Shield win gave everyone a huge injection of energy and brought the whole group closer together. Fellas were onto me in the week after about keeping lads active with soccer or whatever during the winter.
We couldn’t get a hall for the soccer but Shane is on the case organising squash and we’ve also decided to arrange some full pitch matches. Personally I’d rather guys had a few months totally free of football but a match one night a week can’t do much harm.
It also gives lads who may have drifted off the scene a chance to come back into a pressure free environment and acclimatise themselves before the season kicks off in February. Last week we put together an email list of such guys and invited them to come back out over the next few weeks. The response so far has been good.
Quite what form the games will take I’m not sure. In the past we had a four team intra club league but we don’t have those numbers at the moment. I’m not too disappointed about that considering how heated that became. We may vary it up each week but everyone should get plenty of football.
That starts tomorrow night and then on Saturday we have the end of year dinner in de Valera’s. It’s a night that has never let anyone down. I think my first one was in 2005 or 2006 and there were around 10-15 people at it. This year we should be pushing 80 or 90.
One of the highlights of the night is always the people who make the effort to come back specifically for it. Ruairi, Ollie and Rochey are a few that spring to mind who are coming back this year. I think the fact that lads are willing to make such an effort says it all about what people here (and in many other GAA playing cities around the world) get/got out of the whole thing.
By coincidence I got a mail from a former player today saying how lucky we were to have it and how much he missed being part of it. He wasn’t here a long time but he caught the bug. It’s a sentiment that is repeated many times during the year as lads move on.
Thursday is a night for tearing lumps out of each other but Saturday will very much be a celebration of this year’s successes on and off the club.
Others are getting itchy feet already and we are not even three weeks into the winter break. The Shield win gave everyone a huge injection of energy and brought the whole group closer together. Fellas were onto me in the week after about keeping lads active with soccer or whatever during the winter.
We couldn’t get a hall for the soccer but Shane is on the case organising squash and we’ve also decided to arrange some full pitch matches. Personally I’d rather guys had a few months totally free of football but a match one night a week can’t do much harm.
It also gives lads who may have drifted off the scene a chance to come back into a pressure free environment and acclimatise themselves before the season kicks off in February. Last week we put together an email list of such guys and invited them to come back out over the next few weeks. The response so far has been good.
Quite what form the games will take I’m not sure. In the past we had a four team intra club league but we don’t have those numbers at the moment. I’m not too disappointed about that considering how heated that became. We may vary it up each week but everyone should get plenty of football.
That starts tomorrow night and then on Saturday we have the end of year dinner in de Valera’s. It’s a night that has never let anyone down. I think my first one was in 2005 or 2006 and there were around 10-15 people at it. This year we should be pushing 80 or 90.
One of the highlights of the night is always the people who make the effort to come back specifically for it. Ruairi, Ollie and Rochey are a few that spring to mind who are coming back this year. I think the fact that lads are willing to make such an effort says it all about what people here (and in many other GAA playing cities around the world) get/got out of the whole thing.
By coincidence I got a mail from a former player today saying how lucky we were to have it and how much he missed being part of it. He wasn’t here a long time but he caught the bug. It’s a sentiment that is repeated many times during the year as lads move on.
Thursday is a night for tearing lumps out of each other but Saturday will very much be a celebration of this year’s successes on and off the club.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
University Challenge
The 2011 season may be just behind us but already we must start to address some of our failings of the year gone by. One of the biggest has been our efforts in recruiting players. For whatever reasons, we struggled to even breakeven in terms of players in / players out. We are in the red and have become somewhat complacent.
The result was that we could not field a third team on any occasion (we did twice in 2010) and failed to field a second team on two occasions. From the panels in Limerick, we will lose at least seven ahead of next year and whilst some guys didn’t travel, we don’t have nearly enough players at the moment to be sure we can continue to field a second team next year.
When we got going in 2008, we quickly realised the importance of giving as many guys game time as possible. It’s important from many viewpoints; numbers at training, overall club numbers, supply people for committee positions, ensure you can travel with two teams to tournaments so everybody can get game time etc. If we hadn’t persisted with a second team, we may well have struggled more in the Championship this year as we wouldn’t have had the supply coming through.
Our 2012 drive starts on Monday night in VUB (Brussels’ main University). The opportunity sort of fell into our lap but has great potential. VUB will become our home ground as of next year and the college contacted us about offering Gaelic Football to their students.
They offered us the pitch for half price for nights where we would invite their students to training. After discussing with Colin, we thought it would be better to start with the students during our off season and get them up to speed before integrating them in with the other lads when we restart in February.
So on Monday night, myself and a couple of others will kick-off what will be a series of seven training sessions prior to Christmas. There will be three additional nights, starting December 1, where we will play an intra-club league, integrating the VUB players with our own players.
We will treat it as a pilot exercise but I’m already thinking of its potential to be developed after Christmas. The idea would be to extend this to two other Universities in Belgium initially; Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve where we know there are Irish Erasmus students who we could work with to get it off the ground.
We could run a kind of ‘Celebrity Bainisteoir’ competition where we would allocate two/three of the lads to each University and train the students up over ten weeks, culminating in a three-way tournament over Paddys weekend.
The icing on the cake would be if you could get some MEP involvement to provide the ‘Celebrity’ to the management teams. It would help raise the profile of the initiative no end and give us a potential source of new players.
That is a little further down the road so for now we will concentrate our attentions on the VUB and hopefully we will get a good response in the coming weeks.
The result was that we could not field a third team on any occasion (we did twice in 2010) and failed to field a second team on two occasions. From the panels in Limerick, we will lose at least seven ahead of next year and whilst some guys didn’t travel, we don’t have nearly enough players at the moment to be sure we can continue to field a second team next year.
When we got going in 2008, we quickly realised the importance of giving as many guys game time as possible. It’s important from many viewpoints; numbers at training, overall club numbers, supply people for committee positions, ensure you can travel with two teams to tournaments so everybody can get game time etc. If we hadn’t persisted with a second team, we may well have struggled more in the Championship this year as we wouldn’t have had the supply coming through.
Our 2012 drive starts on Monday night in VUB (Brussels’ main University). The opportunity sort of fell into our lap but has great potential. VUB will become our home ground as of next year and the college contacted us about offering Gaelic Football to their students.
They offered us the pitch for half price for nights where we would invite their students to training. After discussing with Colin, we thought it would be better to start with the students during our off season and get them up to speed before integrating them in with the other lads when we restart in February.
So on Monday night, myself and a couple of others will kick-off what will be a series of seven training sessions prior to Christmas. There will be three additional nights, starting December 1, where we will play an intra-club league, integrating the VUB players with our own players.
We will treat it as a pilot exercise but I’m already thinking of its potential to be developed after Christmas. The idea would be to extend this to two other Universities in Belgium initially; Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve where we know there are Irish Erasmus students who we could work with to get it off the ground.
We could run a kind of ‘Celebrity Bainisteoir’ competition where we would allocate two/three of the lads to each University and train the students up over ten weeks, culminating in a three-way tournament over Paddys weekend.
The icing on the cake would be if you could get some MEP involvement to provide the ‘Celebrity’ to the management teams. It would help raise the profile of the initiative no end and give us a potential source of new players.
That is a little further down the road so for now we will concentrate our attentions on the VUB and hopefully we will get a good response in the coming weeks.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Championship Bar Raised
In the build up to any tournament I’m always looking for something a bit different to capture guy’s attention. It might be a video clip, an article, a quote or something like that. During my search last week, I stumbled across a youtube clip which Hudson sent me.
It was of John Wooden, former basketball coach to UCLA. In it, he was talking about the journey that is a sporting season. He talks about how a Championship winning team experiences the ultimate feeling during that moment in which they achieve success. But that passes and we should look at the journey as a whole and reflect on more than just one moment. Success, he says, is not always judged on whether you end up holding the trophy or not.
For the Belgium Championship panel, 2011 was a success in my opinion. We consolidated from a very difficult position after losing all those players mid-summer. We brought through many new players from the Shield panel. We devised a system and gave players clear roles. We created a panel which could be interchanged seamlessly.
In the end we didn’t win the Championship or even contest a final in any of the three rounds. We had to settle for third on each occasion. It’s hard to swallow in the sense that I hate being on the outside looking in but sometimes you must put that aside, assess where you started from, assess where you finished and make your judgement.
On Saturday we opened against The Hague. It was level at half-time, we had what many onlookers thought was a clear goal, ruled out for square ball. Our downfall was the concession of frees and as always, our opponents were clinical. We would lose 0-8 to 0-6.
Beating Valencia qualified us for a semi-final against Guernsey. We led at the interval but their charge came strong in the second half. Trailing by two, Cillian fisted a high ball against the post. We were denied a penalty which looked clearly inside the box. A free was given instead. We lost out 0-8 to 0-5.
Virtually every occasion we met The Hague and Guernsey, there was at most a goal between us. We are close. Inches, as they say.
For me, this team is still very much a work in progress. My barometer is always how many guys do you have that were playing football up until the day they arrived and how many will be playing football when they go home. That indicates how much work a team will need. We don’t have so many when you compare us to our opponents. What we do have are players with a growing commitment and potential for further improvement.
That is why my disappointment is not so deep. I believe in the direction we chose to go this year and I believe that the team will continue to improve and we can mount our challenge in 2012.
When wrapping up on Saturday, I went back to Wooden’s idea about the journey. I asked the lads to reflect on the successes of the year, in Frankfurt and Amsterdam. I told them to remember all the nights they left training feeling good about themselves and being part of the team, the craic we had over a bit of grub after training and the good times we have spent in each other’s company drinking cans in one of the lads’ gaff’s, travelling Europe etc.
2012 certainly wasn’t a failure. Progress can never be considered like so and we certainly achieved that. Guernsey, winners of the Championship have set the standard. They gave up the drink for weeks prior to the final tournament. They organised cinema nights, go-karting etc. They are worthy champions and in the bid to become so, they have set that standard for the rest to strive towards.
I’ll be giving more and asking more of the lads in 2012. I believe that if they believe, then that small gap can be closed. We have weathered all the storms of 2011 and emerged as a tight group. The Shield win gave the whole set-up a massive lift. We head into the winter eagerly waiting for the new season to start. Not a bad way to have it.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Every Dog Has Their Day
And what a day. It’s hard to find the words to do justice to what our Shield team achieved on Saturday evening, under the fog and the lights in the Gaelic Grounds, Limerick.
The journey to Saturday was longer and tougher than you could imagine. The team had its first outing in the corresponding tournament in Maastricht in 2008. From there they travelled Europe time and again, taking blow after blow against first teams from some of the best teams on the continent. Every time, no matter how hard they were hit, they got back to their feet and faced up to the next challenge.
There were glimmers of hope. A third place in a Benelux in Luxembourg last year. There was a semi in Budapest. On other occasions the team would leave clinging to little bits of hope; a good first half or a strong finish.
From the outset, every effort was made to take this team seriously. The club bought a new set of jerseys. The likes of Conan, Johnny P and Ruairi invested every drop of energy in it. As we said on Saturday, the players came and went but there was a constant spirit which followed the group on the long journey from Maastricht ’08 to Limerick ‘11.
What a day they chose to land their greatest blows. Back home in Ireland with family and friends looking on in disbelief at the drama which unfolded in front of them.
Amsterdam stood in waiting, already having claimed the overall Shield for 2011. Worthy winners as they swept all before. Our lads were controlled but a bit manic before the game. The tone was set.
0-4 to 0-4 at half-time. Leading 0-8 to 0-5 when the referee indicated to Brendan that time was up. The kick-out was sent to the stand but there was no whistle. The ball was returned into the square, hopping and skidding and bouncing off players. Then it was in the net and everything was square again, heading for extra time.
We took the lead but again Amsterdam bounced back. Then another mortal blow landed. Ricky weaved his way through the defence before shipping two hefty challenges, slightly out of sync. He’d jarred his neck and lay motionless.
The game was delayed as the excellent medical team attended to him. Fortunately the x-rays that evening were clear and Ricky was up and about again on Sunday morning. The aftermath showed that despite the competitive nature of games, the community spirit is strong. Many people from other clubs enquired about his well being and I was asked to pass on best wishes from Stockholm, The Hague and Munich. All very much appreciated.
Once the game restarted, the lads came again. Fitting that it was Mike Lucey, close friend of Ricky, who kicked the equaliser. Level at the end of extra time. On to the unprecedented ‘sudden death’ extra time. The next score would seal the victory. The Belgian crowd in the stand made an awful racket as they roared on the lads. The Gaelic Grounds could never have dreamed such a day.
Sheanon was fouled out on the left wing. It wasn’t unimaginable that he could kick it. The strike was clean but it was dropping short. Amsterdam tried to clear their lines but the ball only travelled as far as Pearce on the 21. He’d been telling Cillian a week before, how he’d love to be one of those players who struck the last gasp score and have the crowd storm the pitch. One swing of the boot and a volley over the bar realised that dream.
It was pure ecstasy. I couldn’t get onto the pitch fast enough. Johnny was crying. Conan’s dad was crying. There was a ridiculously dangers pile on of Belgian lads and ladies. A feeling ran through me that I have rarely felt. I don’t think I could have been any happier had I played in the game. I must have hugged everyone twice. That’s twice nearly being squeezed to death by Johnny Phelan.
The Amsterdam lads were incredibly gracious. They are deserving champions and carried themselves like so. We have a competitive but healthy relationship with them. I hope they didn’t take offence to our celebrations but part of it was because it was such an achievement to beat such a strong team.
One of the most pleasing aspects of the victory was how everybody shared in it. The lads on the Championship panel couldn’t be contained. The faces in the pictures which have gone around since tell the story.
I get a disproportionate amount of credit when we have success and it was no different Saturday. However, the real drivers of Saturday’s success were Conan, Johnny P and Ruairi. Eoin’s decision to split the panels in Luxembourg at the start of the year contributed. The fact we (unfortunately) only had one team in Guernsey contributed. Going together to The Oak for food after training contributed. Guys sharing houses, living on the same street and generally looking out for each other contributed. All those things have helped created a ‘one team’ spirit, bereft of division.
Facebook has been jammed with messages of congrats from Belgium’s current and former players. They logged in everywhere from Brussels to Haiti to Holland to Poland to Oz. The lads deserve every bit of it.
As I said at the beginning, players may have come and gone through the team but the spirit never left. On Saturday, the dog had its day.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Panels Finalised
And so the last ball has been kicked in anger at training in 2011. We wrapped things up with a 7 v 8 match out on Toyota’s shortened soccer pitch today. With the Halloween parties going on all weekend, it was important to have one session to reset the minds before the remainder of us depart for home in the coming days.
The last three sessions highlighted a lot of the improvements we have made in the last few months. Our patience on the ball is much better, our foul count is under control and the communication has improved. On Saturday, Griff was pulling the strings, instructing guys about positioning. Giller has taken a lot of ownership as well and his talk has become more specific and instructive.
Following today’s session, we issued the panels by e-mail. This is a somewhat impersonal way of informing the group but it’s the only way you can ensure everyone gets the same communication. At home, you can get the entire panel together much more easily but here there are always lads here missing for work or personal reasons.
In the past we’ve never had any major fallouts over selection and that is because the lads understand the difficulties selecting panels. There is no one formula to do it. Training attendance, skill level, strength, speed, power, reading the game – they all play their part and in the end you just have to try to be fair to everyone and get the right mix.
Conan and myself tease it out over a few discussions and as Colin Byrne is injured, I ran a few things by him. He was putting the case forward for a couple of guys and there sure is a case. The counter to that is who do you drop? This was a particularly tough group to split and he recognised that.
The last three sessions threw up some dilemmas. Guys who had been underperforming pulled performances out of the bag to catapult themselves back into contention. Others were going very well but just simply timed their run too late in the year and faced too much traffic ahead of them for their position.
One of the toughest calls was Eoin Sheanon. He returned to Ireland in July but we asked him to put in a weekend transfer so we had him as an option. We have never brought in weekend transfers on the Championship panel but saw his case a little differently. He was with us since 2008 and was one of the top forwards in the competition, as well as managing the team in the first half of this year. His last game was in Lux when he bust his shoulder and we wanted him to get a proper opportunity for a send off.
However, the lads just kept on knocking over the last few sessions and we couldn’t deny them. I’ve been out with some on extra sessions, seen more in the gym working away. You can’t turn your back on that or they will not sustain that effort. It’s not just about Saturday, it’s about setting standards for the future too.
The temperature in the camp is just about right ahead of the weekend. So far this year we have got what we deserved. We weren’t far away in the last two tournaments but there was a gap that needed bridging.
We’ve worked very hard to close that gap and I’m certainly relishing the challenges we face at the weekend.
The last three sessions highlighted a lot of the improvements we have made in the last few months. Our patience on the ball is much better, our foul count is under control and the communication has improved. On Saturday, Griff was pulling the strings, instructing guys about positioning. Giller has taken a lot of ownership as well and his talk has become more specific and instructive.
Following today’s session, we issued the panels by e-mail. This is a somewhat impersonal way of informing the group but it’s the only way you can ensure everyone gets the same communication. At home, you can get the entire panel together much more easily but here there are always lads here missing for work or personal reasons.
In the past we’ve never had any major fallouts over selection and that is because the lads understand the difficulties selecting panels. There is no one formula to do it. Training attendance, skill level, strength, speed, power, reading the game – they all play their part and in the end you just have to try to be fair to everyone and get the right mix.
Conan and myself tease it out over a few discussions and as Colin Byrne is injured, I ran a few things by him. He was putting the case forward for a couple of guys and there sure is a case. The counter to that is who do you drop? This was a particularly tough group to split and he recognised that.
The last three sessions threw up some dilemmas. Guys who had been underperforming pulled performances out of the bag to catapult themselves back into contention. Others were going very well but just simply timed their run too late in the year and faced too much traffic ahead of them for their position.
One of the toughest calls was Eoin Sheanon. He returned to Ireland in July but we asked him to put in a weekend transfer so we had him as an option. We have never brought in weekend transfers on the Championship panel but saw his case a little differently. He was with us since 2008 and was one of the top forwards in the competition, as well as managing the team in the first half of this year. His last game was in Lux when he bust his shoulder and we wanted him to get a proper opportunity for a send off.
However, the lads just kept on knocking over the last few sessions and we couldn’t deny them. I’ve been out with some on extra sessions, seen more in the gym working away. You can’t turn your back on that or they will not sustain that effort. It’s not just about Saturday, it’s about setting standards for the future too.
The temperature in the camp is just about right ahead of the weekend. So far this year we have got what we deserved. We weren’t far away in the last two tournaments but there was a gap that needed bridging.
We’ve worked very hard to close that gap and I’m certainly relishing the challenges we face at the weekend.
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