The root cause of these can be one of two things. One is if a session goes particularly badly. I’ll be rolling around in bed for hours, frustrated at why it wasn’t up to scratch. The other is if it goes particularly well. In that case I’ll come home buzzing and won’t be able to relax sufficiently to drift off to sleep.
The last two nights of training have left me sleepless for the right reasons. As I mentioned already, Diarmuid Laffan has joined myself and Conan in leading training. With each passing session we are beginning to gel and land on the same wavelength. That combined with the lads’ application has contributed to a very positive start.
Mainly due to our work commitments, we have yet to sit together to lay out the plan. Instead, we have been relying on text, emails and phone calls for planning purposes. It has meant there have been a few bumps but nothing that the players would have picked up on.
In terms of our manner at training, I would normally be more on the grumpy side. It takes a bit more to push Conan over the edge but his frustration has come out from time to time too. That’s why getting Laffan on board is so important as it brings enthusiasm and a fresh voice.
Coming mainly from a rugby background, I’m hoping he can bring guys out of their shells. The group is the quietest team I have ever been involved with but that’s not to say the lads don’t work hard or have a lot to offer. I’ve always been impressed with how in rugby, they are very good at creating a supportive environment for the players. We’re looking to Laffan to try and bring a bit of that.
So far, Conan and himself have put together some excellent sessions. I’m involved in the planning but more on the periphery and that’s ideal for me as I can focus on my fitness.
We’ve tried different approaches to pre-season in previous years. 2008 and 2011 would have heavily focused on ball/skill work whilst 2009 and 2010 would have been more running. This year, we want to get a tough five or six weeks under our belt to lay solid foundations for the year. We need to train at a higher tempo and to do that the roadwork needs doing.
Everyone has access to a google spreadsheet where they can log their own attendance and also times for some of the runs we are doing. This is optional but I’d like to see everyone buy into it.
One of the things we have been doing at training is a 1.6km run at the start. It’s been good to see lads logging their times afterwards. Sometimes there may be a tendency not to bother if your time wasn’t impressive but that hasn’t been the case. No-one is being judged at this stage but I think by putting your time against everyone else’s, it says you are challenging yourself. I certainly feel that way and was pissed off when I had to put down a time on Monday which was six seconds slower than Thursday. I don’t want to have to do that again.
So far the attitude of everyone has been top notch. That will give us something extra this year but I’m under no illusions that we have to improve our football if we are to bridge the gap in quality that existed last year.
On Saturday we go to The Hague to play in their annual invitational and that will give us a good indication where we are at. It will also allow us try out different players and tactics which we would be too cautious to do in a competitive tournament. We will then have a month to improve the fitness and tune the football before returning to The Hague for the first Benelux round.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Barntown Win Shoot-Out
Belgium 3-18 Glynn Barntown 7-15
Things have fallen well for us this preseason with a challenge game against Glynn Barntown and a trip Den Hague for their invitational slotting nicely into our schedule.
First up were the Wexford men of Glynn Barntown in the Liam Kehoe Memorial Cup. Liam was a former member of their club who passed away in recent years. The lads chose their annual tour to honour him and it gave both teams a greater incentive to win.
We picked a panel of 16 and it consisted of a mix of what would be our Championship and Shield team. We resisted the temptation to add any additional players as they became available and also the soccer lads who had their games cancelled on Saturday. After last year, I’m content as long as we have guys who understand how we want to play and buy into it. In that sense, I was comfortable with the 16 for Saturday.
However, I did have some concern about where the scores would come from. No Giller, O’Dowd, Cillian, Laffan etc. We had Timmy in his usual post and opted for Paddy as his foil. I expected to be heavily reliant on them.
As it turned out, our display threw up the unexpected. Our defending was way below par while our attacking play was some of the best I have seen from us in recent times. The lads joked afterwards that we scored more in this one game (3-18) than we did in most Pan-Euro tournaments last year. There was a good spread too with Johnny O, Johnny P, Pierce, Paddy, Timmy, Griff and myself all raising a flag. One or two more may have done likewise but my memory fails me.
At the other end, we conceded 7-15. I reckon six of the seven goals came from blatant errors in our defence. There were a couple of contributing factors; our line across half back was very flat leaving us exposed to ball over the top, communication could always be better, choosing more complicated options over the simple one, general rustiness. In defence of the defence though, the amount of switches we made was very disruptive and I expected some consequence before the game.
Since last year, we use our full ‘rotation’ to keep freshness on the pitch and it has worked well. However, this would focus on midfield and half forward in particular whilst we would tinker a lot less at the back. They say 90% of successful teams win because they have the best defence. You will rarely see those teams tinker much with these players in the course of a game, no matter what sport. Of all areas on the pitch, you need consistency in those positions.
I’m not overly concerned at this point as this was the strongest aspect of our play last year. It was the forward display that leaves me buzzing this morning. As Crusher said of the football on show at training Thursday, ‘it was utter sh1te’. I didn’t have high expectations. It was a different story yesterday though and we showed great composure in attack, waiting for the right shot and moving well off the ball.
It’s surprisingly easy to get into my good books and there are a few lads who have laid down an early marker. Griff continues to strengthen his position as a key man in the team. Pearce is showing a good appetite (he even had the right gear!). Up front, Ger fits our play perfectly; selfless and dogged running and he rarely coughs up possession. Timmy is bossing the forwards now and we need such leadership up front.
Paddy Cassidy was the star of the show yesterday in my book though. We’ve asked him to play many unfamiliar roles but he has never shirked the challenge. He empties it every day, whether at training or in matches. I thought he was magnificent yesterday and capped his display with a healthy return on the scorers list, both from play and dead balls.
My excitement is mainly linked to our efficiency in front of goal but we still have lots to work on. There are plenty of aspects of our defence that needs working on. Our fielding and contesting of breaking ball was poor also. With all that said, after just one proper training (which lads were still struggling to shake off), the attitude and application was spot on.
The mood in the camp is as good as I’ve seen in a while and it will need to be as we face into some tough grind in the coming weeks.
Finally, thanks to Willie Cashin who did an excellent job with the whistle.
Panel: S Ryan, C Mescall, K Keary, D Barrett, D Lynch, P Quinn, P Cushen, P O’Caoimh, S Griffen, J O’Riordan, J Phelan, G McMahon, A Rowan, D Keohane, P Cassidy, T Donovan
Things have fallen well for us this preseason with a challenge game against Glynn Barntown and a trip Den Hague for their invitational slotting nicely into our schedule.
First up were the Wexford men of Glynn Barntown in the Liam Kehoe Memorial Cup. Liam was a former member of their club who passed away in recent years. The lads chose their annual tour to honour him and it gave both teams a greater incentive to win.
We picked a panel of 16 and it consisted of a mix of what would be our Championship and Shield team. We resisted the temptation to add any additional players as they became available and also the soccer lads who had their games cancelled on Saturday. After last year, I’m content as long as we have guys who understand how we want to play and buy into it. In that sense, I was comfortable with the 16 for Saturday.
However, I did have some concern about where the scores would come from. No Giller, O’Dowd, Cillian, Laffan etc. We had Timmy in his usual post and opted for Paddy as his foil. I expected to be heavily reliant on them.
As it turned out, our display threw up the unexpected. Our defending was way below par while our attacking play was some of the best I have seen from us in recent times. The lads joked afterwards that we scored more in this one game (3-18) than we did in most Pan-Euro tournaments last year. There was a good spread too with Johnny O, Johnny P, Pierce, Paddy, Timmy, Griff and myself all raising a flag. One or two more may have done likewise but my memory fails me.
At the other end, we conceded 7-15. I reckon six of the seven goals came from blatant errors in our defence. There were a couple of contributing factors; our line across half back was very flat leaving us exposed to ball over the top, communication could always be better, choosing more complicated options over the simple one, general rustiness. In defence of the defence though, the amount of switches we made was very disruptive and I expected some consequence before the game.
Since last year, we use our full ‘rotation’ to keep freshness on the pitch and it has worked well. However, this would focus on midfield and half forward in particular whilst we would tinker a lot less at the back. They say 90% of successful teams win because they have the best defence. You will rarely see those teams tinker much with these players in the course of a game, no matter what sport. Of all areas on the pitch, you need consistency in those positions.
I’m not overly concerned at this point as this was the strongest aspect of our play last year. It was the forward display that leaves me buzzing this morning. As Crusher said of the football on show at training Thursday, ‘it was utter sh1te’. I didn’t have high expectations. It was a different story yesterday though and we showed great composure in attack, waiting for the right shot and moving well off the ball.
It’s surprisingly easy to get into my good books and there are a few lads who have laid down an early marker. Griff continues to strengthen his position as a key man in the team. Pearce is showing a good appetite (he even had the right gear!). Up front, Ger fits our play perfectly; selfless and dogged running and he rarely coughs up possession. Timmy is bossing the forwards now and we need such leadership up front.
Paddy Cassidy was the star of the show yesterday in my book though. We’ve asked him to play many unfamiliar roles but he has never shirked the challenge. He empties it every day, whether at training or in matches. I thought he was magnificent yesterday and capped his display with a healthy return on the scorers list, both from play and dead balls.
My excitement is mainly linked to our efficiency in front of goal but we still have lots to work on. There are plenty of aspects of our defence that needs working on. Our fielding and contesting of breaking ball was poor also. With all that said, after just one proper training (which lads were still struggling to shake off), the attitude and application was spot on.
The mood in the camp is as good as I’ve seen in a while and it will need to be as we face into some tough grind in the coming weeks.
Finally, thanks to Willie Cashin who did an excellent job with the whistle.
Panel: S Ryan, C Mescall, K Keary, D Barrett, D Lynch, P Quinn, P Cushen, P O’Caoimh, S Griffen, J O’Riordan, J Phelan, G McMahon, A Rowan, D Keohane, P Cassidy, T Donovan
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Method To The Dubs Madness?
It is well known, that at different stages of the season, the Dubs opt for training sessions at the crack of dawn. At exam time, this is seen as a better plan for the students who can then go and focus on their studies for the day. It also cuts their panel's travel time as they do not have to deal with Dublin's rush hour traffic.
Of course, I have no delusions that Belgium's hurlers or footballers are going to be taking up such a programme a few of us are tempted to sample its delights. Since January, the gym we use has been rammed with the new years resolution crew and they have yet to lose their enthusiasm.
I usually head with Crusher and Ger but since Christmas we've all been busy at work so it has been hard to beat the evening rush. To have any kind of satisfactory session, you'd need to wait until after 8 which kills your evening. On a more pitiful point, I find the recovery from a tough session takes longer now and can impact how you feel at football/hurling training the following day.
To counter this, myself and Ger hit it early this morning, arriving shortly after 7am. The place was deserted and we could rattle through our session in 37 minutes. The quality was good and I left the place buzzing and it carried me through the day without hassle. The early morning doesn't bother me as I would normally be at work between half seven and a quarter to eight anyway. This morning I was still able to make it in before nine.
What I found must interesting was the impact it had on my behaviour. Last night I realised how important it would be to eat properly as I would need to have sufficient energy for the session. Biscuits etc were off the menu. The impact of what I ate today was even greater though. Normally, I’d have a fair bit of rubbish over the course of the day, consoling myself that I'd burn it of that evening. However, having had a good session this morning and feeling the positive benefit on the body, I couldn't look at anything sweet thing all day. Essentially, it created some badly needed self-regulation of my eating habits.
The other benefit is that it gives us around twelve hours more recovery time before tomorrow night’s session. Of course if we went tonight we would be able for the session tomorrow but I'm sure our performance would be inhibited.
It also gives a welcome free evening. With hurling and football occupying three nights a week from the end of February, it becomes difficult to fit three gym sessions in and still manage to have some free evenings to yourself. By throwing one early morning session into the mix, you can change the whole dynamic of your week.
I’m a believer. The future is bright, the future is blue!!!
Of course, I have no delusions that Belgium's hurlers or footballers are going to be taking up such a programme a few of us are tempted to sample its delights. Since January, the gym we use has been rammed with the new years resolution crew and they have yet to lose their enthusiasm.
I usually head with Crusher and Ger but since Christmas we've all been busy at work so it has been hard to beat the evening rush. To have any kind of satisfactory session, you'd need to wait until after 8 which kills your evening. On a more pitiful point, I find the recovery from a tough session takes longer now and can impact how you feel at football/hurling training the following day.
To counter this, myself and Ger hit it early this morning, arriving shortly after 7am. The place was deserted and we could rattle through our session in 37 minutes. The quality was good and I left the place buzzing and it carried me through the day without hassle. The early morning doesn't bother me as I would normally be at work between half seven and a quarter to eight anyway. This morning I was still able to make it in before nine.
What I found must interesting was the impact it had on my behaviour. Last night I realised how important it would be to eat properly as I would need to have sufficient energy for the session. Biscuits etc were off the menu. The impact of what I ate today was even greater though. Normally, I’d have a fair bit of rubbish over the course of the day, consoling myself that I'd burn it of that evening. However, having had a good session this morning and feeling the positive benefit on the body, I couldn't look at anything sweet thing all day. Essentially, it created some badly needed self-regulation of my eating habits.
The other benefit is that it gives us around twelve hours more recovery time before tomorrow night’s session. Of course if we went tonight we would be able for the session tomorrow but I'm sure our performance would be inhibited.
It also gives a welcome free evening. With hurling and football occupying three nights a week from the end of February, it becomes difficult to fit three gym sessions in and still manage to have some free evenings to yourself. By throwing one early morning session into the mix, you can change the whole dynamic of your week.
I’m a believer. The future is bright, the future is blue!!!
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Stuttering Start
Only once in February have I seen the temperature reach as high as 0 degrees Celsius. Brussels has been Baltic.
The last night we were able to train was February 2nd. It was minus 5 at the start of the session, with the wind chill factor making it feel minus 15. The following day it snowed and with temperatures not rising, it has remained on the pitch since then. The VUB has closed up shop and we are left to twiddle our thumbs.
We had two well attended sessions our first week back and the purpose was just to stretch the legs and handle a bit of ball. It was good to see certain faces out so early in the year and on the Thursday, I even received a text from Pierce explaining his non-attendance. I nearly crashed the car.
Once we get clearance to return to training, we will embark on a six week pre-season programme under the guidance of Conan and Diarmuid Laffan. Last year things were freshened up with Eoin and Conan taking charge. Recognising the benefit a few new or different voices bring, Laffan’s addition to the ‘backroom’ (sorry for the lingo) team is a big boost.
He can call on an upbringing in the Leinster Rugby Academy as well as the experience of captaining the Ireland U-20s. With that we can expect some new ideas – within the boundaries of the physical needs of G.A.A. players of course. I say G.A.A. and not football because the training should be as of much benefit to our hurlers so hopefully we will see all the lads out.
My role in pre-season will be minimal, helping out only when the two lads can’t make it. I missed virtually all of the early training last year and felt I was only beginning to get the legs moving when we got to Limerick. Two instances of frustration stick out from that point of view. I can remember Giller roaring at me to take the ball forward up in The Hague in July but the tank was empty – and that was in the first game of the day!
After the first round of the Pan-Euros in Belgium, Hudson commented that I looked very flat. He was right and it was a case of not having enough done. After the last few years, I have no expectation of an injury free season but having solid foundations laid will certainly help us all.
Looking out my window now, there is still a layer of snow on my balcony. I’ll be surprised if we are let loose tomorrow but hopefully the lungs will pound before the week is out.
The last night we were able to train was February 2nd. It was minus 5 at the start of the session, with the wind chill factor making it feel minus 15. The following day it snowed and with temperatures not rising, it has remained on the pitch since then. The VUB has closed up shop and we are left to twiddle our thumbs.
We had two well attended sessions our first week back and the purpose was just to stretch the legs and handle a bit of ball. It was good to see certain faces out so early in the year and on the Thursday, I even received a text from Pierce explaining his non-attendance. I nearly crashed the car.
Once we get clearance to return to training, we will embark on a six week pre-season programme under the guidance of Conan and Diarmuid Laffan. Last year things were freshened up with Eoin and Conan taking charge. Recognising the benefit a few new or different voices bring, Laffan’s addition to the ‘backroom’ (sorry for the lingo) team is a big boost.
He can call on an upbringing in the Leinster Rugby Academy as well as the experience of captaining the Ireland U-20s. With that we can expect some new ideas – within the boundaries of the physical needs of G.A.A. players of course. I say G.A.A. and not football because the training should be as of much benefit to our hurlers so hopefully we will see all the lads out.
My role in pre-season will be minimal, helping out only when the two lads can’t make it. I missed virtually all of the early training last year and felt I was only beginning to get the legs moving when we got to Limerick. Two instances of frustration stick out from that point of view. I can remember Giller roaring at me to take the ball forward up in The Hague in July but the tank was empty – and that was in the first game of the day!
After the first round of the Pan-Euros in Belgium, Hudson commented that I looked very flat. He was right and it was a case of not having enough done. After the last few years, I have no expectation of an injury free season but having solid foundations laid will certainly help us all.
Looking out my window now, there is still a layer of snow on my balcony. I’ll be surprised if we are let loose tomorrow but hopefully the lungs will pound before the week is out.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Madrid Motoring Well
I've tried my hardest to down all G.A.A. tools for the month of January; blog, organisation, chat and anything related. I just can't do it but by my standards, I've done pretty well. We resume training on January 30th. In preparation for that there is quite a lot of planning required, more of which will follow later in the week.
My biggest mission for the month was a trip to Madrid last weekend. The task was to run a practical course for adults who are training the kids down there. To get the most value for the trip, we also planned Ladies and Men's sessions. This was to be an introduction that we would follow up with a full blown Foundation Course later in the year in Spain.
Most of the participants were from the Madrid Harps club but they were joined by two former/current members who now reside near to Bilbao. Four more came up from Valencia. In all, we had around twenty people (you can see a selection in the photo above). It was interesting to see the number of Spanish people who know little of the game but have been drawn to it through their kids. A big challenge for them is to keep the kids interested and get them games. There are tentative plans in places to use one of their tournaments to bring the kids of Madrid and Valencia together for an exhibition game. Another thing is exposure to the game on television. They say it is very difficult to find somewhere that shows the games in Madrid which makes it harder to sell it to the kids.
Saturday's session focused on two concepts; IDEA and STEP. IDEA stands for Introduce, Demonstrate, Execute, Attend and is a process which a coach can follow when breaking down and teaching the skills. Using skills such as the punt kick and hand pass, we followed this process and then looked at ways to integrate them into progressively more challenging drills. A highlight of the skill work was Rodrigo (third from right, back row) from the Valencia club. The man was like a blocking down machine. I've never see anything like it.
The next focus was the STEP approach. It's something you can use when looking at designing game based drills. It looks at four elements; Situation, Task, Equipment and Players. By tweaking these elements in a game based drill you can achieve different things i..e if you have a 5v5 game and then adjust the # of players to say, 5v3, you will have a very different drill.
We followed this by bringing it all together into a seventy minute training session.
It was a different experience for me because normally I'd be used to training teams rather than coaches. There was more two way communication on Saturday and it was very good. One of the big things I learned at the Tutor course was how much we can learn off of each other. Everyone who attended on Saturday thought like a coach and the comments and interactions were very good.
Once we finished up, we headed back into town to the men's training. Currently, they have no coach so I took the session to allow all their players focus on training. With no fixed abode on a Saturday afternoon, the lads climb a fence to train on a University rugby pitch. As we arrived on Saturday, they were being kicked off. After a quick discussion, training was relocated to a bit of land at the end of the grounds which you could only describe as 'wasteland'. No-one seemed bothered. It's the type of thing that would lead to incessant b1tching and moaning at home but in Europe you don't carry such airs and graces.
The sun began to set as we finished the session shortly before six. There were around 18 lads in all and the team looks in good health. I learned that one of the biggest problems in Spain is getting teams to travel outside their home tournament. Wages are low and distances far so rounding up the troops is a challenge.
That evening I joined a few of the club members for dinner in the city centre. I'd be a massive fan of the Spanish vibe but I'll never get how they can eat so late in the evening. It must have been approaching 23h by the time we got stuck in. Something that is very different about Madrid v's our club here in Belgium, is the number of locals who form its backbone. Javi is the Chairman, or President as they say in Spain. Itizar is the Secretary and it seems there is a healthy mix of Irish and Spanish throughout the club. This was reflected by the attendees on Saturday evening.
A good example of the local connection is Nuria and her husband Jesus (pronounced Hey Zues for those of you with similar Spanish skills to me). Nuria is a teacher who has spent many summers in Dingle where she honed her English and football skills. She learned the football bit well but was unfortunate to pick up a Kerry accent when she switches to English. Jesus also plays and parades around training in a Kerry jersey and plays the game in such a way that you wouldn't think he was from anywhere else. They are also looking after the future of the club, with the next generation to arrive in a few months.
All in all, I think the trip was a success and we will look to build on it in the coming months with a follow-up Foundation Course.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Ugandan Shilling Lures Cotter
The door stopped revolving a while ago. Now it seems it is just one way traffic, the wrong way. Darragh Cotter becomes the latest departee when he starts his trek to Uganda on Saturday morning. His leaving is sudden in the sense that he only heard about his new job last Saturday, accepted Sunday and leaves tomorrow.
Last night he had exceptionally well attended going away drinks in The Hairy. Some crowd for a Thursday night. It is an especially big loss as he lays claim to two invaluable characteristics; he's from Cork and he is a dual player - although some may merge those into one, since it seems to be almost given that one comes with the other. Darragh being Darragh, he didn't go quietly. Instead he was the first Belgium G.A.A. man to deliver a 'speech' upon his departure. Embarrassing.
The timing is particularly bad because it is January and lads feel the blow from departures all the more. Just back after Christmas, morale can be low and to lose another buddy worsens the whole situation. Shane was on to me the other night clearly disappointing by the whole thing. He got little sympathy from me though. I used get down about it but you become very cold about comings and goings when you've been here as long as I am and seen so many departures. Its Brussels life, you just plough on.
Back to Darragh though. It wasn't all hunky dory (http://s2.jrnl.ie/media/2011/09/hunky-dorys-390x285.jpg) during his second tenure in Brussels. The man was the ultimate 'drill wrecker'. At the beginning of the year, I watched with great amusement as Eoin became more and more frustrated. They nearly came to blows one night when Darragh repeatedly hopped the ball in a drill when he wasn't supposed to!!
Then Eoin left and he became more a problem for me! My lack of patience isn't much of a secret at this stage and his airy fairyness nearly drove me around the bend. I can't put my finger on why he couldn't just do sh1t properly! The man was one of the most committed lads to training but he was like that child in school who didn't have any badness in him but just couldn't stop flipping talking! It was especially prevalent in group drills but not so much in one on ones. I got caught in a tackle box with him one day and can speak first hand at what a nightmare that could be.
Warm-ups were the other thing. He was brutal at them, always lagging behind, doing something slightly different to everyone else. I'd want to kill him when I'd see him fluffing around. As a countermeasure I thought we could get him to take some warm-ups from now on. He took one towards the end of last year before an in-house game. It went like clockwork which nearly made me more frustrated!
In a perverse way, when someone leaves it delivers a very positive message to the rest. Like those that went before, Darragh was slightly emotional about leaving and the club was one of the central players fuelling that. His few words last night confirmed that.
His Uganda gig is eight months. That brings him up to the start of our Championship. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in a Belgian jersey later in 2012.
Last night he had exceptionally well attended going away drinks in The Hairy. Some crowd for a Thursday night. It is an especially big loss as he lays claim to two invaluable characteristics; he's from Cork and he is a dual player - although some may merge those into one, since it seems to be almost given that one comes with the other. Darragh being Darragh, he didn't go quietly. Instead he was the first Belgium G.A.A. man to deliver a 'speech' upon his departure. Embarrassing.
The timing is particularly bad because it is January and lads feel the blow from departures all the more. Just back after Christmas, morale can be low and to lose another buddy worsens the whole situation. Shane was on to me the other night clearly disappointing by the whole thing. He got little sympathy from me though. I used get down about it but you become very cold about comings and goings when you've been here as long as I am and seen so many departures. Its Brussels life, you just plough on.
Back to Darragh though. It wasn't all hunky dory (http://s2.jrnl.ie/media/2011/09/hunky-dorys-390x285.jpg) during his second tenure in Brussels. The man was the ultimate 'drill wrecker'. At the beginning of the year, I watched with great amusement as Eoin became more and more frustrated. They nearly came to blows one night when Darragh repeatedly hopped the ball in a drill when he wasn't supposed to!!
Then Eoin left and he became more a problem for me! My lack of patience isn't much of a secret at this stage and his airy fairyness nearly drove me around the bend. I can't put my finger on why he couldn't just do sh1t properly! The man was one of the most committed lads to training but he was like that child in school who didn't have any badness in him but just couldn't stop flipping talking! It was especially prevalent in group drills but not so much in one on ones. I got caught in a tackle box with him one day and can speak first hand at what a nightmare that could be.
Warm-ups were the other thing. He was brutal at them, always lagging behind, doing something slightly different to everyone else. I'd want to kill him when I'd see him fluffing around. As a countermeasure I thought we could get him to take some warm-ups from now on. He took one towards the end of last year before an in-house game. It went like clockwork which nearly made me more frustrated!
In a perverse way, when someone leaves it delivers a very positive message to the rest. Like those that went before, Darragh was slightly emotional about leaving and the club was one of the central players fuelling that. His few words last night confirmed that.
His Uganda gig is eight months. That brings him up to the start of our Championship. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in a Belgian jersey later in 2012.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Vanilla Version 1.0
On the Sunday morning after the last football tournament of the season, someone approached Johnny Phelan and told him he'd hate to play for our team. Johnny questioned why he would say that and the reply related to our defensive style of play. Similar comments were relayed at the Guernsey tournament from opposing players.
I take no offence from the comments as I experienced first hand what it is like to play against us when we played some in-house games in the run up to Limerick. It was horrible. The work rate of the lads made it very difficult to find space in the attacking half of the pitch and indeed, it makes for a very dull and frustrating game if you are in opposition.
I would disagree with the suggestion that we are just a defensive team though. We were very focused on attacking in the same numbers with which we defended. I think good evidence in this regard was that we used five backs in Limerick; myself, Crusher, Ross, Keary and Diarmuid Lynch. Crusher was the only one not to score but he was the one who probably attacked the most. Whilst not registering on the score sheet that day, he was much more prominent on it in Guernsey.
Our plan was always to attack en masse but where we fell short was getting the required number of shots off. Bar maybe one occasion in the Pan-Euro series, we had the chances to win every game we played. Each time we created clear cut goal chances. You'll never convert 100% of those chances though so you need to create enough of them to make sure the percentages fall in your favour. We didn’t unfortunately.
There were fellas kicking great points in training games in the lead up to Limerick but we didn't bring that confidence to the tournament. Myself and Conan could be partly to blame for that. We gave most players a fairly specific brief but didn't emphasise the shooting aspect enough. Our focus needs to shift in that direction next year.
IT companies often have what they call a 'vanilla' package of their software products. This is basically an offering of the product in its most basic and bland format - no frills attached. Our style was like that this year but next year we will certainly invest in some new features. We focused on getting a strong work ethic in the team and setting solid foundations in defence. We touched upon attacking play but took the view that we needed to nail the work rate and defensive aspects first. I'd have no regrets about this approach. We learned a lot between mid-August and the end of October but to think we could have done more would be naive.
The reason I bring this subject up a month and a half after the season finished is because I head into the Christmas break confident that our work has had a lasting effect. In our recent in-house games, where all instructions etc were relaxed (!) as possible, lads fell straight back into the groove. Games were competitive despite being 7 a side. The work rate was good and we encouraged lads to shoot more. The result was not always so fantastic on the scoreboard but we will put that down to pressure rather than wayward shooting!!
Last Thursday's game was our final one before we restart training on the last day of January. To a certain extent I always felt this year was more about next year as we were rebuilding after the summer.
For now though, the focus is on Christmas. I head home via Amsterdam tonight and will stay until the 27th. I’ll then head for New York to bring in the New Year with Bolster before returning to Brussels on January 3. Not a blog entry or a spare thought for G.A.A. between now and then!
Merry Christmas!!
I take no offence from the comments as I experienced first hand what it is like to play against us when we played some in-house games in the run up to Limerick. It was horrible. The work rate of the lads made it very difficult to find space in the attacking half of the pitch and indeed, it makes for a very dull and frustrating game if you are in opposition.
I would disagree with the suggestion that we are just a defensive team though. We were very focused on attacking in the same numbers with which we defended. I think good evidence in this regard was that we used five backs in Limerick; myself, Crusher, Ross, Keary and Diarmuid Lynch. Crusher was the only one not to score but he was the one who probably attacked the most. Whilst not registering on the score sheet that day, he was much more prominent on it in Guernsey.
Our plan was always to attack en masse but where we fell short was getting the required number of shots off. Bar maybe one occasion in the Pan-Euro series, we had the chances to win every game we played. Each time we created clear cut goal chances. You'll never convert 100% of those chances though so you need to create enough of them to make sure the percentages fall in your favour. We didn’t unfortunately.
There were fellas kicking great points in training games in the lead up to Limerick but we didn't bring that confidence to the tournament. Myself and Conan could be partly to blame for that. We gave most players a fairly specific brief but didn't emphasise the shooting aspect enough. Our focus needs to shift in that direction next year.
IT companies often have what they call a 'vanilla' package of their software products. This is basically an offering of the product in its most basic and bland format - no frills attached. Our style was like that this year but next year we will certainly invest in some new features. We focused on getting a strong work ethic in the team and setting solid foundations in defence. We touched upon attacking play but took the view that we needed to nail the work rate and defensive aspects first. I'd have no regrets about this approach. We learned a lot between mid-August and the end of October but to think we could have done more would be naive.
The reason I bring this subject up a month and a half after the season finished is because I head into the Christmas break confident that our work has had a lasting effect. In our recent in-house games, where all instructions etc were relaxed (!) as possible, lads fell straight back into the groove. Games were competitive despite being 7 a side. The work rate was good and we encouraged lads to shoot more. The result was not always so fantastic on the scoreboard but we will put that down to pressure rather than wayward shooting!!
Last Thursday's game was our final one before we restart training on the last day of January. To a certain extent I always felt this year was more about next year as we were rebuilding after the summer.
For now though, the focus is on Christmas. I head home via Amsterdam tonight and will stay until the 27th. I’ll then head for New York to bring in the New Year with Bolster before returning to Brussels on January 3. Not a blog entry or a spare thought for G.A.A. between now and then!
Merry Christmas!!
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