Agree probably the most bizarre 3 months in my supporting Argyle for 55 years....just loved the celebration of the goal on Friday night though,all the subs joining in like it was the goal that got us s promotion or avoided a relegation
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Thoughts on Ian Foster
- Thread starter Lancastergreen
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Its amazing you should mention Thermopylae today. I took my new one to work today and it certainly kept my coffee hot right into the afternoon.
Does this make 300 ?đ
For me what we haven't heard speaks much louder than anything that we have heard, so far - the customary message of encouragement and thanks from the players , to a departing manager ....
For me what we haven't heard speaks much louder than anything that we have heard, so far - the customary message of encouragement and thanks from the players , to a departing manager ....
I keep coming back to something IF said very early on, in an interview I think, about how he saw Jordan Henderson behave on and off the pitch. I am pretty sure he said that Henderson was a good example to young players of what player excellence looked like. I do wonder if IF had a view of how players should deport themselves, one that did not sit well down here?
Thatâs also something I picked up on, he repeatedly described Henderson as âimmaculate in everything he doesâ⌠or words very similar to that.
Perhaps he was trying to impose that level on players at Argyle, and perhaps he doesnât see having fun and being open with fans and maybe having the odd drink and fish n chips as compatible with being âimmaculateâ.
Perhaps he was trying to impose that level on players at Argyle, and perhaps he doesnât see having fun and being open with fans and maybe having the odd drink and fish n chips as compatible with being âimmaculateâ.
I think Foster (given his FA background) tried to treat the players like they were playing for their country at a tournament, you do need to be âimmaculateâ if youâre playing for your country at a tournament, but that isnât sustainable over a longer period. Itâs a bit like when a boxer is is in camp training for a fight, they need to be âimmaculateâ for a month or two, but they arenât going to be able to keep that up all year.
I donât doubt that Foster is a talented coach, but heâs got a lot to learn before he dips his toe back into club football.
Itâs a bit of a strange thing to say, isnât it?
When youâre the new guy, you should be saying something like: âI want everyone, without naming names, to take on a little bit of the determination, energy and commitment of our senior pros. Watch them in training; listen to them on the pitch; and ask them what the success of last season was all about because they know this club better than anyone elseâ.
Make this point to the new guys youâre bringing in with you in front of everyone. Then, once you have the support of the dressing room, start proposing some changes that might, based on some credible evidence base, gradually improve on-field performance without screwing up everyoneâs work-life balance in a season where finishing 18th would generally be regarded as a good result.
This is what the best coaches I played under in amateur football managed to do, even with a constantly changing rag-bag of players arriving in variable states of post-Friday night fitness on a Saturday morning to play on a cut-up council âmaintainedâ quagmire.
