The one player that I pretended to be playing football in the garden as a youngster was the one and only Jack O’Shea. I loved to be him, soloing the ball before blasting it against the fence as if to score a goal. The celebration would then follow and the process would be repeated time Read more about The Iconic Midfielder[…]
Being named as a substitute in any match should be a disappointment to any player, particularly a player that has been going well in training. But, as we all know, only 15 can start and every manager constantly reminds their players of this fact. I know exactly what this disappointment feels like having experienced it Read more about How you should react when you’re not named in the starting 15.[…]
When you sit in a dressing room amongst a team striving to be successful, you should be looking around at a room full of strong characters. Characters that possess a will to win, an unbelievable desire to gain the advantage on their direct opponent, guys who never panic when the pressure comes on, guys that Read more about Geezer epitomised leadership[…]
I once heard someone describing GAA as ‘a bunch of grown men kicking a lump of leather around a field.’ If that’s all there ever was to GAA, then it would have died out or been replaced with a much more glamorous sport years ago. These days, it seems that more and more are stepping Read more about Why you belong with the GAA? Guest Blog by Sinéad Mallon, Co Armagh[…]
Don’t get me wrong, I’m by no means an expert on breaking ball but I have had years of experience of learning to play off a player like Ronan Clarke that many of the same principles apply. Ronan was one of the most exceptional and influential full-forwards of his generation, but unfortunately a player that Read more about Area’s to improve on to master “Breaking Ball”[…]
You often hear a manager say to his defenders, “Don’t give your man an inch and get in his face”. This, to be fair, is an extremely tough task for the defender, especially if the forward they are marking is creative and generates a lot of movement because a forward like this can cause a Read more about Way’s to gain the advantage as a defender[…]
What are you prepared to do to improve your game? Is turning up on a Tuesday and Thursday night for training going to be enough to take your game to the next level? The answer to that question is quite simple – it’s a no. Our game is changing and it’s changing damn fast. Read more about Have you the right ATTITUDE to improve your game?[…]
A forward’s job on any team is simple, isn’t it? Score. Not quite. I wish it was that simple. Were it so, I would probably still be playing. Early in my career, I was taught a valuable lesson by Cathal O’Rourke. He recognised a trend developing in my career and he felt the need to Read more about Forward Thinking[…]