I'm sure we had a team of little 'uns in the early seventies, may need some help here, but we had Keith peacock, Richie Bowman, Peter Hunt...errrm Peter Reeves...the left back with the shock of curly black hair whose name I can't remember sitting here...I just remember that we were mainly shortarses with the odd exception such as Colin Powell being one of the taller ones!
I posted something related on another thread recently about my own experience (think I was about Bexley Dan's now legendary Semedo claim but I can't be bothered to look now).
In effect what I said was that the players that I played alongside as a kid who went on to make a living out of the game were the bigger, more atheltic lads and NOT those that were clearly more technically gifted. I am well aware that it is a physical game and a certain atheltic ability is obviously needed as well but we seem to have had things out of balance for too long IMO.
i feel it's more quality of the player i.e. the better you are the less likely you'll be kicked out because of your size. let's be honest nobody would even consider getting rid of messi etc because they're small. and Barcelona's game doesn't rely on height, i think it's more academy's in general in england want bigger players because it's more physical here, where as barcelona know that size does not matter for the way they play the game.
Actually I believe there was a fair bit of consideration given to Messi being released because of his size, but an international youth tournament convinced Barca to keep him on.
Closer to home I've read a number of footballers bios and size has seemed to feature in a few players struggling to make it initially: Roy Keane, Peter Beardsley and George Best. You wonder how many might have jacked it in or lost confidence at that point.
messi was given growth hormones by barca and they stuck with him fair to say they made the choice.
I'm sure we had a team of little 'uns in the early seventies, may need some help here, but we had Keith peacock, Richie Bowman, Peter Hunt...errrm Peter Reeves...the left back with the shock of curly black hair whose name I can't remember sitting here...I just remember that we were mainly shortarses with the odd exception such as Colin Powell being one of the taller ones!
"People have seen the way that the likes of Barcelona have played this year and they're asking: 'Why can't our kids play that way?'," said the former Middlesbrough manager.
"We want them to play that way. We feel that what we are proposing will give them the environment to develop those skills.
"We have down the years produced some technically gifted players but we want to increase that pool of talent so that if our best one or two players get injured, there is a bigger talent pool to come in."
Research shows that children who are slower to mature physically are being forced out of the game before they reach their potential.
Factors such as the pitches they play on being too big means smaller more gifted players tend to lose out in favour of more athletic players.
Southgate stated: "It benefits the physically stronger players but there's a real danger that we lose the smaller, more technically gifted ones.
"There is a high drop-out of players in that nature."
I think there a definitely different things Barcelona look at opposed to other clubs - not just English ones. Where as players that can dribble past opponents at will normally stand out, Barcelona seeks out the kid who looks up. A subtle thing, but it shows the potential to play their way.
One of my mates used to play for our academy. Danny Phillips. He got player of the tournament at a youth tournament with Barcelona, a dutch team and someone else and was then released at the end of the season for being too small in height
i went to school with danny and he was quality! best left foot i've seen in a long time....a joke if that was the reason
Secondary school?
bbcs
Me too? Same year as Phillips? I used to travel to and from school with him but i was in the opposite side of the year
Danny Phillips had three years as a pro if I remember rightly and was let go when he was 19. He also played about 20 times for the reserves when we were a prem club. Don't know why he was released but as I remember he was around for a while. Where is he playing now?
I dont think he signed pro. He was let go as a second year scholar i think. I know he played a few games for the reserves. He plays for Cray Wanderers now. I think after he got released he lost a bit of motivation and heart for it. He had atrial at Bournemouth who wanted to sign him but couldnt as they didnt have the money at the time. He played for a few conference teams. A scottish team wanted him to travel up for a trial but nothing materialised. He is down at Cray now though, along with a couple of other ex Charlton youths
Comments
I posted something related on another thread recently about my own experience (think I was about Bexley Dan's now legendary Semedo claim but I can't be bothered to look now).
In effect what I said was that the players that I played alongside as a kid who went on to make a living out of the game were the bigger, more atheltic lads and NOT those that were clearly more technically gifted. I am well aware that it is a physical game and a certain atheltic ability is obviously needed as well but we seem to have had things out of balance for too long IMO.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13634800.stm
"People have seen the way that the likes of Barcelona have played
this year and they're asking: 'Why can't our kids play that way?'," said
the former Middlesbrough manager.
"We want them to play that way. We feel that what we are proposing will give them the environment to develop those skills.
"We have down the years produced some technically gifted
players but we want to increase that pool of talent so that if our best
one or two players get injured, there is a bigger talent pool to come
in."
Research shows that children who are slower to mature
physically are being forced out of the game before they reach their
potential.
Factors such as the pitches they play on being too big means
smaller more gifted players tend to lose out in favour of more athletic
players.
Southgate stated: "It benefits the physically stronger
players but there's a real danger that we lose the smaller, more
technically gifted ones.
"There is a high drop-out of players in that nature."
Just goes to show that even the FA read CL!
I dont think he signed pro. He was let go as a second year scholar i think. I know he played a few games for the reserves. He plays for Cray Wanderers now. I think after he got released he lost a bit of motivation and heart for it. He had atrial at Bournemouth who wanted to sign him but couldnt as they didnt have the money at the time. He played for a few conference teams. A scottish team wanted him to travel up for a trial but nothing materialised. He is down at Cray now though, along with a couple of other ex Charlton youths
http://www.clubnewsletter.co.uk/2011/feb/faproposals.html
http://www.clubwebsite.co.uk/news/2011/01/28/fa-review-25-recommendations/