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Former Player Appreciation Thread

Just watched the "that Peter Crouch film" on Amazon.

As expected, a good glimpse in to the guy's career and struggles generally regarding his appearance / the occasional scoring drought. Only shame was there was a total of about 14 seconds of coverage of his second stint at Spurs, thought it was nailed on to see the Etihad goal to get fourth and the AC Milan goal at the San Siro...

Interesting on his strict Dad pushing him to succeed, not quite on the Son level but still seemed to be a major factor. I do wonder for every success like them there's got to be a brickload of parents pushing their kid to breaking point when they just don't have the talent / drive..
 
spurspinter1 said:
Just watched the "that Peter Crouch film" on Amazon.

As expected, a good glimpse in to the guy's career and struggles generally regarding his appearance / the occasional scoring drought. Only shame was there was a total of about 14 seconds of coverage of his second stint at Spurs, thought it was nailed on to see the Etihad goal to get fourth and the AC Milan goal at the San Siro...

Interesting on his strict Dad pushing him to succeed, not quite on the Son level but still seemed to be a major factor. I do wonder for every success like them there's got to be a brickload of parents pushing their kid to breaking point when they just don't have the talent / drive..
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I nearly walked across a changing room to have an argument with someone last week.

We'd been playing 5-a-side, he was loudly complaining about his kids football coach, who wasn't tactically ruthless enough in matches, and didn't think he was driven enough to make his daughter a better player, so he was taking her for trials all over London during the summer holiday. I'd mostly zoned this out, then he mentioned that she was 10. It's fudging nuts, at that age they are supposed to be enjoying themselves, feel so sorry for her.
 
Baleforce said:
I nearly walked across a changing room to have an argument with someone last week.

We'd been playing 5-a-side, he was loudly complaining about his kids football coach, who wasn't tactically ruthless enough in matches, and didn't think he was driven enough to make his daughter a better player, so he was taking her for trials all over London during the summer holiday. I'd mostly zoned this out, then he mentioned that she was 10. It's fudging nuts, at that age they are supposed to be enjoying themselves, feel so sorry for her.
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That's where it's a tricky one though isn't it?

If the kid ends up playing for England then the Dad being pushy has paid off. Whilst there are late bloomers usually if youngsters don't get in to proper academies then they will be left behind.

It's a hard line to work out of what is projection or possibly delusion compared with trying to get the best out of your child. Most people would be shocked at stories of Son or Crouch anecdotally (the former being close to child abuse at times) but no doubt both players are grateful now.
 
Baleforce said:
I nearly walked across a changing room to have an argument with someone last week.

We'd been playing 5-a-side, he was loudly complaining about his kids football coach, who wasn't tactically ruthless enough in matches, and didn't think he was driven enough to make his daughter a better player, so he was taking her for trials all over London during the summer holiday. I'd mostly zoned this out, then he mentioned that she was 10. It's fudging nuts, at that age they are supposed to be enjoying themselves, feel so sorry for her.
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My lad was at a decent club last season and he's handy but has decided to try somewhere else. I was happy for him to do it as I was on the coaching team there and it was beyond toxic. Coaches picking teams and players to suit themselves or to suit their own sons. All the cliches about toxic coaches were on display.

Anyway, this season he's moving on to probably the top league in the country albeit for one of the weakest teams in it. He's played 3 or 4 friendlies. The pressure on the boys at that level, from parents mainly, is shocking. Then you see the abuse refs get, in friendlies, and you end up scratching your head. There was an incident here last week, in a different sport admittedly, where two officials got stabbed at an underage game. You can see why. This sort of thing is an accident waiting to happen.

If you ever want to see grown men act like 10 year olds, send them to watch or coach 10 year olds.
 
DeanoAustin said:
My lad was at a decent club last season and he's handy but has decided to try somewhere else. I was happy for him to do it as I was on the coaching team there and it was beyond toxic. Coaches picking teams and players to suit themselves or to suit their own sons. All the cliches about toxic coaches were on display.

Anyway, this season he's moving on to probably the top league in the country albeit for one of the weakest teams in it. He's played 3 or 4 friendlies. The pressure on the boys at that level, from parents mainly, is shocking. Then you see the abuse refs get, in friendlies, and you end up scratching your head. There was an incident here last week, in a different sport admittedly, where two officials got stabbed at an underage game. You can see why. This sort of thing is an accident waiting to happen.

If you ever want to see grown men act like 10 year olds, send them to watch or coach 10 year olds.
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Its beyond acceptable for sure, i used to do some coaching at Norwich and when the youth team played the parents of those kids were toxic on many occasions. It got so bad that after being told not to do so and they still carried on the club decided to change the circumstances. We still allowed the parents into the games /sessions but we fenced off the pitch and said if they wanted to attend they could but they would have to watch from a area with a empty playing pitch between them and the actual pitch the boys were playing on.
 
parklane1 said:
Its beyond acceptable for sure, i used to do some coaching at Norwich and when the youth team played the parents of those kids were toxic on many occasions. It got so bad that after being told not to do so and they still carried on the club decided to change the circumstances. We still allowed the parents into the games /sessions but we fenced off the pitch and said if they wanted to attend they could but they would have to watch from a area with a empty playing pitch between them and the actual pitch the boys were playing on.
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Which is a great idea. I just wonder what those kids are hearing when they get home. Saw a great video from Woolwich (I know, sorry) which used quotes from actual kids about what they want to hear from parents. It was a very positive video but then you have to wonder what prompted comments like "I don't like when you shout at me because I've made a mistake", "I don't like it when you shout at me and I don't get to have fun for the rest of the day" or "I don't like it when you get angry in the car about how bad I've done".

Maybe I'm wrong but, for me, young kids at up to around 12 should be out there playing at an appropriate level, always being taught with a ball at their feet, the emphasis should be on touch and technique (I don't believe in much fitness work/running for young kids) and they should bloody enjoy it. Being a kid and playing football every Saturday with your mates is a gift that shouldn't be spoiled by the ambitions of parents.

Here's that Woolwich video - https://www.parentsinsport.co.uk/2019/10/29/a-letter-to-my-parents/.
 
It all makes a lot more sense now. Whilst not overly surprising that his past traumas caught up to him, obviously none of us knew the extent of what happened.

Hope he has a blinder this season. Any room in Ange's midfield for him?
 
I'm literally crying, because I've been or rather is in the same situation, going through therapy, and finally being able to connect the dots. I know what he's going through, and it's incredible that he talks so openly about it.
And it's true, it helps to talk about it, but at the same time, it's the most difficult thing to do. I know that myself, having hid things for a long time.

We've kind of known for a long time that there had to be some underlying issues with Dele, and now we know for sure. I wish Dele all the best, and hope he smashes it for Everton this season, and comes back here, where he belongs, next year!
 
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And there we go, I said before there was something in his life that was holding his life hostage. I didn't know it was something as traumatic as this it was only said to be a personal issue from family but it goes to show no one knows anything and maybe fans need to think twice before online judgements to the size that's been levelled at Alli.

I hope Alli get the help he needs, I hope the press know give him the space and I hope he gets his career back on track and shoves it down the nay sayers throat.
 
Feel so sorry for the lad. It sickened me to see people piling in on him as if was just an overpaid primadonna who didn't appreciate what he had and wasted it.

There was a scene in AoN where he'd hit someone's car and I remember looking at him thinking "he's just a kid and Tottenham is probably the closest thing he has to family the way he's talking".

I hope he gets the help he needs and comes through this. I also hope that a lot of football fans realise that there are real people taking the pitch every week - not just footballers who are wheeled out once a week for our entertainment.
 
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