It's been a while

It feels like an absolute age since I last posted in sports talk social and it probably has been in all honesty. I used to post here quite a lot about Arsenal football Club, golf and all sorts of different sporting events, but it's easily a few months since I've posted.

Life Lesson

When I received the photo below in the coaching WhatsApp group for the soccer team that I coach my sons for, I thought that it would make a great talking point before training with my U11 team.

The boys in my son's team can lose hope sometines if they fall behind in matches, whether at training or in league matches. Once they go 3-0 or 4-0 down, the heads can go down. Then they struggle with the basics of the game.

I'm sure anyone reading this has heard of Roy Keane. Ye was Manchester United and Ireland's captain for many years. He is one of Man United's best players of all time and Is many people's best Irish player of all time, although some might have Paul McGrath and/or Liam Brady and/or George Best (if we take the whole island) ahead of him.

Anyway Roy plied his trade with United throughout the 90s when they dominated English football and was one of the best in the Premier league for a number of seasons.

The photo below comes from when Roy was still in Ireland and playing his football for Cobh Ramblers. This is the scouting form that went back to Notts Forest before Roy got his trial before getting signed by Brian Clough.

Once you've read the scouting report, have a look at the score that the match finished. Did Cobh Ramblers win? They certainly did not. In fact, it was quite the opposite and they were hammered 4-0.

Did Roy Keane stop trying? Did he accept defeat and lay down? No, he did not. After reading the report, we can see he gave his best. He continued to assert himself and even though his team lost 4-0, Keane did enough to get called up for the trial and he never looked back.

The kids seemed to really enjoy hearing about Keano and his trial, so hopefully they picked up on the message that I was trying to deliver to them this evening.

Always give it your best shot, no matter what and focus on what you can do and try your best regardless of what the score is. There's always a chance of a miracle comeback or maybe a scout is watching and you'll get your big breakthrough.

Luck

There was actually a certain amount of luck involved with Keano getting scouted on that faithful February day, because the Scout Noel McCabe was not actually there to see Roy at all. He was actually there to see left-winger Jamie Cullimore. McCabe would say that Cullimore was

"ordinary, no standout ability, and the one thing I knew was that you had to be better than ordinary to make it in England."

“What struck me about Roy was his ability to go past players. He did it with ease, which was rare then and even rarer now. I spoke to his manager, got a number for the lad and arranged to meet him at the Ashling Hotel in Dublin."

“We had a good conversation and I told him I wanted to get him a trial at Nottingham Forest. He’d never had a trial anywhere and I found that surprising. He gave me the impression that he’d swim to England to become a footballer.”

So there you have it, there was large slice of luck that Roy was found that day. You just never know who might be watching. Keano was simply in the right place at the right time.

Thanks as always for stopping by everyone.

Peace Out