A day in the life of Russel Martin.

[morty]

No wonder we're rubbish, they spend all day fannying about and not actually playing football 

 

[Fenway Frank]

I wonder what Ron Saunders would make of all that. A wellness and ready to train questionaire? 

 

[OldRobert]

Thanks Morty, interesting clip.  How times have changed.  We pay them all that money, and still we feed the buggers!  Agree withh FF, I can hear Ron Saunders snorting from here.

 

[morty]

Thanks Morty, interesting clip.  How times have changed.  We pay them all that money, and still we feed the buggers!  Agree withh FF, I can hear Ron Saunders snorting from here.

Yeah it was pretty interesting, I knew that it wasn't just a case of them turning up and kicking a ball about, but I have to admit I never realised just how much goes on with the conditioning and nutrition!

 

[Din]

Was wondering if he was ever gonna actually play any football after a while

Is interesting though. I played football at academy level when I was a teenager (was in the Millwall academy for a few years), and our head coaches always used to say that the step-up from youth level football to professional football really isn't that much, the main differences is the fitness and well-being of adult players, as well as their 'game intelligence' (dunno if that's a made up term but it's the one my coaches used). Same applies with the differences between a league 2 and lower Premier League players. There are undoubtedly centre midfielders in League 2 who are technically better than some centre midfielders in the Premier League, however the Premier League ones are simply significantly faster, strong and fitter, and also have a better understanding of the game. Shows that being good at football isn't even the most important thing about playing football.

I never believed that too much at the time, I just always thought the better footballers will always play at a better level. But I remember a few years ago (one of my final games in academy football) I played on the right wing against Derby academy. On their left wing was some blonde haired kid who no-one had heard of called Will Hughes. I remember being blown away by how good he was even as a teenager. Obviously he was very good technically but I didn't see him as being that much better than me on the ball. Looking back now, looking at what he has become (loads of caps for England under 21's, expected to go on a do big things), I still don't think he was much better technically than I was, however he was just a lot quicker, stronger, fitter and more intelligent than me. 

Edit: Went off on one there My point is it's not surprising they don't work too much on the footballing side of their game. It's more about fitness and sports science.

 

[hogesar]

Great story din!

 

[Canaryboy]

Was wondering if he was ever gonna actually play any football after a while

Is interesting though. I played football at academy level when I was a teenager (was in the Millwall academy for a few years), and our head coaches always used to say that the step-up from youth level football to professional football really isn't that much, the main differences is the fitness and well-being of adult players, as well as their 'game intelligence' (dunno if that's a made up term but it's the one my coaches used). Same applies with the differences between a league 2 and lower Premier League players. There are undoubtedly centre midfielders in League 2 who are technically better than some centre midfielders in the Premier League, however the Premier League ones are simply significantly faster, strong and fitter, and also have a better understanding of the game. Shows that being good at football isn't even the most important thing about playing football.

I never believed that too much at the time, I just always thought the better footballers will always play at a better level. But I remember a few years ago (one of my final games in academy football) I played on the right wing against Derby academy. On their left wing was some blonde haired kid who no-one had heard of called Will Hughes. I remember being blown away by how good he was even as a teenager. Obviously he was very good technically but I didn't see him as being that much better than me on the ball. Looking back now, looking at what he has become (loads of caps for England under 21's, expected to go on a do big things), I still don't think he was much better technically than I was, however he was just a lot quicker, stronger, fitter and more intelligent than me. 

Edit: Went off on one there My point is it's not surprising they don't work too much on the footballing side of their game. It's more about fitness and sports science.

I went to school with a kid who kind of 'made it' as a footballer, for a couple of years, long enough playing at a tinpot team on painter and decorator money to get a wikipedia entry and a period getting to mingle on the fringes of a team with some quality players that people would have heard of, but probably not long enough for you to have heard of him. He'd previously captained the U18's of a massive club (top 6 now). He was actually a complete cart horse and didn't have much finesse or skill at all, just had an adults body from the age of about 11 and was the size of a east end bouncer by the time he was 14 so could steamroll through everybody on the football pitch. Strength, that's what he had. He played centre defender or centre midfield. 

That only got him so far in senior football by the time all the kids who didn't develop enough physically had been weeded out. I suspect he reached a level where just being strong wasn't enough, because he suddenly found that pace is the real trump card. If he'd had both he'd probably have had a long career in the game, because then he'd have just been an elite athlete. Does make me wonder what the difference was between him, a massive carthorse with limited technical ability, and Gary Doherty, a massive carthorse with limited technical ability. Probably a hefty slice of luck, perhaps a little bit to do with attitude (he had a huge ego, probably didn't make the right friends in the game). 

 

[Din]

I went to school with a kid who kind of 'made it' as a footballer, for a couple of years, long enough playing at a tinpot team on painter and decorator money to get a wikipedia entry and a period getting to mingle on the fringes of a team with some quality players that people would have heard of, but probably not long enough for you to have heard of him. He'd previously captained the U18's of a massive club (top 6 now). He was actually a complete cart horse and didn't have much finesse or skill at all, just had an adults body from the age of about 11 and was the size of a east end bouncer by the time he was 14 so could steamroll through everybody on the football pitch. Strength, that's what he had. He played centre defender or centre midfield. 

That only got him so far in senior football by the time all the kids who didn't develop enough physically had been weeded out. I suspect he reached a level where just being strong wasn't enough, because he suddenly found that pace is the real trump card. If he'd had both he'd probably have had a long career in the game, because then he'd have just been an elite athlete. Does make me wonder what the difference was between him, a massive carthorse with limited technical ability, and Gary Doherty, a massive carthorse with limited technical ability. Probably a hefty slice of luck, perhaps a little bit to do with attitude (he had a huge ego, probably didn't make the right friends in the game). 

I have no doubt it comes down to luck and opportunities that you happen to get. As you say if he had a bit of pace as well he could've gone to have a decent career even if it's at a lower league level or something. That said though, maybe it was almost a curse coming through one of the top team’s academies. To make it at the top teams you have to be exceptional even to be given a chance. Once you get to a certain age and you’re in United’s, Chelsea’s, Liverpool’s etc academy you’re competing with 60/70 other people at a similar ability level to you. Whereas at Millwall for example if I had made it to under 18/21 level I would’ve probably been competing with about 20 others maximum. If that lad you were at school with had started a League 1/Championship sides academy, if he was as good as he sounds he would perhaps have been given a couple of first team opportunities and could’ve gone on from there. He probably wasn’t any worse than Gary Doherty to be honest, Doherty however just got the right opportunities.

Since leaving Millwall I’ve played against players who are significantly better than players I played with or against at academy level, they’ve just never been scouted. I have no doubt there are players at non-league or even lower who could easily make it at a much higher level. A massive part of youth football is about opportunities and a lot of luck, definitely.