Coop's Blog

Let the bad results roll

2008-01-22T11:34:00.000Z

Played a game this Sunday and we lost 3-1, which might not sound too bad, but, the only thing is that we only play well in spells and have absolute nightmares for the rest of the game.
I tried to get the team to push out and get the opposition off-side but that backfired as only half the players actually pushed out and the other half didn’t.
I am going to take a couple of weeks off from it I think and really push with my new fitness resume to get my self Sharpe and ready for football, otherwise I think I could easily pack it all in, as I can’t see us winning another game at all this season.
The manager will always play the Team secretary and treasurer, who are the two worse players in the team, but this isn’t going to change and that means that every week two better players are stuck on the bench. We are definitely relegated, which I’m hoping will help pull the socks up for a lot of the players who think they are above what the team is actually capable of accomplishing, as at the moment we don’t have a good enough starting 11 for this league at the moment.

Been Busy

2008-01-22T11:32:00.000Z

I haven’t been writing recently as I have been far too busy, in the middle of completing my CISCO CCNA qualification, which is going unbelievably well.

Football:
Results haven’t been going are way recently, losing last Sunday to Duke of York, and scrapping a draw against Potters Wheel. Both of these should have been wins, but what can you do…eh…

Team Training has now completely fallen by the wayside and it’s left to the individual now, which in my case is fine as I do plenty of keep fit etc. but what about the players who do nothing? Will they just get fatter and slower?

Trying to get some sort of training resume sorted to help manage my time better, I’m not a professional athlete, so I’m not going to let it take over my life, just to be a healthy part of it.

Monday:
Run – 3miles
Upper Body Exercise – Arm 4 * 10
Shoulder 3 * 10
Sit up 4 * 20
Press up 3 * 10
Tuesday:
Rest

Wednesday:
Run – 3miles
Lower Body Exercise – Squat 4 * 10
Weighted Squat 3 * 10
Step 3 * 10
Sit up 4 * 20
Press up 3 * 10

Thursday:
Rest

Friday:
Football or Run

Saturday:
Ball Skills

General Exercises - Squat 3 * 10
Arm 3 * 10
Shoulder 2 * 10
Sit up 3 * 20
Press up 2 * 10

Sunday:
Football Match or Training

Round Three – Staffs Cup 1st Round

2007-10-02T06:55:00.000Z

After a second successive knock down, though this time not as excessive, a 3-1 defeat at home to Corner Pin though Seabridge hit the woodwork twice and also had two chances cleared off the line, the outcome of the game could have been completely different. Seabridge just manage to muster 11 players for a tough cup fixture against Yarnfield College.

Lee Wilshaw returns to the Seabridge side after a season out whilst his wife had a baby, also the Seabridge featured two new faces to the side:
Chris Williams – A central defender;
Joe Fletcher – a young fast striker;

Seabridge dominated the game and could not find the back off the net as Seabridge had two shots tipped over the bar by the Yarnfield keeper, final result 2-1 to Yarnfield College, but that could have easily been 4-2 to the Seabridge:

Fletcher – 6 Poor performance again, poor keeping for second goal;

Cooper – 8 Great performance, tackled hard and attacked well, setting up Seabridge goal;
Joseph – 7 Dissapointed to be playing full back after a great performance upfront the previous week;
Chris Williams – 6 First match and lacked sharpness, but looks like he could be a v.good Centre half;
Wilson – 6 was at fault for second goal, though was fairly solid for the rest of the game;

Smith – 6 Battled in midfield but lacked game sharpness;
Orpe – 8 fought well and tried to create passing movement when available;
Wilshaw – 7 played like he hadn’t been away, coming close to scoring;
Riley – 7 Scored and was a constant threat to the opposition full back;

Joe Fletcher – 6 quite first game, not really managing to accomplish much;
Thursfield – 6 Won his fair share of headers but didn’t manage to do anything else.

Orpe gained his second M-O-M award, and Cooper gains his 3rd assist of the campaign.

After three games the Fantasy Football table is as follows:
Joseph11
Orpe9
Riley8
Turner7
Thursfield3

I am currently in 6th place with two points; Thursfield is in 5th place on appearances alone, but Joseph has taken the top spot for the first time ever, and new guy Orpe is close on Joseph’s heels with 9 points after gaining MOM twice.

Round Two – Corner Pin

2007-09-13T13:54:00.000Z

After a knock down in round one of the league Seabridge just about pick them selves up for another tough round against rejuvenated opponents Corner Pin.

Corner Pin has had some previous players return injecting some quality into what was a very poor side last year.

After a poor training session by the Seabridge last Sunday, people (including me) fear that another knock down could be on the cards this Sunday.

If all Seabridge players turn up for Sundays game I predict a tough and closely fought game between the two sides, in which the Seabridge could just edge the game.
My predicted team for Sunday is as follows:

GK – Fletcher – Poor performance Sunday, keeping faith he can redeem himself

RB – Cooper –Unlucky start to first game, keep confidence levels high and perform;
LB – Walker- Came on Sunday and performed well, good pace and heading ability
CB – Ray – Not as Sharpe as previous seasons, though this could be down to morale;
CB – Wilson – Relish big games, think he will be looking forward to tough match;

DM – Smith – Battler in midfield and looking forward to another ball winning season;
AM – Turner – As long as he uses vision on the ball, will be main supplier to forwards;
RM – Joseph – Need battling performance and more attacking play;
LM – Riley – Drifted out of last weeks game, need his to stay focused on job at hand;

FW – Orpe – Fitness and skill on ball will give the CP defense all sorts of problems;
FW – Beaman, P – Technique with ball at feet is brilliant; as long as he stays on the pitch he should score a hatful.

This game we need to keep the ball on the ground and work Corner Pin, there fitness will not be very high and we could have them on there knees by half time if we play the ball around well enough. The wingers need to push there full backs and tire them out to make are job in the last 15 minutes an easy game. If all players do turn up, I could see Beaman and Orpe becoming a good combination in attack, one with vision and the technique, the other strong, fit and able.

Based on full squad score 3 – 1 to Seabridge.
Based on depleted squad, score 1 – 1

First Game...First Loss

2007-09-03T06:53:00.000Z

What a dreadful first match this weekend, poor performance by everyone led to a 5-1 drubbing which was by no way fun or enjoyable.
First half started with Seabridge kicking up the slope and a crossed ball from right to left from the New Inn winger came back post where Cooper was over run by two New Inn players and the all three players bundled the ball into the net with Cooper having to admit the own goal.
Then in quick succession New Inn hit three long balls over the Seabridge defence (Bailey) and the New Inn striker beat Bailey for pace and lobbed the ball over the watching Seabridge keeper, all three carbon copy.
Cooper redeemed him self slightly as he hit a long free kick back post where Turner met the ball with powerful header to get a goal back, a similar situation minutes before halftime led to Turner missing a header back post.
Next half Seabridge hitting down the slope managed to gain some momemtum but a lack luster strike partnership, didn't managed to yield nothing as the midfield were having to put in all the offensive effort.
Then to make matters worse, ten minutes before the final whistle a reckless challenge by Cooper brought down a New Inn player in the box and conceded a penalty, 5-1 to New Inn.
A very poor game by myself and the rest of the Seabridge team. Now we are sitting at the bottom of the league, but on the positive side the only way is up.

Fletcher - 6

Cooper - 5
Bailey - 5
Ray - 6
Wilson - 6

Joseph - 6
Riley - 5
Orpe - 7
Turner - 7

Thursfield - 5
Lockett - 5

Subs:
Walker - 6
Beech - 5
Nixon, D - 6

Man of the Match - Orpe

Fantasy Football update:
Turner 6
Orpe 4
Cooper -3

First Game of the season: Preview

2007-08-30T10:36:00.001Z

Sunday is the first game of the league campaign and the year Seabridge prove they are a team to be reckoned with, though you would be correct in thinking otherwise as the pre-season matches have shown a depleted and exacerbated Seabridge.
After a good 1-1 Draw with Britannia in which the Seabridge were unlucky not to win and fielding a strong squad of 22 players, hopes were high.
A second fixture against Redgate First team, who are far superior to us ended in a 5-0 defeat, but not to be too disheartened.
Then a great 3-1 victory against last season rivals Sealion, revenge was sweet though we did notice far less numbers than previously, the rot soon sets in and a embarrassing 5-0 defeat to Loggerheads with only just scraping 11 players together.
Next was AFC Clayton, and another poor turn out and heavy defeat losing 7-2, and once again only fielding 11 players.
Final fixture against fellow league team London Road Tavern and once again only 11 players and another heavy 5-0 defeat.

Friendly Results as follows:

Britannia 1 - 1 Beaman, P
Redgate 5 – 0
Sealion 1 – 3 Smith, Martin, Cooke
Loggerheads 5 – 0
AFC Clayton 7 – 2 Frasier ×2
London Road Tavern 5 – 0

So as you can see not very good!

Five players have also left the team over the pre-season leaving the Seabridge with a modest squad of roughly 16 players. If all these 16 turn up Sunday we would have a good team, but I can’t see it happening.

Injury list:
Beaman, P – Knee Damage return unknown
Smith – Ankle Sprain Return 1 to 2 Weeks
Nixon, G – Thigh Strain Return 1 to 2 Weeks

So first game against recently relegated New Inn should be an interesting encounter;
Predicted Squad:
Cooke – GK

Cooper – RB
Bailey – LB
Ray – CB
Nathan ? – CB

Turner – CM
Orpe – CM
Riley – LM
Joseph – RM

Frasier – FW
Thursfield – FW

Predicted score: 3-1 win to the Seabridge
Also the start of the fantasy football…

Seabridge Exodus

2007-08-24T11:51:00.000Z

An mass Exodus of 5 players have left the club this pre-season, as management watch on worryingly about the future of the club.
Shaun James left Seabridge for League rivals Smithfield FC;
Ian Rushton, Gavin Sidebotham and Ian Martin all left for an unknown club; though they reassure us that it’s not a team in our league;
Dom Brereton (promising young talent) has left to join fellow local team AFC Clayton of Ansels League, who also snatched previous players Jim Hillman and Roy Preston from us last season.

Luckily we have a few new faces joining for the upcoming season:
Brother’s Carl and Paul Beaman join, Paul previous playing at a high Saturday league standard;
Kev Orpe who is current working under “Her Majesties Service” and seems a very useful and fit player;
Wilson and Beech have joined from Goldenhill WMC, Wilson looks useful but Beech is just a benchwarmer;
Ryan Frasier who also played Saturday league standard has joined and score two goals in his first friendly for the club which looks positive;

With the last friendly this Sunday against London Road Tavern, who the pundits state we really should beat, we need a good win. This should boost morale and give us much needed edge in the first game of the season.

Predicted Lineup for Sundays Game:

Goal Keeper – Cooke
Full Back – Cooper
Full Back – Wilson
Centre Back – Bird
Centre Back – Nathan ?
Side Midfield - Beaman, C
Side Midfield – Riley
Centre Midfield – Orpe
Centre Midfield – Turner
Forward – Beaman, P
Forward – Frasier

Predicted score 4-1 win to the Seabridge…we can only wait and see…

First Friendly of the campaign

2007-08-06T15:59:00.000Z

Venue: Knutton Rec
Kick Off: 11:00am

Britannia FC 1 Seabridge FC 1
Paul Beaman 61”

A good first game, Seabridge had the better of the chances but went a goal down just after half time. Paul Beaman then equalized as his corner kick curled right past the keeper and into the net. Thursfield also missed an almost unbelievable chance as he hit a ball over the bar from 5 yards out. Rushton also hit a one-on-one straight at the keeper, and P. Beaman managed to beat 3 men and hit a shot right into the keepers arms.
Fair result would have been 5 – 2 to the Seabridge.

1st half team
Cooke 6 didn’t have much to do.
Ray 6 Fairly consistent
Bailey 6 Fairly consistent
Cooper 6 Good tackling but lack of concentration meant miss-controlling the ball.
Brereton 6 Good passing and helped with defending duties
Smith 6 Showed good passing at times
Turner 6 Battled well in the middle of the park
Martin 6 Worked hard but lacked technique to make the most of his time on the ball
Rushton 6 Ran constantly up and down the wing.
Orpe 6 Missed a sitter but showed good potential with the ball
Thursfield 5 Hit one over the bar from 3 yards out.

2nd Half Team
Fletcher 7 Shaky start, but kept the team in the game with some brilliant saves
G. Nixon 5 Good passes but speed let him down
Bird 6 Good interceptions and forward runs
Orpe 6 Missed a sitter but showed good potential with the ball
Beech 5 Slow and seemed very off the pace of the game
C. Beaman 5 Disappointing performance
Riley 7 Great runs with the ball, needs to pass a little earlier
Sidebotham 5 didn’t really do anything
Ryan ? 6 Good in the air and challenging for the ball
P. Beaman 7 Great goal and could of had another two, just needs a little improvement with fitness
Kerns 5 some good touches but very far of the pace. Needs to put a lot of effort into training

On the whole we were a lot fitter than them and it showed in the last 10 minutes where we could have had two or three goals.
On a personal note, not a great performance from me, I tackled and headed the ball well but, I kept on taking my eye of the ball which led to me spilling and miss-controlling the ball. Fitness wise I was fine, need to make sure that I concentrate better next game.
Man of the Match was second half keeper Fletcher, as he kept the Seabridge in the game with some top draw saves.
Next fixture is a game a against Redgate Clayton 1st Team, Wednesday 8th, this will be an extremely tough fixture as they are one of the best amateur Saturday league sides, I think it’s best just to try and practice the basics and forget the score line.

Fit as a Butchers Dog

2007-08-03T08:16:00.000Z

I have really put the effort in this pre-season and I can say that I’m really in the best shape of my life. I have lost a lot of the excess weight that was weighting me down and now I have strengthened my legs and feel fast and stronger.
Also hopefully we have a few new faces coming into the team; five players should be gracing the Seabridge books this season, with only losing one player Shawn James, who has left to join league rival team Smithfield FC (Previously Wheatsheaf), which is no real shame as he was quite sh!t any way.
First friendly against Britannia this Sunday…If all the new players turn out for this game I can see a relative easy victory for us. Should be a good indicator to how we will fare this season. I’m really looking forward to this game also, as I want to see how well I can play when fully fit. Hoping that this will be the start off something good for me as a player, i know the season hasn’t started yet but I’m hoping for player of the season award. Also trying to keep a positive outlook with football and trying to encourage more that dishing out discouragement/frustration, and hopefully take the captains armband in a few seasons to come.

Possible Starting team for Sundays clash

Cooke – GK

Ray – CD
Cooper – CD
Brereton – CD

Smith – CM
Turner – CM
Kev ???(Don’t know last name) – CM
Joseph – RM
Rushton – LM

Beaman, P – FW
Thursfield - FW

Worst Defeat Ever!

2007-06-12T12:50:00.000Z

I haven’t been on here for awhile, as work blocked the blog site for months.

Anyway I helped a friend out last night playing for his 5-a-side team at the power league in Stoke. He made out that they were quite good but, to my dismay they were absolutely awful…No…awful doesn’t do justice to how bad they were!
Ryan my mate who asked me was a good player, though constantly argued with the ref about everything which led to his dismissal for the final 10 minutes of the game, all which was a touch embarrassing.
They didn’t have a goal keeper which meant that one of the outfield players had to go in goal (a monkey on a stick could have done a better job). And the two other lads couldn’t even play football, one still in his infancy stage when it come to football and the other looked like he had been struck by lightening and a zombie had more movement in him than this guy.
The final bloke wasn’t that bad just he had never heard of the word pass!!
For this rabble to be anything that resembles a team would need a keeper and three other quality outfield players. Ryan wants me to play next week, but I just don’t think I could put myself through that again.
…Oh yeah…the final score was 22 – 2!!
The opposition were not that good, if I picked 5 of my mates we could have easily beaten them, they were definitely not worth 20 goals different.
Anyway, playing again for a different team at the power league Thursday, so hopefully a change of luck.

Little bit ill

2007-04-23T06:55:00.000Z

I was pretty ill this weekend after drinking a little too much saturday night, sick all saturday night and the walking dead sunday morning.
I have also decided that i'm having a rest from all the drinking, so i'm aiming for 2 weeks off the booze, i shall keep you posted on how i am coping.
Also missed football training, but i'm not too disappointed as hardly anyone turns up anyway, and the past few training sessions have been a joke.
In a way it has been a good thing being ill, as i have had a full weekends rest for my ankle.

Cooke Crumbles

2007-04-16T11:42:00.000Z

Cooke Crumbles

Has Cooke crumbled for the last time??
Fledging goal keeper Cooke managed to single handed lose another game for the Seabridge, making this the 3rd lose on the bounce that he has lost the match for the Seabridge, with a total of 9 points slipping through his fingers, much like the ball on match day.
Three clumsy keeping errors led to Britannia winning 5-2, the fifth goal was a complete shocker as a good tackle by Bailey knocked the ball into Cooke path but instead of picking the ball up or kicking away, Cooke tries to control the ball which rolls underneath his foot and into the goal!!!
After the match the main focus of conversation was who could replace this “fall from grace” keeper, one season ago Cooke was slightly fitter and this showed as he put in many a match winning performance, but this season he has undoubtedly cost the Seabridge any chance of success.
Seabridge performed well Sunday, with Rushton and Riley tearing Britannia to pieces down the flanks but a bullish style of play from Britannia which even saw one of there players dismissed for violent conduct came out the victors.
One game left this season against Rising Sun, in two weeks time. With the team moral and confidence at an all time low this is going to be a tough game to win, though the Seabridge need to finish the season on a high.
Good training sessions this Thursday and Sunday are a must as the Seabridge have to pick up some sort of form and continuity for the remaining fixture.

On a personal level, I have been training hard the past two weeks and this has shown in my performances over the past few games, I am continuing to work hard this next two weeks in hope that I can produce something special over the remaining fixture…who knows…

The only significant change in the Fantasy Football is goal scorer Bird moves into 2nd place, with Turner and Cooper dropping to 3rd & 4th respectively, as Cooper missed Sundays clash due to a stomach bug. MOM Rushton (15 points) is not far behind Smith and Cooper (17 points), but with one game left can Rushton pull something out of the bag to change this?

Kerns 30
Turner 21
Bird 21
Cooper 17
Smith 17

Sealion...Again...

2007-04-11T10:55:00.000Z

We played the Sealion in a week match, and after a terrible (Roma vs Man Utd style) defeat, we were looking for revenge. Things didn’t go to plan when Ray miss timed a clearance and the ball ran straight to there player who curled the ball around Cooke…maybe Cooke should have done better??
We soon equalised when a long free kick by Bird into the Sealion box was met by Turner who headed the ball past the keeper. 1-1
First half finished with the scores even.
Second half the teams were fairly even until Bird and Bailey both hesitated clearing a ball and the Sealion winger nipped in between and crossed the ball which was met by there striker and in the back of the net. 2-1, Sealion.
Seabridge fought on and this paid off when a corner hit in by Smith was met by Bailey who scored his first goal ever for the Seabridge 2-2.
Both teams brought subs on to push for the important 3rd goal, Sealion crossed a ball in to the box which Ray called for the header but Bird jumped and miss headed the ball which went straight to the back post where a Sealion player was waiting for an easy tap in. 3-2.
Seabridge could not find that vital 3rd goal and Sealion once again take the spoils. A draw would have probably been a fair result for this game, but at least the Bridge showed they still had some fight left in them.
Cooper once again had a great game clearing a ball off the line to keep the Bridge in the game late on, Rushton also worked hard as usual, and Bird once again played the “good and the bad”, setting up a great goal but then giving the ball away for Sealion’s winner.
After the points had been taken into account the new positions for the Fantasy Football are:

Kerns 29
Turner 20
Cooper 17
Smith 17
Bird 15

Somehow Smith has managed to get into the top 5, having managing to get an assist in the last two games?!? Even though his performances have been absolutely embarrassing!!
I still keep my grasp on 3rd but only by alphabetical order, Bird has slipped to 5th, though Kerns has an unassailable 9 point lead????? How????
2 games left for me to try and catch Turner for second place…

Sealion!!!

2007-04-09T11:15:00.001Z

Sealion have always caused us problems, and even though they are not even very good they always seem to thrash us…and today was going to be no exception.
Due to injuries and people not turning up (which seems to be a big problem this season), Lynden had to re-jig the side around a lot.
Cooke in goal
Ray, Nixon at the back with Sidebotham and Bailey left and right back.
Smith (cap) and Cooper playing in the middle with Martin left wing and Rushton right wing.
Thursfield and Kern in attack.
Subs were Bird, Riley and Turner.

The Seabridge started the match by far the better team, defending hard and attacking well causing Sealion defence a lot of trouble and forcing them to make mistakes. This was well rewarded when a long throw from Cooper into the Sealion box bobbled around until Rushton got his head to it and bounced past the keeper 1-0 to the Seabridge!!!
Seabridge kept on attacking and it nearly paid off again as a cleared ball from the Sealion defence came towards Cooper on the edge of the goal area and unselfishly he side footed the ball to his left to Martin who was unmarked but he could not convert. Thursfield then headed a ball over the ball from a Smith corner, the Seabridge were looking surprisingly comfortable and in charge of the game.
Nixon then had to leave the pitch due to a injury and was replaced by Bird, the Sealion then had a goal disallowed for offside, and in the last minute of the first half Sealion midfielder had a long range shot which the wind swerved and deceived the keeper and went in, 1-1.
At half time the teams went in even but this could have easily been 3-0 to the Bridge!?!
Seabridge seemed slightly disappointed and disheartened at the goal that Sealion scored and heads were slightly down on returning to the field.
Sealion quickly to the innative to take a shot at the keeper which bounced in front of Cooke and went just wide, Sealion then peppered Cooke with long range shots as the hard ground was causing the ball to bounce which was deceiving the Seabridge goal and defence. This paid off for Sealion as a long range shot bounced over Cooke and into the net 1-2 Sealion.
The Seabridge then attacked and Thursfield missed an open goal in which Sealion counter attacked and another long range shot deceived Cooke and went in 1-3 Sealion…Here we go again…
Seabridge made a substitution bringing on Riley for Bailey and pushing Martin to left back and Riley left midfield. Seabridge were caught offside whilst attacking and the resulting kick went long and bounced before Cooke and in the goal 1-4, (this caused some controversy as Seabridge claimed that an offside kick is indirect and could not be counted as goal if it went in??) The ref quashed the claims and gave the goal.
Seabridge seemed to have a little fight left in them and Kerns skipped two challenges and struck the ball which hit the left hand post and went in. 2-4.
Seabridge mounted a few attacks and then Thursfield pulled of a carbon copy of Kerns goal but unlucky for Thursfield it hit the post and came back out. The game was going back and forth with both teams having chances, a long throw from Cooper deceived the Sealion defence and landed far post at Martins feet who shot wide, Thursfield then had a clear cut chance to bring the Seabridge back into the game as he chipped the keeper but the shot landed wide of the goal.
Sealion corner cleared and the Seabridge pushed out leaving 5 Sealion players offside, but Bird stepped back and left them all onside and as the ball was hit in the Sealion players were falling over them selves to hit the ball in against a helpless Cooke. 2-5 Sealion.
Cooper was subbed for Turner as the midfield needed freshening up due to the constant long balls from the Seabridge defence meant the midfield were being left out from the game.
With minutes to spare Sealion mounted an attack which Cooke saved the shot only to see the loose ball touched in by the Sealion attacker. 2-6
The game finished and Seabridge left feeling totally dejected, a game that the Seabridge could have won hard turned into a goal route for the opposition. Poor keeping and lack of possession on the ball left Sealion an easy victory, we have Sealion this Tuesday and unless something is done to improve are distribution of the ball I can only fear but another outcome the same as this.

Cooke – 4 terrible performance, gave the Seabridge no chance of winning;
Ray – 6 unusually lost his cool and with it his composure, until this was steady as always;
Nixon – 5 early shower picking up an injury in the first 20 minutes of the game;
Bailey – 6 Solid in the air and didn’t really put a foot wrong;
Sidebotham – 6 Solid performance;
Smith – 6 Due to style of play was left out of most the game;
Cooper – 6 Good first half but as like with Smith, the style of play changed and was bypassed most of the second half.
Rushton – 6 Good goal but drifted out a little second half;
Martin – 6 Missed two good chances;
Thursfield – 5 Missed an open goal and two other good chances, anyone else…a hat trick…
Kerns – 6 Good goal and for once seemed to play like he wanted to win.
Subs:
Bird – 6 Gifted them the 5 goal but other from that put in a good performance;
Riley – 5 Came on didn’t do much;
Turner – 6 Came on with 10 minutes to go

Seabridge Fantasy Football

2007-04-05T09:09:00.000Z

Well since I started back at the Seabridge I started a Seabridge Fantasy football, applying the same rules as the Fantasy Football in the national papers to the Seabridge team. Giving points for certain actions on the pitch, i.e. 5 points for a goal, 3 points for an assist etc…
After doing this for the last five games I am reassured to say that I am in 2nd place with 15 points and I would have been first if Kerns had not scored twice last game, anyway here are the top five contenders:

Kerns 21
Cooper 15
Turner 13
Bird 12
Martin 12

Just to point out that Turner has only played one game in which he scored 13 points!?!

This way I can assess who will be my candidate for player of the season, though even if Kerns wins I doubt I’ll nominate him, just because, even though occasionally he scores he has no passion for the team and just doesn’t seems interested when he plays.

Halfway House

2007-04-03T06:59:00.000Z

After a draw against London Rd Tav. and an undeserved loss against Ironmarket last week, Seabridge were looking to improve there fortunes against bottom of the league Halfway House.
Seabridge tried a new 3-4-3 formation, hoping against a weak Halfway House defence could resist a strong Seabridge attack resulting in an emphatic win… well any type of win would be nice…
Cooke in goal as usual;
Cooper, Nixon and Ray in defence after Bird failed to show for the game;
Smith and Sidebotham in the middle of the park with Martin left and Rushton right;
Frasier, Kern and Thursfield in attack;
On the bench were long time absentees Bailey and Riley.

Seabridge won the kick off and decided to kick with the wind first half, unexpectedly Halfway House were first out of the blocks and were unlucky not to go one goal ahead a long shot was palmed on to the goal line by Cooke, who managed to salvage the ball before it passed the line, and saved Seabridge blushes.
Once Seabridge managed to find there rhythm, the game settled down and Seabridge slowly started to dominate the game. A big clearance by Nixon resulted in the goal; the keeper having to push the ball over the cross bar, then a good through ball bouncing high was met by Kern’s head nudging the ball over the keeper, 0-1 to the Bridge.
Shortly after another through ball was met late again by Kern’s who chipped the ball past the flapping keeper, 28 minutes gone and 0-2.
The first half finished with Seabridge in control and looking for more goals in the next half.
As usual, the second half started and with Seabridge against the wind and under the ‘cosh’ from the off. Seabridge midfield was almost non-existent as Halfway house ran the ball straight through to the Bridge defence. Unlucky for Halfway House the Seabridge defence was formidable as they put an end to all of H’Houses attacks.
A long ball by Seabridge was looking to be scooped up by the keeper when Thursfield challenged for the ball and came away the winner, with an open goal Thursfield failed to convert, also a Frasier solo run which resulted in him rounding the keeper but only managing to hit the side netting.
Riley came on for Sidebotham, who had failed to get a footing in the game, Kerns dropped into central midfield and Riley taking to attacking position.
Seabridge conceded a free kick 10 yards outside the goal area due to Kerns foul and the resulting kick was deflected by Riley into his own net…own goal!! 15 minutes to go and H’House looking to get a result from this encounter.
H’House pilled on the pressure which was being soaked up by the flawless Seabridge defence, then disaster as Smith needlessly barged an H’House player over in the goal area resulting in a penalty, which the H’House striker calmly converted.
2-2 with ten minutes remaining!
Seabridge once again had given away a two goal lead and looking shaky as panic was setting in.
A good ball up the left wing by Ray was met by Martin, who ran the ball, skipping past two challenges entering the H’House goal area almost on the touch line, with Frasier and Rushton open and onside, Martin decided to strike the ball at goal at a very tight angle, the ball slid past the keeper and in. 2-3 to the Seabridge.
Seabridge manage to soak up the majority of the pressure and were relieved when the ref blew the final whistle.
The FIRST win of the year but Seabridge left with a bad taste in their mouth, what should have been an easy win turned into a defensive battle with the Seabridge back three saving the teams blushes with some outstanding defending.
Kerns picked up Man of the Match award for two well taken goals but a mention has to go out to the Seabridge defence who were flawless especial Cooper, the defence were powerless to stop the two opposing goals.

Player Ratings
Cooke – 6 fairly quite for most of the game but still seemed shaky when the pressure was on;
Cooper – 8 Great performance preventing most aerial attacks, and swept up all through balls;
Nixon – 7 Good solid, hard performance;
Ray – 7 put in a steady performance, lacked a bit of match practice;
Smith – 5 Gave away a needless penalty, seems to have slumped in form lately;
Rushton – 6 Seemed to be out of the game at times, didn’t get the ball as much as he would have liked;
Sidebotham – 5 A fish out of water in the middle of the park;
Martin – 7 took his goal well, and defended well when required;
Frasier – 7 plenty of running, harassing defender and created chances;
Thursfield – 5 seemed to lack the first touch required to create chances on goal;
Kerns – 6 Two good goals, but sadly lacked enthusiasm and work-shy.

Subs:
Bailey - 6 Steady performance;
Riley – 5 First game back and scored own goal, not the best start;

Stop the Rot

2007-03-20T10:59:00.000Z

London Road Tavern (0) 1 Vs 1 (1) Seabridge FC 18/03/07 League

Gale force winds set the stage for replay match against London Road Tavern (LRT), Seabridge fielding a completely different team to the one fielded last week, changing to a 3-5-2 formation.
Cooke as usual in goal;
Cooper, Kerns and new boy Gav Pearce playing across the back;
Smith (Cap), Rushton and Bird in the Middle of the park with Sidebotham wide right and Martin wide left;
Egginton and Thursfield took the attacking positions.
On the bench were New boys Ryan Frasier, a striker straight from the Staffs county Senior league and Shawn ?? Who has impressed with steady performances at training.
It was also the welcome return of winger Dave Joseph, who has missed most the season due to work commitments.
London Road Tavern started the first half kicking into the wind and also only fielding 10 players.
Seabridge started strong applying plenty of pressure mostly due to the wind and extra man, LRT could not find there way past the halfway line and the ball remained deep in there half. Seabridge scored early, with a solo run through the middle by Sidebotham which resulted in a goal. Ten minutes later Sidebotham nearly did it again as a carbon copy run resulting in a save by the keeper. Perhaps Sidebotham should have done better?
Seabridge failed to produce any other good chances in the half which was disappointing especially due to the possession that Seabridge had.
The teams left the field with the Seabridge one goal better off but this should have been more, with the wind against them and LRT now fielding a full complement of players, this next half was going to be tough.
Frasier made his debut coming on upfront for Thursfield, who sadly once again had failed to make an impression on the game.
Seabridge kicked off and Smith needlessly gave the ball away, and so started the battle against the wind. Seabridge defended excellently as Cooper kept there striker quite and Kerns sweeping up any balls that came through, LRT came close to scoring then the breakthrough for them came as a goal kick by Cooke only just made it past the goal area which was picked up by LRT right winger whom Martin had failed to mark resulting in Cooper making a 20 yard dash to close down the player who chipped the ball over Coopers head to the striker, who then turned Kerns and slotted the ball past Cooke.
Barber then made his second substitution bring on Joseph on for Sidebotham, this started to turn the came around as the Seabridge had a fresh outlet for the defence to give the ball to.
Seabridge now started to attack and peg back LRT slightly, Frasier made a good run off a through ball by Joseph, which was clearly onside leaving Fraser one-on-one with the keeper but the linesman was convinced that he was offside. A long ball from Bird then released Rushton who beat the offside trap and sprinted towards goal with only the keeper to beat, but hit the ball directly at the keeper, minutes later a crossed ball from Egginton landed at Rushton’s feet, just outside the goal area and the resulting shot went well wide of the left post.
Seabridge were now completely in control of the game again and Joseph then tackled LRT left back and created a counter attacking move in which he hit a long range shot which struck the cross bar and went out for a corner.
In the dying minutes of the game Frasier picked up the ball on the left side of the LRT goal area, beat a player and played the ball to Egginton who couldn’t turn in time and hit the ball against the defender which resulted in a corner.
The ref blew the whistle for full time and spoils shared.
Seabridge glad to put an end to the losing streak but slightly disappointed that they didn’t come away with all three points; Seabridge could have easily won this game by 4 or 5 goals, though it was good to see the players jubilant after a game for once.
Cooper getting the Man-Of-the-Match award for a faultless defensive performance, limiting LRT to only a few chances through out the whole game, also a mention for Rushton who worked non-stop for the entire match and help man mark LRT’s main man from the game.

Player Ratings
Cooke – 6 fairly quite game did not have much to do.
Cooper – 8 Great performance preventing most attacks
Kerns – 7 Swept up any loose balls and through balls
Gav – 6 Put in a steady performance, though was quite for periods of the game
Smith – 6 seemed to always be where the ball wasn’t, battled hard as usual.
Bird – 6 Steady performance, one too many touches, needlessly giving the ball away.
Rushton – 7 Hard working performance and unlucky not to get a goal or two
Sidebotham – 6 Came out of obscurity to score a goal and then faded back in.
Martin – 6 Steady performance
Egginton – 6 Seemed to lack his usually sharpness on the ball, unlucky not to get a penalty
Thursfield – 4 was not at the races at all, could not use his height to full affect

Subs:
Frasier - 6 Came on and worked hard, created one or two chances, gave us more depth in attack
Joseph – 7 Battled hard and really put the opposition to the knife
Shawn – 6 Did the simple things well and looked comfortable

Bit of a Shit Weekend

2007-02-27T11:57:00.000Z

Got in a fight Sunday at half time, when one of the lads was giving me a lot of lip! I asked him to shut up, which he came back with more drivel, so…I slapped the nut on him. Not one of my proudest moments, not for the family scrap book.
I got a lot of grief from some of the other members of the team, which wasn’t nice, so I took an early shower and went home. I have emailed the manager and apologies and said I would face and disciplinary action taken by the club, not sure what it will be yet?
Nutting the lad, I also pulled a muscle in my back!?! Unbelievable!! That’s Karma for you.

Today, I got a rejection from the job I went for at the Hospital, as a network technician.
So bit of a downer this weekend / early week.
Not sure if Ryan will ring me today about training with Abbey Hulton, as he said he would, so let’s see…he might surprise me.
Also someone sent me this in an email which I think is hilarious:

No game!!

2007-02-05T15:19:00.000Z

No game this weekend, which was a slight disappointment. The pitch was frozen…a bit of a bad call by the referee, as by 10:45am the pitch was nice and soft.
The team also disappointed me as only 3 players (including myself) wanted to train!?! I just can’t believe that they feel that they do not need to train especially as the team is suffering poor form of late. Felt slightly sorry for the manager as he seemed quite powerless to do anything about it, I really think a bit of “Tough Love” would do the team wonders.

Anyway, on a social level, I met some of Monika’s friends from Uni for the first time, which was nice. We went to the Art of Siam for some lunch, and then for some drinks at the Sheet Anchor @ Baldwin’s Gate. The day was pleasant, especially as we finished the night off with an Indian takeaway from “2 Angels” which is excellent, as all the ingredients are low fat products and they use local farmers produce.

2 in 2...Losses?!?

2007-01-29T16:15:00.000Z

Lost yesterday 3-1
I didn’t play particular badly, but I struggled most of the game with my hamstrings again…Is my football career meant to blighted with so many injuries??
I had an OK first half, making one particularly good run beating three players and sending a good through ball into the forwards.
Second half I was knackered (as the defence had been under constant pressure all first half) and with my “hammy’s” cramping up it made it difficult to get into the game. Overall an OK performance, what I would expect at the very least from me, I should never play worse than yesterday’s performance, that should be the bottom limit.

One thing I did notice is that when we attacked we created a straight forward line of five or so players which made it impossible to create anything.
Example:

Fig.3 is what should be done to create depth in the attack and enable space for passing and movement off and on the ball

Ratings for the game:
Cooke – 7 some great saves once again kept the score down;
Cooper – 6 Good first half, though struggled with injury second;
Bailey – 5 Failed to really get a hold of the game;
Ray – 7 Solid performance, came to life last 10 minutes;
Bird - 7 Solid performance, came to life last 10 minutes;
Martin – 5 Non-existent second half;
Rushton – 6 Work hard through the entire game;
Nixon – 6 Worked hard but needs improvement in distribution;
Smith – 6 Worked hard but needs improvement in distribution;
Egginton – 5 Not in the game at all;
Kerns – 5 Not in the game at all;
Subs Used:
Sidebotham – 5 Came on, got injured, went off;
Thursfield – 4 Did nothing when came on;
Daley – 6 Came on late and scored

Stiff!!!

2007-01-23T10:48:00.000Z

My body is as stiff as a very stiff thing!
My legs ache, even though i spent a good half hour stretching last night. I just can't seem to get the knots out of my hamstrings and groin, think i shall go for a gentil jog tonight then a nice hot bath to soak my legs and hopefully release the tension in my legs.
I did stretch before the game but I think that i shall have to take a little more time next week, and then some stretching after the game as well.
Can't be feeling like this every week, complete murder.

First Match back at the Bridge

2007-01-22T11:04:00.000Z

Well, played my first match in ages for the Seabridge. We lost 3-0, but myself I put in a good performance, I played 60 minutes which was good for me but not for the team. As we were one goal down (whichwas a fluke!) when I went off and then we lost 3-0!?! I had there left winger in my pocket, constantly tackling him and running past him with the ball.
My legs began to get really tired second half and my left hamstring starts to twinge a little, so I was glad I came off. Had one shot blocked which was destined for the back of the net and another pile driver of a shot the keeper some how managed to save. In the first half I put numerous quality crosses into the box, which most of the time were not even met by our players.
Overall, not a bad performance, a little static on goal kicks and movement off the ball, but as the games being to roll on I think I will fall into the rhythm of things. We have got the same team again this next weekend so really we have to be looking to win.
Player Ratings:
Cooke 7 (Some really quality saves which kept the score down second half)
Cooper 8 (Really made a difference with possession of the ball)
Bailey 6 (Showed good heading, though kept giving the ball away)
Ray 7 (Good solid performance)
Bird 6 (Solid tackling, though unnecessary mistakes gave the last two goals)
Nixon 8 (Great first half performance, seem to drift out of the game 2nd half)
Smith 7 (Good all round performance, needs drastically to improve heading)
Riley 6 (Showed great ball winning skills, though kept passing the ball away)
Sidebotham 6 (Good first half, though fullback 2nd half and really struggled)
Martin 6 (Missed two clear cut chance, which could have turned the game)
Thursfield 5 (Should have stayed at home, put one good pass in)
Subs:
Rushton 6 (Came on 2nd Half, didn’t really manage to get into the game)
Kerns 6 (Made a few good through balls, though he did seem not bothered)
Daley 6 (Last 15 minutes, held the ball well and won a few good flick-on’s)

Crap ending to great weekend

2006-12-04T08:05:00.000Z

This weekend I went to visit a good friend of mine who lives in Nottingham. There was about 10 of us in total and we had a great time, plenty of booze and laughs, good atmosphere.
But, on the way back home Sunday morning my car broke down about 20 miles from home. Unbelievable!!
I call the RAC who were completely useless, word off advice: "Never go with RAC", they don't even give a sh!t.
Anyway two and a half hours later i manage to get home, tired, hungover and p!ssed off, as i should have been making my debut for a new football team on the sunday morning which now probably means another team opportunity missed.
Bollocks.

Anyway trying to get more into posting at the moment.

Still Waiting

2006-10-03T13:16:00.000Z

I know I haven’t posted in awhile but, been busy working.
On the domestic side of life I am managing to finish furnishing the house, even though it has taken nearly a year, just a few pictures for the walls to go now.
On the football side of things, I am now a fully fledged Shambler’s FC player, just a shame I haven’t played yet. I have been on the bench now for the past 4 games :(. It’s very frustrating as defensively the club needs to improve and I play defence! I have the speed and tackling ability that the club needs and I’m improving quite well now I’m playing with better quality players. In a bit of a quandary at the moment, do I stick at it and hope that I eventually get a game, or look for another club? Or even see if Shambler’s reserves need any players?
There’s always the opportunity to go back to the Seabridge?!? But I’m keeping that as a last resort option.
(The Seabridge are having a nightmare season, not managing to win at all)
I think I might prompt the manager on Thursday’s training that I play in defence, and also Charlie (Asst. Manager) as I’m pretty good friends with him.
Training wise, I’m getting fitter and my football skills are also improving, I’m actually hoping to move up to 15 sprints tonight, as I have been doing 10 sprints after a 2 mile run at the mo.

Anyway, have to try and have a good training session this Thursday, see if I can impress.

What’s going on?

2006-08-23T10:03:00.000Z

After training on Sunday (which went quite well) the manager asked me to turn up for the match they had on Tuesday. I thought great, “I’m going to be in the squad”, and I was not expecting the first eleven but the squad at least.

I get to the ground and getting changed in the changing room, when the manager came in and told me that I was not picked for the squad and that I wasn’t to get stripped. Well this really pissed me off!! BIG TIME!!

As there were people there who had not been training all preseason, and there was also people there who had never even played for the team before.

Now not to sound cocky or big headed, but I am fitter than most of the team and also a better player than most, so to be dropped in place of some 18stone fat blokes was a real slap in the face.

The manager then came to me and said that I needed to train more before I will get my chance at playing…What…you would rather play some people who HAVE NOT been training all summer than my self who has?

He then topped it all off by asking me to be one of the linesmen for the game.

I politely declined and said that I would go home and see the team at training Thursday, so I shall go training Thursday and see how things go. I might mention about playing for the 2^nd team or even the 3^rd’s, as all I want to do is play football and not be watching every game from the side lines.

Oh well, let’s see how things develop and go from there.

First Training

2006-08-21T09:52:00.000Z

I went to my first proper training session for the Shamblers yesterday, and I’m completely knackered.

I really pushed my self hard, to make a good impression, also scored an amazing goal as i sprinted down the wing to recieve a high ball, brought it down first time knocked the ball through two defenders and ran around them collecting the ball and finished by curling the ball around the keeper into the far corner of the net.

Shambler's have got a game this Tuesday which I think I will be playing some part in, I would really like a good 20 minutes at the end of the game. Run myself into the ground and see what I can do. I also have a feeling that i might be playing right wing!

Also, i was thinking i might start skipping again, to try and improve my foot speed as i wasn't as good tackling as i have been, this is due to lack of practice.

First Game of the Season

2006-08-18T09:31:00.000Z

I went to watch my new team play in the first game of the season against Hartshill Red Lion. Even though I wasn't picked in the team this week I still thought it would be good to go and watch.

We lost 5-1, after being 0-1 up but Hartshill had an inspired second half and came back to thump four goals past us second half.

I definitly think i can get my self in this team, there defence comprises of two old heads and a young lad the same age as myself. They seem good players but i think that if i get myself a little fitter than what i am at the mo' then i could slot into the defence nicely.

I have just got to work on my fitness and my composure with the ball.

Training on sunday so i should get a good idea of what i need to work on and what is required of me.

Another Sunday gone and still no joy

2006-07-24T13:58:00.000Z

Before I digress into too much detail, I can’t believe my luck. This Sunday I was supposed to go up to Shambler’s to train, I was determined to go especially after my bottling out last week. As you can probably tell, I didn’t make it this week either.
On Friday I play 5-a-side football and before I even kicked a ball I slipped and made a real mess of my knee! Sunday morning it was partially “scabbed” over and still raw. This morning it has totally scabbed over, it’s the equivalent of a really bad burn, so I can hardly bend my left leg.
It’s as if the God’s don’t want me to play football, SO, another week gone, I just hope I’m not too late. I might pop down Wednesday, I shall see how my leg is, and see if there are any teams training.
Really this is my entire fault, I need to be more assertive and not such a wimp, I know I’m good at football and so why am I afraid.
I’m as fit as I’ve ever been and getting fitter, my football is also improving so I have just got to be confident.

Oh my God…….

2006-07-17T10:55:00.000Z

I can’t believe what I did yesterday.
I have been trying to get into Shamblers football team for months and when I turn up I choked and backed out.
“I seriously need a word with myself”.
When I got there, the team was already there but no coach. So instead of having that awkward silence and people look………!!!Never mind!!! no excuses, Basically, I sh!t it and I’m extremely annoyed with myself.
More than likely I’m far better than most of the lads there but bottled it. Next Sunday I can’t let it happen again. I might pop down Wednesday as well and have a word with some people down there, see if i can get to know a few people.

Still can't believe it :(

Bag of Nerves

2006-05-09T10:17:00.000Z

I’m going for my trail at Shamblers FC tomorrow, and I’m very nervous. Not going to know anyone there and they have some good players there so I will really have to turn on the style as don’t want to be laughed off the pitch...(not literally, but don’t want them to think I’m rubbish!).
My girlfriend keeps telling me that I am good enough but still I think until that whistle goes to start training I will be sh!ting bricks.
This could be a good turning point for me in my football career.
Anyone who is reading this wish me luck and say a little prayer for me.

New Team

2006-04-25T06:46:00.000Z

I have finally made the decision to leave my current team Seabridge FC, as there constant decline in form and management has left me feeling very dissapointed with not only the football but the state of the club.
So i am at this moment in talk with joining another club for next season, luckily this club aptly named "Shamblers" which in no way describes the quality of football there, are a very well developed club who seem interested in signing me.
Heres a picture of there cup winning squad last year (...also to test uploading photo's...)

Just got to stay injury free and get fit for next season :)

Been a while!!

2006-04-05T07:30:00.000Z

Well,
It has been a month since my last post, but i've been very busy. Going for job interviews and started back football training since my ankle injury. Haven't had much time to play around on the t'internet recently.
Interviews - Really i was just looking to see whats out there and managed to get some interviews for jobs similar to what i do now, but, after these I realised that my passion doesn't lye in this field (engineering) but in Web Design and Programming. So i have been buffing up my skills in this field and have also been looking at additional qualifications i can get to help me down this course. I also have tons...and tons..of literature on these subjects which at the moment i'm trying to get my way through.
Anyway, shall start updating soon, with some pictures as well. Just got to motivated.

Bringing in some colour

2006-03-01T10:47:00.000Z

Note:- Think i'll try and live'n up my blog with a few pictures.

Won in my football match last night 3-2, set two of the three goals up. BRILL!!! quite night tonight, watch'in tv and might visit my parents.
Everything else is good for a change.

Training Disaster

2006-02-25T09:00:00.000Z

Training last Thursday was poor to say the least, a definite sign that the team is beginning falling to pieces and without a “wake-up slap” across the proverbial face the team will probably be gone in a season’s time.
Reasons for this assumption:
1) The manager didn’t even stay to train the team, as he is the nucleus of the team and needs to make sure everything is done properly and when he doesn’t even attend the training you know things are going array.
2) We can’t sign any new players, which mean the team isn’t appealing to players outside the team.
3) Players are not learning the basics no matter how many times you practice them, which is very annoying!!!
I don’t want to leave the team as I like to make things work, but this team is fast becoming a lost cause and with other teams (better teams) interested in signing me next season, big decision’s are going to have to be made.

Open University...Open Life

2006-02-22T16:29:00.000Z

Recently I’ve been musing over the idea of applying for an Open University course and get my BSc so that I can fuc…ehhhmm (composure)…Leave this job that I’m in as I am beginning to hate all aspects of it.
I have many qualifications:
4 A-levels;
1 HNC Computer Programming;
But this is sadly not enough to get employment in an IT based field, so I’m looking at increasing my educational portfolio by hopefully adding a BSc to this resume.
The strain on getting a good job and qualifications are immense as my long time girlfriend is a qualified Doctor (PhD and all that), so for lowly me this means that improvement is a must. (I must point out the pressure is all self inflicted, my girlfriend herself never puts pressure on me and is a ROCK).
I am constantly reading books on web design, where my heart lies and could safely say that I have more knowledge and ability than most web developers/designers out their, but with no qualifications to back it up, it’s worthless.
I DID go to university a few years ago but never finished, actually I only did the first few months. This time in my life was hard and University was just another burden that at 18years of age I couldn’t handle. So I took the easy option and got a job, which happens to be the same place that I work now.
I have worked my way up through the proverbial ranks and now the assistant manager of my department, completely “in-house trained” (which holds no precedence any where else) to do my job and very good at it, though it’s not want I want to do for the rest of my working life, here OR another company.
So in general work wise I’m unhappy plain and simple, something needs to change before my life crashes around me and I’m unhappy for the rest of my life…if only I’d stayed in UNI I would probably not be facing this crisis so early on in life.
Anyway, that’s off my chest and can start to look at ways of rectifying the problem and moving on.

Great performance but still lost

2006-02-20T09:53:00.000Z

I had a brilliant game yesterday, tacking was spectacular and even though my heading was still a little off I made an account of my self…oh yeah…and I scored a goal. Hopefully the first of many, now that I have broken the seal, it was a brilliant 30yard strike that hit the post and went in.
I’m still despondent that my ankle both left and right are still VERY weak and keep giving way.
Today they are both sore and swollen.
If I could play like this for the rest of the season then I’ll be ready for Shamblers FC next season, as the Seabridge are down and out at the moment, which doesn’t seem like it’s going to change, as they have lost 7…yes… 7 consecutive games, which is the Seabridge’s worst run since Barber took over as manager 3 years ago.
Anyway, running tonight and then a good soaking in the bath and massage of the ankles, this should help the recovery period.

Back Training

2006-02-13T14:02:00.000Z

Back to training this afternoon, first time since a week last Sunday. Looking forward to it but slightly reserved as my chest is still a bit tight and I know that I won’t make two laps. So might just go for one lap tonight to ease my self back into the groove, then go for two Tuesday.
Starting to slightly increase the weights I use as well. I’m now going for 8kg each arm, as I have been doing 4kg each arm now for sometime, and even though I don’t want big bulging muscles I still want some definition and strength, especially as my chest naturally big which makes my arms look slightly thin and un-toned.
Good weeks training, and hopefully a good…no…Great performance on Sunday, as I owe the team and myself a great performance.
Here Goes…

Feeling Better

2006-02-10T12:21:00.000Z

Just starting to feel better since having a cold all week. I won't be able to play in then match Sunday, but the rest has done me good. Finally managed to fit some quality sleep time in, not trained at all this week and muscles / bones are feeling reduvinated and ready to go next Monday.
With not feeling to good, i noticed i have dropped a little weight which is great as i needed to lose a few pounds so this is an added bonus.
Will start updating site with photies when i get time to take some.

Changes

2006-02-06T08:51:00.000Z

uuurrggghhh, feel terrible today after playing football yesterday. Left ankle is slightly twisted, strained muscle in my back and my chest feels like it’s withering away.
On the football side of things, certain aspects seem to improve, my tackling was spot on, and timing for headers was still a little off but on the whole a good performance. Still only managed one half as a twisted my left ankle intercepting a ball, and at the moment my body feels like it’s permanently battered, so I didn’t want to push it.
We lost 2-1, to a last minute free kick, very disappointing as we could of easily scored 3 before they got there winner, that’s how it goes, especially when the two forwards (one a talent less cart horse and the other 15, yes, 15 years past his prime) who against a good defence would never score a goal.
Friday night I went out with some friends, who I have not seen for months, let’s just say I spent and drank WAY too much, been feeling the effects even today.
Due to this and the fact that I need to start saving some money, I have decided to STOP drinking for a while, I shall only have a drink on Valentines Day (maybe, might be driving) and my girlfriends Birthday.
Also got to start looking at which courses I’m interested in doing with ‘Open University’, need something to take up my time, as sick of playing on the PS2 in my spare time.
It’s also my anniversary today, so not training tonight will just have to put extra effort in Tuesday instead.
February is a busy month for me, so best make sure I’m feeling my best to make it through.

Panic Stations!!!!!

2006-02-01T10:16:00.000Z

Yesterday after coming back from running, i noticed that my left leg top of shin bone was starting to get a little sensitive. This has got me worried, as this is what kept me out of all the pre-season and first half of season.
I'm not impressed, as for the past 4months it has been fine no pain at all, so no running tonight and i shall see how it feels tomorrow, in relation to going training. I hope it's just a tempary thing, as if this flairs up again, i might seriously consider quiting football all together.
Though if it does flair up BIG TIME again, i'll be straight down to the doctors.

Fingers crossed it will go away

Ambition

2006-01-30T11:34:00.000Z

Now that I’m really getting into all this healthy eating and fitness malarkey, I’m finding it difficult to push my self really hard.
When I go running (usually 2 miles of hilly land, mostly steep inclines and declines), and I get the BURN, it’s really difficult to push my self to keep going. I know the only way I’m really going to improve is if I push through this wall and take the pain as I know that if I get through this the benefits will be great compared to if I keep stopping when it hurts.
Tonight when I go, I’m not going to stop and see how I cope, more than likely it will feel like my lungs are going to burst, but it’s the only way.

Training

2006-01-27T10:32:00.000Z

I have to say that I ruled at training yesterday. Not only did I manage to elegantly knock the ball around the opposing team effortlessly, my passing was spot on too. I was once again struggling a bit with fitness, but this is something that can easily be rectified with a little hard work.
My ball control was brilliant to say the least; I only lost the ball once which came from a bad pass to me. If only I can play like this on Sunday I should really stand out, my vision is also improving as the weeks go by. I was managing to pick out players with accurate passes that most other players in the team definitely would not be able to do OR even attempt.
I truly think that this is my time, I’m surpassing even my own expectations of what I could achieve.
I shall be going running tonight so that I can rest Saturday and be fresh for the game Sunday. Not drinking either this weekend, as I feel it’s time a gave my body a rest for awhile from drinking, especially seeing as I seem to be on a roll training wise. It would be a shame to get lashed this Saturday and turn up half cut for Sunday and put in a poor performance.

Taking Steps into the Unknown

2006-01-27T09:15:00.000Z

Yesterday was quite a poignant moment for the new direction of my life, instead of playing “Pro Evo Soccer” on the comp (which is a never ending game, has no end) I decided to play a game that I could complete (Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows).
This may seem irrelevant to many, but to me this signifies that I have finally got to that certain phase in life where I want to see things begin and end, and not to stay in a phase of limbo where there is no real beginning or end, just a moment in time. Now I am ready to taste the excitement of starting something and going through the motions to feel the sadness and exuberance of finishing something.
Taking my first steps into actually moving forward to a better and more fulfilling life.
(! Shame it’s taken me until 23 to find this out!)

Football: An intelligent Game?

2006-01-24T17:07:00.000Z

One thing that has always bothered me is the fact that football and intelligence don’t seem to go hand in hand.
Most footballers are of low intelligence due to football taking over in early life (school life), prime examples of this, Wayne Rooney, David Beckham, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Ronaldinho and many more. These lads can barely put sentences together without the use of eerrr…fink (“think” to me and you) every other word.
Though when you see them on the football pitch they are masters of the game, being able to read the game perfectly, picking out the right pass at the crucial moment and being able to dribble the ball past 4 players in one go.
This seems to me like skill / ability are not linked to intelligence, my self; I’m a qualified person who has been to University and have a professional job, I regard my intellect as quite high, no Steven Hawkins, but high. I also regard my football ability as high, but will I ever be able to do the things these stars of football achieve.
Could this be due to the fact that when I was studying they were out playing football in the local fields / street etc, and basically “practice makes perfect”.
Does this mean Pro footballers are “Intellectually undeveloped”? Or never practiced the educational aspect of life that I have? (A complete reversal of what I have been writing).
If footballers are “Intellectually undeveloped”, does this mean that due to me being educationally / intellectually more advanced that if I devoted equal amounts of time to football that I would surpass there ability and become a better footballer than the stars now? Or that they have no relevance at all.
“Natural Ability Vs Practice Vs Intelligence”
All of this gains relevance to the predicament that stands before me, do I put all my spare time into developing my football ability (as I’m at high amateur level at this moment) or say that ability is natural and that it makes no difference about how intelligent I am and time invested (practice) as I will never be that good, and invest my time into something else that will benefit me and my lifestyle to greater effect.
I train hard now, and it takes up a lot of spare time, the improvements don’t seem to come in leaps and bounds, but does it for anyone?
It isn’t like bodybuilding, the more weights you lift the bigger muscles develop and stronger the person becomes; It does not require skill, just time, determination and hard work.
Balancing a ball on top of you head, juggling a ball between feet, reading the game and player positioning etc all require skill/ ABILITY, something that if maybe doesn’t come natural, would you ever become good at it?

Time is a precious thing and you don’t get much of it, Think about what is best to spend time on!

Back on the Track

2006-01-23T21:29:00.000Z

Sunday was my first football match this season after being out for over 6 months with knee ligament problems.
Just as my football career looked like it was taking off, ligament damage to BOTH knees have kept me sidelined for the pre-season training and the first half of the season. THEN, just as i recovered from this, disaster a mishap at training, i badly twisted my ankle which in turn sidelined me for a further month.
But an appearance in the local Staffs FA Cup, was the return of the Seabridge FC's star defender. Sadly i could only manage one half of the game as match fitness got the better of me, but a good (not great) performance is something to build on, stalwalt heading and tacking as usual but my positioning and marking was rusty and will need definite working on.
Anyway, early night tonight, stiff as an ironing board, body could do with the rest.
If anyone reads this check out the team website and join the supporters club. It's free and the more people join and visit the more money the clubs make, and believe me clubs need all the money they can get.
http://www.soccerweekend.com/team/index.asp?TeamID=17908

Welcome to my Blog page :)

2006-01-23T14:44:00.000Z

This is mainly for me to rant and moan about things, more of a therapeutic Blog. If you find something on here that interests you then great, as it’s more for my benefit than for others.
Regular posts shall start arising over the next week.