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10 years ago Iceland added football to its national curriculum which seems to be paying dividends. Along time ago , a very long time ago when you came home from school you played football in the street or park. You would also go out after dinner most nights to play football. There is a large grassy flat area just down from where I stay yet in the three years I lived here have never seen local young boys playing football there or anywhere for that matter. We all know why that is. So is it not time for Scotland to follow Iceland lead by adding football to our national curriculum ?

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Guest TPAFKATS

It's time we followed Iceland by investing in loads of indoor facilities like domes. They did this at the same time.

Iceland also jailed their crooked bankers and gave money yo their citizens to pay off their debts instead giving it to the banks to spend.

I like Iceland.

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1 hour ago, Isle Of Bute Saint said:

10 years ago Iceland added football to its national curriculum which seems to be paying dividends. Along time ago , a very long time ago when you came home from school you played football in the street or park. You would also go out after dinner most nights to play football. There is a large grassy flat area just down from where I stay yet in the three years I lived here have never seen local young boys playing football there or anywhere for that matter. We all know why that is. So is it not time for Scotland to follow Iceland lead by adding football to our national curriculum ?

Of course football shouldnt be added to the national curriculum.

 

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Back at the start of this tournament the BBC did a segment on football in Iceland showing how they still have their kids out playing on frozen pitches in all weather conditions at all ages. Eider Gudjohnston explained that it was important that players learned through hardship and playing in all weathers was the best way to teach them. He also revealed what he thought the real reason for the success of the Iceland football team was. Their Football Association ensured that every single child playing grassroots football had access to coaches qualified to at least UEFA B Licence level. He said that when he came through grassroots many players didn't know how to lace their boots. Now they start off by learning good technique from a very early age. Common sense, as providing high coaching standards to all kids playing the game improves the quality of a greater percentage of the player pool from which to recruit from.

Sadly here in Scotland Henry McLeish and Mark Wotte took our game down a system where regardless of what was going on at grassroots level the Scottish game was going to attempt to guess which kids might make it as footballers by looking at them at the age of 8, 9 and 10 years old, and making a prediction on how tall, fast or strong they would be when they turn 18, before giving them access to UEFA level qualified coaches. It's not hard to see where Scottish Football has got it so wrong. We waste vast sums of money in Scotland handing it to professional senior football clubs, some of whom don't even recruit scouts to help with the selection process of these youth players, and to some who recruit players to play in friendlies only to release them all again when they lose one of their friendlies to a local youth club. 

 

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In the mid-nineties we had ten teachers from Iceland over to observe Scottish education practice.

I remember telling the pupils that their class might be visited by teachers from Iceland at some point.

This was met by confused looks from some of the pupils, and one boy asked, "Why do they need teachers in a shop?".

I had my work cut out with that class.

 

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For as long as I can remember, we have looked at other countries who do everything better than us. Since I was a teenager we have bemoaned the fact Scottish kids were running around in shite weather on full size pitches, while Johnny Foreigner was having their kids play non-competitive football for fun. We looked at the Dutch. We looked at the Ajax model. Then we bemoaned the fact that while our kids were lost to the game, clubs in places like Croatia had kids tied up through their clubs from the time they were five years old. Then we looked at Barcelona educating kids and bringing them through their academy. Next thing I remember was our standard of coaching was getting it in the neck, with kids being shouted at by parents who had bulging blood vessels and were failed footballers themselves. Johnny Foreigner parents encouraged their kids and didn't care about winning leagues and playing competitively. Then we admired Johnny Foreigner clubs who had kids teams set up in the formation their top team played in, so by the time the kids matured, they knew what to do. Now we are admiring Iceland.

What next? America? Where many parents are shunning the physical dangers of American football and their kids all play soccer instead? That'll be it - 'America shows Scotland the way, while our kids eat chips and curry sauce, drink White Lightning cider and are fcuking ace at Grand Theft Auto on the PS4'.

Bookmark this. Come back to it in 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40.... years time. It'll still be valid.

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19 hours ago, Isle Of Bute Saint said:

10 years ago Iceland added football to its national curriculum which seems to be paying dividends. Along time ago , a very long time ago when you came home from school you played football in the street or park. You would also go out after dinner most nights to play football. There is a large grassy flat area just down from where I stay yet in the three years I lived here have never seen local young boys playing football there or anywhere for that matter. We all know why that is. So is it not time for Scotland to follow Iceland lead by adding football to our national curriculum ?

Facilities, and a plan. That's two areas where Iceland would leave us standing for starters.

This is also what Goodwin and Brown were saying on a podcast a week or two ago.

We do everything in this country back to front with no plan, it's all reactive.

If we were to commit to a plan and not bow to pressure of short termist views you would obviously see results in the longer term.

We have the wrong folk in charge of the game here, also Club football is bigger than the National game, that's where it all goes Pete Tong.

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34 minutes ago, Seaside Nipper said:

Facilities, and a plan. That's two areas where Iceland would leave us standing for starters.

This is also what Goodwin and Brown were saying on a podcast a week or two ago.

We do everything in this country back to front with no plan, it's all reactive.

If we were to commit to a plan and not bow to pressure of short termist views you would obviously see results in the longer term.

We have the wrong folk in charge of the game here, also Club football is bigger than the National game, that's where it all goes Pete Tong.

We've had plenty of plans - it's just they've all been a load of shite. 

I agree with you on facilities though. Iceland has a population of 329,000, in Glasgow we have a population of just short of 600,000. They have 30 all weather 3g pitches, 7 of which are full sized indoor. According to the CIty of Glasgow website Glasgow has 28 full sized 3g pitches, 1 of which is indoor (Toryglen). We obviously need much more all weather pitches however given our climate I don't think we need them to be indoor - particularly as kids and adults generally prefer to play matches outside. 

Where Iceland does leave us miles behind though is in coaching. Read these articles and it's obvious. In Iceland they demand higher standards from their coaches, even at grassroots level and that is what gets them results. We need to do more to get good quality coaching to our kids even at the youngest level and we would do well to make subjects like sports science and nutrition part of the school curriculum. The more health information we can get to our kids the better for all concerned. 

The other point well made in these articles is about working with what you've got. If you're town has 30-40 potential footballers in one age group you have to take the kids off the street and coach each one to be the best they can possibly be. Here even at the grassroots many clubs don't do that. We've got far too many "coaches" who are keen to poach the better players off other clubs than to do the work themselves. 

http://www.thecoachdiary.com/3-amazing-facts-on-player-development-in-icelandic-football/

 

 

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Guest TPAFKATS
We have the wrong folk in charge of the game here, also Club football is bigger than the National game, that's where it all goes Pete Tong.

Absolutely agree with this.

Many countries including the Dutch have for years realised that it's not how well your clubs do in Europe that promotes your game, its how well you do nationally.

Get players capped, get relative success and you generate more money in transfer fees into your clubs.

Here, for decades there's been a reluctance to do this. Hopefully beginning to see some signs of change now.

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15 minutes ago, tony soprano said:

Absolutely agree with this.

Many countries including the Dutch have for years realised that it's not how well your clubs do in Europe that promotes your game, its how well you do nationally.

Get players capped, get relative success and you generate more money in transfer fees into your clubs.

Here, for decades there's been a reluctance to do this. Hopefully beginning to see some signs of change now.

Where are you seeing these signs of change? In the Premiership where Rangers have signed a 33 year old English midfielder and put him on huge money? At St Mirren where all bar two of the summer signings are 30+ years old? Or at Aberdeen where their only Scottish signing is a 38 year old goalkeeper? Even at Motherwell they've been signing in players from Chester City, Grimsby Town and a lad who spent last season on loan at Blackpool? And at Hamilton Accies they've turned their back on Scottish players and have signed in a Danish no mark and a never heard of French lad who was released from Bulgarian football. 

I can't see anything that would convince me of signs of progress within the domestic league game. Hopefully some new young stars will push through like Tierney at Celtic but talent looks extremely thin on the ground.  

 

Edited by Stuart Dickson
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Guest TPAFKATS

I would've thought capping john mcginn while he is playing in the championship and not waiting until he was at one of the bigot brothers was a sign of progress.

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I would've thought capping john mcginn while he is playing in the championship and not waiting until he was at one of the bigot brothers was a sign of progress.

Or a sign of regression since Strachan himself went on to lambast the lack of achievement amongst our playing pool ignoring the fact that Charlie Adam and Phil Bardsley do both play for a top ten EPL side.

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Guest TPAFKATS
Or a sign of regression since Strachan himself went on to lambast the lack of achievement amongst our playing pool ignoring the fact that Charlie Adam and Phil Bardsley do both play for a top ten EPL side.

You are off your nut

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On 28/06/2016 at 2:46 PM, pozbaird said:

For as long as I can remember, we have looked at other countries who do everything better than us. Since I was a teenager we have bemoaned the fact Scottish kids were running around in shite weather on full size pitches, while Johnny Foreigner was having their kids play non-competitive football for fun. We looked at the Dutch. We looked at the Ajax model. Then we bemoaned the fact that while our kids were lost to the game, clubs in places like Croatia had kids tied up through their clubs from the time they were five years old. Then we looked at Barcelona educating kids and bringing them through their academy. Next thing I remember was our standard of coaching was getting it in the neck, with kids being shouted at by parents who had bulging blood vessels and were failed footballers themselves. Johnny Foreigner parents encouraged their kids and didn't care about winning leagues and playing competitively. Then we admired Johnny Foreigner clubs who had kids teams set up in the formation their top team played in, so by the time the kids matured, they knew what to do. Now we are admiring Iceland.

What next? America? Where many parents are shunning the physical dangers of American football and their kids all play soccer instead? That'll be it - 'America shows Scotland the way, while our kids eat chips and curry sauce, drink White Lightning cider and are fcuking ace at Grand Theft Auto on the PS4'.

Bookmark this. Come back to it in 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40.... years time. It'll still be valid.

TBH I think the common factor throughout all of this is the Scottish attitude.

Our culture is absolutely plagued by chip on the shoulder types who don't like people who get ideas above their station.

Ambition is seen as a bad thing.

If we sort that out we sort out everything else IMO.

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22 hours ago, Stuart Dickson said:

We've had plenty of plans - it's just they've all been a load of shite. 

I agree with you on facilities though. Iceland has a population of 329,000, in Glasgow we have a population of just short of 600,000. They have 30 all weather 3g pitches, 7 of which are full sized indoor. According to the CIty of Glasgow website Glasgow has 28 full sized 3g pitches, 1 of which is indoor (Toryglen). We obviously need much more all weather pitches however given our climate I don't think we need them to be indoor - particularly as kids and adults generally prefer to play matches outside. 

Where Iceland does leave us miles behind though is in coaching. Read these articles and it's obvious. In Iceland they demand higher standards from their coaches, even at grassroots level and that is what gets them results. We need to do more to get good quality coaching to our kids even at the youngest level and we would do well to make subjects like sports science and nutrition part of the school curriculum. The more health information we can get to our kids the better for all concerned. 

The other point well made in these articles is about working with what you've got. If you're town has 30-40 potential footballers in one age group you have to take the kids off the street and coach each one to be the best they can possibly be. Here even at the grassroots many clubs don't do that. We've got far too many "coaches" who are keen to poach the better players off other clubs than to do the work themselves. 

http://www.thecoachdiary.com/3-amazing-facts-on-player-development-in-icelandic-football/

 

 

Yet again you are diving straight in without engaging your brain.

At what age group does the national squad start to struggle internationally?

That will tell you where the problem is.

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