Brian Kerr blames GAA

[thejuice]

As if the GAA is standing in the way of Irish domination of soccer. It's not up to the GAA to produce soccer players. Whoever is to blame for it, it is the FAI. There seems to be any attitude among FAI folk that their sport is somehow the default setting of the entire human race and as if by magic it all comes together on its own. 

I played soccer as a young lad for Duleek and then later as a teenager for the local club. I really didn't like it, the coaches couldn't tell you anything on how to improve your game bar shouting at you, because as if inside every young lad is a lionel messi trying to get out you just got to keep roaring at him till it happens. Of course there are GAA coaches like that too but they are not the rule.

IT probably didn't help that they were townie scumbags to us and we were lumpen boggers to them.

But certainly In terms of organised sports I played in it was certainly the one I enjoyed the least and probably the worst coached.

[laoislad]

Brian Kerr is another bitter small minded product of the narrow incestuous Irish soccer scene.
It's always someone else's fault with them too.

If anyone knows anything about being bitter and small minded its you.

[Rossfan]

Brian Kerr is another bitter small minded product of the narrow incestuous Irish soccer scene.
It's always someone else's fault with them too.

If anyone knows anything about being bitter and small minded its you.

EFF off back to your internecine bog feuds you.
There must be some lad from a neighbouring club whose grandad hit yours fado fado.

[Upthecut]

I would have to say I am not surprised by his comments. His comments at this event was embarrassing to say the least.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/GAELIC+WORLD%3A+GAA+chiefs+hit+out+at+Republic+boss%3B+EXCLUSIVE.-a0117750620

I was involved as a coach with one of the teams involved as we promoted Gaelic Games during this tournament before both games that Ireland played in. The kids were from Birmingham and they played for about 15 minutes and it was basically just a display. The game he was referring to was a girls game. It was moved from the middle of the pitch and  they ended up playing in the corner of the pitch and if memory serves me right, in their trainers. There was an article in the Mirror about it, i can't seem to find it anywhere, where he gave out about the GAA and Croke not letting them use Croke Park while he had to put up with GAA on a soccer pitch.

To be fair to Kenny Cunningham when he came out for his warm up he broke away from the group and he had has his picture taken with all the kids. 

You have to give credit to the man for his success at underage with Ireland but he is as was said above the 'most bitter man in Ireland'.

[general_lee]

What a f**king moron. The reason for Ireland's mongrel playing style is not because we happen to play GAA, it's because kids are coached from no age to do it! i remember a conversation a few years ago with a director of football of one of the Irish league teams around the time Liam Boyce got a move to Werder Bremen reserves. At the time he said he'd be very surprised if he ever made it because Irish players aren't coached to be technical players. He said he'd be out of his depth, players are developed not to master the technical aspects of football but the physical requirements. Maybe that's why virtually 95% of the players on this island north and South play for who-cares United!

[From the Bunker]

You see the biggest thing that occurred in the GAA in relation to Soccer, Rugby etc was the Ban! Douglas Hyde was kicked out of the GAA in 1938 for attending an international soccer match. Waterford hurler Tom Cheasty received a six month ban in 1963 for attending a dance organised by a soccer club. Liam Brady was expelled from a Christian Brothers school for representing Ireland in an underage football game. Jack Lynch was suspended from the GAA for going to see his brother play in a rugby match. The Gaa took on Presidents and Taoiseachs to keep their game ahead of the rest and with a huge backing from the clergy they could do this.

More seriously some efforts in towns to develop common pitches for both soccer and GAA foundered. I look at my own county and not many of the clubs predate 1981 never mind 1971 in soccer. This created a Legacy for the lack of a legacy of Soccer especially in rural Ireland. Most of the lads who coached me in soccer 30 years ago had not played (but loved the game) and had only played GAA as a comparative game. Many of these ethics and styles from GAA minded coaches where introduced, some carried over and stood in stead, but some were like chalk and cheese.

I remember a Teacher in our school. A pure Gaa head, who was over the School basketball team. He brought what he knew to the table which was Gaelic football based. We never realised he hadn't a clue until a few years later when a experienced coach arrived in the school. He was not shown up as most of the other coaches on other teams were in the same boat.

Anyway what Kerr says has a basis for truth. To change that you have to create a Legacy. GAA can be blamed for the past, but the cannot be blamed for the recent present or future. 

[Syferus]

You see the biggest thing that occurred in the GAA in relation to Soccer, Rugby etc was the Ban! Douglas Hyde was kicked out of the GAA in 1938 for attending an international soccer match. Waterford hurler Tom Cheasty received a six month ban in 1963 for attending a dance organised by a soccer club. Liam Brady was expelled from a Christian Brothers school for representing Ireland in an underage football game. Jack Lynch was suspended from the GAA for going to see his brother play in a rugby match. The Gaa took on Presidents and Taoiseachs to keep their game ahead of the rest and with a huge backing from the clergy they could do this.

More seriously some efforts in towns to develop common pitches for both soccer and GAA foundered. I look at my own county and not many of the clubs predate 1981 never mind 1971 in soccer. This created a Legacy for the lack of a legacy of Soccer especially in rural Ireland. Most of the lads who coached me in soccer 30 years ago had not played (but loved the game) and had only played GAA as a comparative game. Many of these ethics and styles from GAA minded coaches where introduced, some carried over and stood in stead, but some were like chalk and cheese.

I remember a Teacher in our school. A pure Gaa head, who was over the School basketball team. He brought what he knew to the table which was Gaelic football based. We never realised he hadn't a clue until a few years later when a experienced coach arrived in the school. He was not shown up as most of the other coaches on other teams were in the same boat.

Anyway what Kerr says has a basis for truth. To change that you have to create a Legacy. GAA can be blamed for the past, but the cannot be blamed for the recent present or future.

Cúnts.

[general_lee]

I dunno about legacy. Plenty of towns, certainly in the north, are soccer mad. Even Donegal, as rural a county as you can get is mad about ground ball.

[Jinxy]

You would all want to relax.
Brian Kerr isn't anti-GAA by any stretch of the imagination.
He's just pointing out that our young lads would also play other field sports which are quite physical and direct when they're growing up and this affects the Irish soccer mentality, i.e. hoof it up to the big fella and get stuck in.
Rugby isn't popular in Spain, Germany, Brazil etc.
Pretty sure GAA isn't either for that matter.
Don't see what all the fuss is about.

[mylestheslasher]

I don't see what is so offensive to the GAA in that article. Isn't he just explaining where the Irish style of football comes from? Contaminated could be considered a negative word but I don't read it like that. I like Brian Kerr, always found him to be a salt of the earth Irishman and a man who knows his sport well right down to grass roots. The kind of guy you'd find in most GAA clubs. I certainly don't think he is attacking the GAA at all here.

[thewobbler]

I don't see what is so offensive to the GAA in that article. Isn't he just explaining where the Irish style of football comes from? Contaminated could be considered a negative word but I don't read it like that. I like Brian Kerr, always found him to be a salt of the earth Irishman and a man who knows his sport well right down to grass roots. The kind of guy you'd find in most GAA clubs. I certainly don't think he is attacking the GAA at all here.

I'm with you Myles. Some people just want to get upset and offended.

Kerr's basic point would hold some water. Hurling is a game that is all about territory. Until the past decade or so, football was similarly all about territory. Rugby in Ireland has always been a territorial sport rather than a possession sport. It's not possible for young people to be brought up watching these sports played in such a way, and also in being coached to play a territorial game, to not carry over those learnings to soccer should they play it.

You have to remember that until the last 2-3 generations of Irish soccer players, apart from World Cups every 4 years, the only soccer they'd ever have seen that might influence how they play the game was English FA Cup football and the rare English league game, which again was all about territory, and never about touch and possession.

I'd even go so far to suggest that football's transformation into a possession-oriented sport will have some (albeit small) benefits for both soccer and rugby on the island. In all 3 of these sports, players are being coached to retain and protect possessions; which means an emphasis on skill.

But in reality, these benefits should pale in comparison to those brought by the increasingly omnipresent availability of 3G and 4G pitches across the country, plus the wall-to-wall TV coverage of European soccer leagues.

We'll never be able to escape the disadvantage that it rains 285 days a year in Ireland, meaning our grass pitches will always be heavy and mucky. But the next generations will have fewer excuses for giving it a lash.

[NAG1]

Just think as a country how badly off our children would be without the GAA

On the simple scale of providing activity alone it is massive, then take into account the number of health/ social benefits for the children.

I think Brian Kerr has got it backwards, he should wondering how much worse Irish soccer would be without the grounding and training the GAA clubs across the country are giving our children.

[thewobbler]

Just think as a country how badly off our children would be without the GAA

On the simple scale of providing activity alone it is massive, then take into account the number of health/ social benefits for the children.

I think Brian Kerr has got it backwards, he should wondering how much worse Irish soccer would be without the grounding and training the GAA clubs across the country are giving our children.

Woods and trees are growing everywhere on this thread.

1. How on earth does any other nation produce soccer players without the GAA's grounding and training?

2. Do you honestly believe that soccer being a relegated sport in thousands of schools, and completely off the radar in hundreds of them, is beneficial to that game?

[Kickham csc]

The problem is not identifying the true Irish persona and using it to drive an Irish football style.

Brazil has a Brazilian style, likewise so do the Argentinians. Italy has a style that is appreciated by Italians and the French have theirs.

Irish football always seems to be looking for their style, without first recognizing what makes Irish people tick, and funneling that into their game, i.e. passion, work rate, attack minded game. Then develop a system whereby you can make it work.

Regarding soccer coaching quality, my lad plays soccer at a high level (in both the US and currently in England), and what amazes me is the different approach in coaching that he has experienced.

In the US, his coach for the past 3 years was Spanish, and he coached them a 4 3 3 formation , non tackle football, passing/ skill based games.

Basically, the philosophy is that kids shouldn't commit to a tackle if it is 50 -50 because 1 - if he misses the tackle he has handed the opp a numerical advantage, 2 -kids will pick up injuries if they keep flying into tackles.

He has coached them to tackle as a team, by forcing the opp to pass into areas that corner them, force them into kicking long or over the sideline, or into making mistakes. Once the opposition has made the mistake, the expectation is that my son's team need to jump onto the mistake, win the ball and transition into attack.

While in England, the biggest thing that they wanted out of my son is to put himself about and tackle hard, win the ball etc. etc. The coach said that he wasn't interested is the passing side, he wanted the kids to figure out how to win the ball and get out of pressure using their skills. The Spanish coach wanted them to get out of trouble via quick passing.

So, two coaches with differently cultural backgrounds, coaching the game to played in two different styles. Both may be correct and successful in their own right.

In my mind the IFA have failed on identifying the Irish soccer style, and failed to train coaches all over the country to coach that style. Until they do so, GAA and Rugby will influence the mentality of soccer youth players

[From the Bunker]

You can't blame the GAA for the inadequate soccer players produced. Blame the FAI, my young l started junior infants this year the gaa club comes in and makes the effort. They have hurling every Thursday for 4 year old.  The local soccer clubs are nowhere to be seen. They sit and wait for people to come to them. Rugby pretty much the same. They need to make an effort to get kids involved instead of moaning about it. GAA is massive for a reason. It creates a community and brings people together. Maybe Brain who had a fantastic record as youth coach with 2 European titles needs to get into creating a more welcoming FAI.

Is the GAA coach that goes to the school paid? Besides you are in a different jurisdiction as regards the FAI.

You see I'm involved in underage Soccer and Gaelic. So I see both sides. Every now and again I'm asked when I have my Soccer hat on 'Why is there no Soccer being coached in Schools?'. The subtext of this is really why are YOU not coaching in the School? And the answer is simple - I give up my free time after work to coach a few times a week. Feck me if you expect me to give up work time and do coaching in a school for nothing.

I'm not interested in providing players for any National team (or County team if I have my GAA hat on). All  I want to see is young girls and boys partake in games that are good fun and inclusive weather you are the next best thing or you could not kick snow off a rope.