“@Frankclack
"Not even Ferguson can make silk purses out of pigs ears!"

pig ears .. Ahem, why I think it's Wayne?”

“strong rumours jordan spence is on his way back on loan - lets hope so!”

“Tom.
Are you reading what I have said?
Don't try to start an argument if we are in agreement.
90% of footballers are professional because of their natural ability .....agreed.
It's easier to teach kids to be two footed when they are young ........agreed.
No manager would waste time trying to teach a 30 year old to be two footed ......agreed.
I simply stated that mature professional footballers should, at their level, be two footed.
Then they could concentrate on honing their all round skills. And that does not necessarily mean filling their heads with mumbo jumbo like "zonal marking". Keep it simple.
How many times do you see coaches thumbing through pages of notes and waving them under a players nose as he is about to go on the field as a substitute? If the coach was speaking in tongues the player couldn't look more bemused.
The best managers, unless they have a squad of world class international players, use tactics that suit the players, not try to get them to do something that is beyond their capabilities.
As much as he is not my favourite manager, look what Pulis has done with Stoke.
Simple, effective, not pretty, but adequate. And it has brought results.
Not even Ferguson can make silk purses out of pigs ears!”

“Clearest indication yet that we'll start with Tango & Fonts with Wilson on the bench.McAllister reckons he'll make it as well.If he's not fit expect Tanga at left back with Wilson in.

Signings may well need to be integrated if they arrive later this week.

Biggest problem is in midfield if we play a central two.Skuse & Elliott offer good defensive quality and Elliott, goals.Kilkenny however can actually create and pass so how do you fit them all in.

Five Subs instead of seven make initial selection all the more difficult & important.

Nyatanga & Fontaine are the two best all round defenders but Wilson is very promising.If we come up against a monster up front (Parkin Cardiff) then we may need Stewart who improved a lot last season.”

“Ok Frankclack if learning a new skill is so easy why are we all not professional footballers?

I think 90% of football players have a high degree of natural ability and that is what makes them professional footballers.

It is far easier to teach kids things from day one to make things natural to them rather than trying to teach someone something that has become unatural to them. The fact the kids grow up kicking with one foot is the very reason so many British footballers are one footed. I grew up writing with my right hand and thus when I try writing with my right it is very poor. I can coach myself to write right handed or I can get on and do something contructive with my time.

My point is that there is far better things footballers can be doing in their training time than learning a to kick with a new foot. You may find in academies that the managers will try to get youngsters to use a new foot to grow them into a player that is much needed within the club as they are young and they have time to make their left foot feel as natural as their right however you will never find a manager trying to get a 30 year old to start learning how to kick with his left!”

“Tom.
You've been reading too many coaching books. Football is football!
A simple game of skill, fitness, and balance.
You admit that kids should be taught from day one to use both feet, and then say that the the higher the level of play, the less they should be concerned with using the "swinger". Stop and think! If they learnt to kick with both feet, there wouldn't be a swinger. THEN they could concentrate on the finer points of the game between their sessions on Playstation.
But let's be honest, if a player has the natural ability, he doesn't need to be bamboozled with tactics. Most "tactics" are introduced because a team doesn't have the natural ability to be good enough and "tactics" are employed to negate the other (better) teams ability.
What university did Pele, Maradona, and Rooney go to, and who sat down and taught them geometry before they could split a defence with a cross field pass?
And finally, a good kicking on the Downs, was just as painful as one at Wembley! ;-}”

“Frankclack. The downs league is very different to the Championship! It is a lot easier for you to bring your left foot up near to the level of your right as the level you are playing at is very basic and not much work is needed.

These players are playing at a very high level and with a high level of skill. To suggest it would be easy for them to bring one foot up to the level of other is nonsense! Though I do think kids could be taught at a younger age to play with both feet so they grow up naturally playing with both.

If you think that players should spend all their time learning how to kick with another foot rather than improving their fitness, shooting, set-plays, tacking etc etc then that is why your a man merely posting your thoughts on a papers website and Keith Millen is a professional football manager!”

“Well paid professional sportsmen, with nothing to do all day other than hone their skills and better trained and coached than they've ever been, yet we still hear of "right" or "left" footed players!
Even as a ****** amateur in the Downs league sixty years ago, I didn't rest until I'd taught myself to kick proficiently with both feet. Do right handed building labourers need left handed shovels, or brooms, or granny a left handed sewing needle?
Professional footballers who cannot kick confidently with both feet should be ashamed of themselves.”

“Left is best, rightly or wrongly ...”

“Two lefties dont make a right.”