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Special Olympic Experience Spurs Grech To Push For Higher Targets

Paul Grech Friday, December 19, 2014 , , , ,
There are innumerable great athletes who owe much to the Olympics, not only since their legend was forged there but also because it was whilst watching the games as children that they were inspired to pick up a sport.

The Olympics also inspired Andrew Grech although his story is quite unique.  For one thing, he was an adult when inspiration struck.  For another, it wasn’t the summer Olympics that inspired him.
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[Featured Article] Times of Malta: Paralympic Experience Spurs Grech to Push for Higher Targets


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What Goes Into Developing a Coaching Philosophy

Paul Grech Tuesday, December 16, 2014 , , , , ,
If you were to list the brightest managers currently working in English football off whom a young coach could learn, you'd assume that Roberto Martinez and Brendan Rodgers would be among the first names to be jotted down.

Having spent four years at Wigan, Tim Lees was fortunate enough to learn from the former whilst he is now ideally placed to see how the latter works after moving to the Liverpool Academy this summer.

Inevitably, all of this has helped shaped the beliefs of one of the most highly rated young coaches in England.  No coach, however, can succeed by simply copying others and so it is with Lees who developed his own ideas, his own philosophy.

It is about that process of developing a philosophy that he talks about in his recently publishes book, aptly titled 'Developing an Elite Coaching Philosophy in Possession',  and it is about how that has fitted into his development as a coach that he talks in this interview.

The full interview can be read on Blueprint for Football.
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[Book Review] Love is a Mixtape by Rob Sheffield

Paul Grech Monday, December 8, 2014 , , ,
This book is about music, but it is also about much more than that.  It tells a sad story, but also one that you'll enjoy.  It is a beautiful book that can elicit emotions that only good writing - and good music - can.

The story is told through a series of mixtapes that the author either made himself or someone prepared for me.  Each one of the mixtapes reminds the author of different moments in his life and through them he can talk of his experiences and emotions.

Through them we get to see him meeting, falling in love with, marrying and, sadly, mourning the death of his wife Renee.  The latter is, inevitably, the hardest part to read - it is truly hearthbreaking - but eventually music helps him find a way out and leave th reader with a geniune feeling of satisfaction at the end.  And the overwhelming desire to offer thanks to the author for sharing such an intimate story.

The element of nostalgia, not because he talks of the now defunct medium of tapes, but also as most of the bands mentioned are ones that I grew up listening to helps make it all the more special.

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The Future of Football Lies in Universality

When one starts to foster an interest in coaching, one of the most obvious things to do is to look at what books there are on the subject.  At that point they’ll discover hundreds of books that focus on every aspect of football coaching.  Most of those books, however, tend to focus on current trends; trying to explain the prevailing tactics of the moment making them accessible for other coaches.

That however, was never going to be the case with Matt Whitehouse.  The author of The Way Forward – a book that offers a vision of how football could and should be improved in England – has built a reputation as an outspoken coach who is not afraid to make predictions, regardless of how controversial these might seem.

That’s because he feels confident in his ability to analyse what’s going on and use that analysis – plus his own tactical experience - to gauge what the possible outcomes could be.

That is precisely what he has done with his latest book, Universality - The Blueprint for Soccer's New Era.  After looking at the way football has developed over the past three decades, he has charted where the game is likely to go next; which is where his concept of universality comes in.

The full interview can be read on Blueprint for Football.
 
Copyright 2010 Paul Grech: Writer