Might Football Benefit From Some Rugby-Type Specialist Coaches?

THE TWO codes of football differ greatly, Association Football is the most free-flowing and freestyle form of games played with an inflated spheroid; while Rugby Union Football moves through a series of formal or informal set-pieces – rucks, mauls, scrums and lines-out.

 Kelly Brown - back in the Scotland squad this week as a specialist coach - a rare animal in football

Football, therefore, does not apparently have need of the many specialist coaches now seen in professional – and increasingly in amateur – rugby. The average professional rugby team now has: an attack coach, a defence coach, a scrum coach a line-out coach (quite often the same guy for these two), a kicking coach, while there are other specialist skills coaches for specifics, such as former Scotland captain Mike Blair mentoring the Glasgow and Scotland scrum-halves. This week, the coaching team which Head Coach Gregor Townsend oversees with the Scotland squad has been augmented by the arrival of another former national captain, Kelly Brown, who has taken over from Richie Gray (not the lighthouse, another one) as breakdown and contact coach.

Specialist coaching in football appears to be limited to the ubiquitous goalkeeping coach, such as Jim Stewart, (pictured left) and, while I recall, while working with the Paisley Daily Express, seeing Frank McGarvey working with the squad's young strikers on an ad hoc, part-time basis, thereare not that many specialists, other than the men in the big German gloves.

I repeat, football is the most-freestyle form of the various codes, but, take the average game: a team might, unless seriously under the cosh, expect to get at least a couple of corners and a couple of close-range free-kicks per half – say maybe ten set-pieces per game within 30-yards of the opposition goal. That is ten occasions when you set what happens, your guys know what is coming next, the opposition hasn't a clue until the ball is hit.

I would reckon any half-way decent, well-coached team, could succeed in turning at least 40% of these opportunities into goals – and that's four goals per game. I question, do our clubs work enough on set-pieces? Does any club have a coach tasked with converting these opportunities?

Chris Iwelumo -" lift me for corners and I will score"

Back in his early St Mirren days, as a teenaged wannabe, big Chris Iwelumo asked me about line-out lifting, which was only just coming into rugby. He reckoned if the two centre-halves came up, they could lift him for corners and he believed he would score regularly. Mark Yardley was with Saints at the same time, and ok, the Buddies would maybe have had to build-up their big defenders; but, imagine trying to defend against Yards and big Chris if they were being lifted, rugby fashion, to get their heads to corners.

But lifting Mark Yardley would have been a bigger challenge

That would actually have worked for Saints back then, because they had a couple of guys who provided brilliant pin-point crosses. The legality of lifting in football has, however, never been settled. I put the lifting hypothesis to a FIFA referee at the time, and he reckoned it would be deemed “unsportsmanlike” - which would probably be typical of football.

On a wee aside here, Peter Crouch took his Premier League headed goals record to 52 at the weekend, how many more might he have scored if his various clubs could have lifted him?

One of the buttresses of Glasgow Warriors' rise to the front line of European rugby clubs has been the clubs defensive ethos, under Matt Taylor, now Defence Coach for Scotland, and the current Defence Coach, Kenny Murray. Their defence sets are organised on two levels – standard first-up tackling, to halt the ball carrier, then scramble defence off second phase ball. Do football clubs work on this -how do we deal with corners, free-kicks and crosses: first-up defence? Then, how do we deal with the second ball – scramble defence?

Defence Coach is a recognised job in rugby, American Football has a similar designated role for their Defensive Co-ordinator, I don't see such specialists in football.

Jimmy Hogan - practically invente coaching before World War I 

The likes of the great Jimmy Hogan was inventing coaching before World War I, Walter Winterbottom, and men such as Matt Busby, Bill Nicholson and Willie Shankly carried the torch on post World War II, but, I would suggest, in the 22-years since rugby went professional they have made greater strides in professionalising their coaching than football has in over 100 years. And, certainly, their professional players work a damned sight harder than do their footballing cousins – at least in Scotland.

When both Scotland squads are at Oriam this week, maybe Malky Mackay should have a sit down with Gregor Townsend, or take in a Scotland rugby session – it might pay dividends.

HAVING lang syne worked out the Bigot Brothers are twa cheeks o' the same erse, I am rather enjoying Mr Dermot Desmond's current minor issues with nosey and persistent journalists.

Dermot Desmond: he didn't lik it up 'im Captain Mainwaring

The patriarch of the Celtic family, when he does have to mingle with the Fourth Estate, is more used to some fawning stenographer seeking some verbal shite which, like a conscientious mushroom grower, he can process, then chuck over the gullible members of the congregation self-styled as the Greatest Fans in the World. A hard-nosed, straight question about an issue he, Mr Desmond would rather not discuss – that's another thing all together.

So, perhaps badly-advised by the bhoys in the back room, DD reverted to type – first question to the journalist, when he decided to write to him next day: “Are you a Rangers supporter?” Poor souls, even their high heid yins live on fantasy island in a cowed, put-upon state of victimhood, then saying nothing.

But, it is the humble foot soldiers of the GFITW I feel sorry for. There they are, ensconced on the moral high ground, having for five and more years enjoyed he spectacle of the other lot's tax-dodging, only to find, their own elders too have feet of clay when it comes to one of the two certainties of life.

Why, it's even worse than finding-out, in dodging taxes, the Queen's XI were merely following the gracious example of Her Majesty herself. Aye well, it helps keep fitba on the front page in a week when there is very little fitba at the top level.