Speedo guy-big time fan

I don't even think he was loaded. I also think that was a baby he had in his arms. My colleague Ian was talking with him (Ian talked to about 33,000 of the people we saw today. Ian is going to Scotland tomorrow AM to see 65,000 fans in Scotland with rangers vs. rival Celtic)

Trip to Liverpool (yes where the Beatles were born!)

Today we visited Liverpool to watch Liverpool vs. West Brom. On the Bus trip there of about 2 hours, a fellow coach with us slipped on his Tourist hat and gave us a tremendous presentation about the Club Everton and of the city of Liverpool. The coach is a true Evertonian and really became agitated when talking about the other team in the city: Liverpool. Everton played was so-so for the first 30 minutes and withstood several good chances from West Brom. We were briefed on the songs and rituals to follow but the crowd was really "flat" and not singing much. I made a little mistake.I brought (despite having three choices)this bag to carry all I wanted to have like a hat, gloves, sunglasses, etc.

What is wrong with this back pack? Take note of its color. In contrast, take notice of the Everton colors and Nickname "Blues". Ahhhhhh John, John, John, John. Liverpool is verrrrrrryyyy close to the Everton stadium. You can actually see each at once. Liverpool and Everton never play the same day as the city might burn down. These teams and the fans do not like each other. So when I showed up early well before the match to look and have a beer, a very nice big steward quickly came over to "talk" to me. I convinced him that yes I did like Everton (I could tell him lots of things about the team) and that I did not have a bomb in the bag.

West Brom weakened and Blue scored 3 goals, the third a clinical header by the far post.

Going to Liverpool today

Today we go 2 hours to liverpool to see Everton vs West Brom.

Day three

Today was a class day. Very interesting and eyeopening about Health and Well being. First session by an ex player turned cardiologist (???!!!)He was misdiagnosed in the middle of his soccer career and as a result driven to correcting what happened to him. Now he consults with Premier Managers and CEOS about their hearts and fitness and the connections between their stress, lack of attention to health, and heart attacks. That was Dr Dorian Dugmore. Second session was more psychological from John Sunderland Wright. More connections about the brain and physical connections. He gave a demo using a willing coach to run a Bio feedback test (on the screen.) Incidentally, John looked too much like the Sheldon's roomate in that show on CBS The big bang.

Wayyyy to much. Afternoon was about mental toughness. Dr David Fletcher, a silver medalist in the oliympics, consults athletes about getting more out of their efforts. Really good session.

Day 2- more

We finished the day with a nice dinner hosted by the LMA (League Management Associations). Speaker was Sean Dyche, great manager of Burnley who has lifted his team into the Premier league with a tiny payroll. Very interesting insght

on how he coaches and the minimum he expects from players.

Day 2

Whew! Busy day today!: Visited Darby County training Ground and met and chatted with legend coach Mick Phelan. We watched his training session of a good group of Academy players and then reviewed the session afterwards.

http://www.dcfc.co.uk/team/about-academy/ Then it is off to Pride Park Stadium home field where the Derby club plays. Beautiful place and had a nice lunch after a thorough tour. Next, very interesting presentation by Michael Caulfield about high performance teams. Next, Q&A with Howard Wilkerson and recently Manager of Birmingham Gary Rowett.Really fascinating!

In England again!

Here I am in England again with a planned trip with 17 NSCAA coaches from all over the US. So far I have met coaches from Utah, Indianapolis, Florida, New York City, Rhode Island, and another from Massachusetts. Very nice group-humble, not full of selves, all here to soak up what there is to offer. A highlight of today was meeting/talking with/watching Alan Pardew who ran a session with some College Soccer Players fro us. He sat with us in our classroom and mapped out what he would do with the group, what his expectations were and then he went to it.

A really great session watching him push these players to their limit but doing it with respect and support. Funny guy too. I mean this guy has been on the "Telly" many many times coaching Reading, Newcastle, West Ham, and Crystal Palace until recently. Here is some info on him if you want. Today we are off to Derby the club to watch them train. A real busy one!