Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Cleats.
How to Coach a Heisman Trophy Winner
As a football coach of forty plus years, and a man that has coached a Heisman Winner, the best way to get him to full potential is let him be himself. There are certain things you simply can and cannot change, when you have a thoroughbred you let them run and All American athletes are much the same.
By Gregory Dolan Dies5 years ago in Cleats
Doing Things Differently
Doing Things Differently I have a tendency, fuck it, a need, to see something and change it, so it fits my terms of easier. I believe some call it ‘looking at the big picture’ and I just like changing the norm. Most every team I’ve ever coached has been undermanned, but we always played with a passion that other teams grappled with. We played differently, especially on offense, where I’d try anything to put points in the board. That is the name if the game, just score more than the other team.
By Gregory Dolan Dies5 years ago in Cleats
A Viking Funeral
A Viking Funeral There’s a fine art in snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and I’ve seen it accomplished as a player, a coach, a fan, and a parent, but please don’t try this at home, it will take a huge piece of your ego and leave you scratching your head like you have lice.
By Gregory Dolan Dies5 years ago in Cleats
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
The question of the last two decades: Who is the best footballer in the world? If being the best is measured by Ballon d'Ors then Messi is the best, but if it is measured by goals then Ronaldo is the best. I guess we can all agree that we may never find an answer to this question.
By Kon Kyprianou5 years ago in Cleats
Stand and Deliver
Firsts: Stand and Deliver Playing sports as a youngster you never realize your parents are living vicariously through you, all you’re doing is playing ball, having fun and hanging with your buddies, but as you begin the matriculation process things start to change. By the time you reach high school your representing your fellow students, parents and friends as well as alumni that support the program financially and as fans.
By Gregory Dolan Dies5 years ago in Cleats
DAVID BECKHAM AND HIS FREE-KICKS
If everyone could forget David Beckham, it will certainly not be the newly elect FC Barcelona president who used the former England captain fame to rise to the pinnacle of FC Barcelona affair in 2003. David Beckham might not have played for Barcelona and however played for the Catalan arch rival, Real Madrid, but his name changed the course of presidential election among Barcelona rank in 2003 and such was the fame and pedigree that the former England winger pose in the game.
By Luke wright 5 years ago in Cleats
In Praise of ‘El Loco’
The stories are legion. Here’s the funny thing, though. Most of them are true! There was the time when Marcelo Bielsa, 65, took over a struggling football club in the UK’s second division and the first question through his mind was: How long does the average fan have to work to be able to pay for a ticket to watch what was then a distinctly ordinary team of under-performers? How many hours does that supporter have to put in on their job to be able to buy that ticket? Using a weird, eccentric, unscientific calculation of metrics, he came up with the answer three.
By Hamish Alexander5 years ago in Cleats
Saying ‘No’ to Racism: Talk is Cheap
Racism in English football is the controversy that just won’t go away, it seems. Even as players throughout the English Premier League take the knee before every kick-off — as they’ve been doing for months now — online abuse keeps being heaped on players-of-color, regardless of how good they are at their chosen calling, no matter how much pride they bring to their adoptive city, or how much joy they bring to followers of their home team.
By Hamish Alexander5 years ago in Cleats
