Mark Gillespie

[Paully]

Was just posting that!

[Paully]

Can one of you techs send me the link so it's free so I can send to my mates please!

[Miggys First Goal]

https://archive.is/6GrtC

[Paully]

Just now, Miggys First Goal said:

https://archive.is/6GrtC

 

Cheers mate!

[OCK]

My hero

[Lazarus]

That pic of murphy on the plane

[McDog]

I was just reading this. Very interesting. Liked this part. Sorry if I am quoting too much.
 

“When I signed, my goal was to play for the first team. I was highly rated up until I was 12 or 13, but lads develop at different times and by the time we were moving on to bigger pitches, I hadn’t. I was half-expecting to be released, but getting the news was hard to take. At school, I was the kid who plays for Newcastle. It was my identity and to have that taken away was difficult.”

 

Carlisle it was. “Moving away from home at 16 takes a lot of sacrifice, but it matures you,” Gillespie says. “You’re basically fighting for your life because you’re on your own and it’s sink-or-swim because where do you go from Carlisle? Getting into the team when I did brings responsibility. I was asked to communicate and be a leader from the back and you’re dealing with senior players who have played hundreds of games.

 

“You’ve got a lot to lose at that age and then when you get in the team, you’re like, ‘Oh my god, I’m playing in League One’, and you don’t want to lose that because still it’s a fast slope down. You build credit in the bank; 50 games, 100 games, 200 games, and then all of a sudden you’re not one mistake away from obscurity anymore. You’ve built a career.”

[OCK]

There really needs to be more done (research and practical) to help academy players develop emotionally with the entire process of being attached to a football club and being released. It's bonkers. I don't know how it isn't borderline neglect and abuse.