Neil Taylor

[Kuwabatake Sanjuro]

Would take him back as a player/coach for the u23s.

[TheAuthority]

5 hours ago, Kuwabatake Sanjuro said:

Would take him back as a player/coach for the u23s.

Think he's a bit old mate 

[Zatman]

3 hours ago, TheAuthority said:

Think he's a bit old mate 

Its actually the new thing to have an old senior player doing coaching as well as playing for Under 23s to give them  experience. United have Paul McShane and think Southampton and Brighton have a player near the end of the career. 

[Kuwabatake Sanjuro]

10 hours ago, Zatman said:

Its actually the new thing to have an old senior player doing coaching as well as playing for Under 23s to give them  experience. United have Paul McShane and think Southampton and Brighton have a player near the end of the career. 

Gary Dicker for Brighton, good article here.

https://www.the42.ie/gary-dicker-brighton-5563169-Oct2021/

Quote

AN INTERESTING TREND is taking root at English football academies: the signing of an overage player-coach for the club’s U23 side. 

Former Irish U21 international Gary Dicker has returned to Brighton to take up the role, and a couple of weeks after he was appointed, another Irishman, Paul McShane, assumed a similar job at Manchester United. 

“It’s a perfect situation for me, I’m still young enough to play and train and I’m getting some coaching at the same time at a fantastic club”, Dicker tells The42. “At this stage of my career, it’s looking to the next step.”

The Dubliner made more than 150 appearances for Brighton in the second and third tiers of English football and most recently found a home at Kilmarnock in Scotland, for whom he played almost 200 times. 

Now 35, he has returned south to soak in something new while passing on what he already knows.

He trains and plays regularly with the U23s, while also running set pieces and coaching on the days he doesn’t train. 

“Now I’m on the opposite side of the fence, you can see the amount of work that goes on.

“You’re not just rocking up for training and then leaving. Ive got normal hours now: I’m in until six or seven every night. Whether it’s working on training, clipping videos to watch opposition, doing clips of lads where they can improve or watching training back: there’s so much going on behind the scenes. It’s a massive learning curve and one I’m really enjoying.” 

His presence on the pitch and in the dressing room is about illustrating example. 

“It’s really to set standards and demands on players, and to help them as well. In games and in training, and to show every day matters as a footballer: it’s a chance every day to impress somebody.

“You’ve seen certain scenarios a million times, or certain pictures on a pitch, that you only get from playing the game. A lot of the young boys won’t have played a lot of games, so that’s an area we are trying to improve. 

“That’s where you learn most: playing matches. Training ground you work on a lot of things, but game time is probably the most important thing. You learn from that, and I’ve played nearly 600 games.” 

Dicker spends matchdays in the dressing room, and the generational gap between he and his team-mates was probably most obvious when he told Evan Ferguson he had played against his father, Barry. 

 

[The Fun Factory]

Now trying to get a contract in post colin era at Boro.

[Zatman]

On 15/11/2021 at 11:51, The Fun Factory said:

Now trying to get a contract in post colin era at Boro.

Signed 

[Teale's 'tache]

The GOAT has retired...

Really nice bloke by all accounts, and I'll be forever grateful to each and every member of that promotion team, even the much maligned.

Go well Mr Taylor.

[Robbie09]

Had a drunken conversation with him at The Reading Festival a couple of days after we beat Everton at VP.

I was drunk, he was sober by the way!

Seemed genuinely chuffed to be recognised and happily chatted about Villa whilst queuing for a beer. 

[Dale]

Bloody Pontus Jansen taking a league goal away from him!