Fraser Forster had a daily routine which verged on OCD. He rose at 6:00, ate his first meal of the day, drove to Lennoxtown (while eating six pancakes, as it happens), then worked-out in the gym. He stopped for ‘breakfast’ with the rest of the team, his third intake of the day, before training started at 10:00.
After training the players take lunch, then head home. Fraser stayed, back to the gym, or some specialist work with goalkeeper coach Stevie Woods, before heading home at 16:30. He was first to arrive and last to leave, every day.
This was his routine, broken only something as rare as a dentist visit. Every biological and fitness measurement was documented with improvements targeted.
Years ago, he decided he was going to this year’s World Cup. The personal relationship, which took visits to London to maintain, was put on hold. The visits interrupted the work schedule for two days, which he couldn’t afford.
There is a reasonable chance that he put more work into his game than any player in Celtic history, the contrast with some would anger you. The results were remarkable. Fraser transformed from a rough stone into the only man in the England World Cup squad not to play in their feted league.
Much of this was as a result of the meeting of minds he had with Stevie Woods. Stevie completely changed Fraser’s game, set career targets with him and planned how to reach them. I could make a good case that Woods is one of the leading goalkeeping coaches in Europe. He created one of the greatest keepers in Britain and will do so again.
On a personal level, he is everything you would want a Celtic player to be, had time for kids, time for fans. He graduates from Celtic as a credit to our club. We want more like this.
While I’ll have genuine regret if he goes, the axiom of the ages remains true, we manage our assets, or we fail to manage our assets. If we have £10m to add to or deny the budget, it should not be tied up in a goalkeeper.
So good for Celtic, but it’s left me with a problem. I’ve a nine-year-old who eats, sleeps, talks and, most of all, dreams, Fraser Forster. Hero worship has never been so intense, so I’ll delay wishing the big guy well, just in case….
Just so you know, Maribor would put us out if we played them this week. Don’t go dreaming of Champions League football yet.
Still cannot believe what happened yesterday.
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Good luck to the big man, he has run his course at Celtic, its now best for all to shift him.
Watching UK players whether its at celtic or in the EPL there is a definite lack of fitness compared to just about every other nation. That’s why guys like Wanyama, Ambrose, Van Dyk can stand out , they are a yard ahead of the others.
It’s as Paul Le Guen said when he had the run-in with Bazza Fergueson, he said he is fighting a CULTURE, the Scottish (UK) players are bevy merchants with no ambition.
so the problem cannot be solved by having the players come in for 12 hour shifts, they have to come voluntarily. First step is instilling desire, dreams in them to the point that nothing will stand in the way of those Dreams. Like you said Paul, guys like Fraser start with the dream (goal), without that he would be a half stone heavier and loving the west end!
Ah never Look TOO FAUR AHEAD.
Ah look . .Ahead.. but.. No.. Like Ah hiv said..
TOO FAR!
Ah Dunno.. Whit wull Happen tae Celtic.. Next Season..or.. Even..
in the EarlyPart..of THIS Yin..
n…Naebuddy Else Diz..eethur..
So..
Speculations..n that is Whit Ah Am Readiin oan Here.. aboot..
Celtic’s.. N.. Peter’s.. Dim Future..
Do no INTEREST Me.. wan wee bit..
We wull Handle .. withevah….comes ..in the Future..
that is Ma Answer..tae the
Pessimists..
N..
They ur Being Pessimistic..
No Question..
N..
Kojo , Hates.. Pessimists.
Kojo
Still Laughin’
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/oct/18/andros-townsend-roy-hodgson-monkey-joke-compliment
Lennonspassion – you’re right. But I am of the opinion that training for fitness, technique, team shape, defending and attacking set pieces should be done in the AM, followed by proper recovery work – the ice baths, rub downs etc, proper nutrition and an hour of tactical stuff with the coaches or some player specific work or gym work later on.
I would have thought that. Is standard for pro sports people most days.
If it isn’t it should be.
Hearing Sheriff Officers were at the team trading as Rangers yesterday ?
Sanfran – perhaps there is a bit of self fulfilling prophecy going on in Scotland. Perhaps our young people believe the game to be second rate therefore they are second rate, no chance of getting to a world cup or euro championship or club final in Europe so being just good enough is good enough.
??
This reminds me of some of the arguments, sorry debates, on here.
http://awesomegifs.com/wp-content/uploads/dead-horse.gif
Peter the Pointer now chewing gum for Fulham
Morrisey23rd – sherrifs men eh? Lookingvfor guys in green from Glasgow who.had just performed a robbery? Maybe thought they’d find Pete lawwell at ibrox plotting sevcos entry to Europe. At least I think.that is what neganon is implying……
Watching Ipswich v Fulham. Couple of odd moments. Murphy scored and grant has a job on Fulham bench…
If RH meant “feed the monkey” he is definitely a racist, end of. If not he is a moron for using such a joke as an analogy.
Only a racist would think a joke about a monkey is racist, jeez what year is this
Murphy another one that slipped through our fingers, damn you Celtic
sannahbhoy I’m so sorry but I won’t be able to help with your collection (except for a donation which I will be sure to do) as the kick off is early and we only arrive around 12 noon .
HH
BT
Murphy outpaced ex-Motherwell star Hutchison at CH
Wow :-)
The huddle
Tell an Irishman a joke about the famine – you’re a racist and/or moron
Tell a black man a joke naming him a monkey – you’re a racist and/or moron
Sorry
You’ll be telling me next it was only banter
So when you see someone say monkey you think black man?
I see on news now, Arsenal offering £15m for Big Victor, midfield powerhouse ?
The physio is quite correct that overtraining can cause injuries. That’s straightforward enough. It does not translate into ‘away hame after lunch’.
On average a player will cover just under 10k each game (or should). While players’ movements are significantly different over that 10k, in training there is no reason why players should not be covering double that distance by way of a simple run at least one training day a week. We really shouldn’t be seeing players, let”s say by way of example, a midfielder walking back towards the halfway line after a thwarted attack.
If anyone needs a reminder of how fitness can assist in distinguishing a player from his colleagues, one need only look at Henrik Larsson. Another obvious example is Cristiano Ronaldo.
malceye
———
Ronaldo was written off early in his career, same with Henke and Bale, all of them worked their arses off.
Cowiebhoy. If that deal goes through that will be another few bob for the hoops through the sell on clause.H.H.
Look this isn’t difficult.
Hodgson in a half time team talk referred to a black man as a monkey.
Whether the object of the comment felt it was racist is irrelevant.
Another black man is entitled to read it albeit out of context and believe that Hodgson has racist tendencies.
The joke, which was intended to illustrate the idea that Hodgson wanted right-back Chris Smalling to play the ball more often to Andros Townsend, who was terrorising the Polish defence, reads:
“NASA decided they’d finally send a man up in a capsule after sending only monkeys in the earlier missions,” the joke goes.
“They fire the man and the monkey into space.
“The intercom crackles, ‘Monkey, fire the retros.’
“A little later, ‘Monkey, check the solid fuel supply.’
“Later still, “Monkey, check the life support systems for the man.’
“The astronaut takes umbrage and radioes NASA, ‘When do I get to do something?’
“NASA replies, ‘In 15 minutes – feed the monkey.’”
It’s an age old joke that was never racist, it’s a dig at humans.
If you read that joke as racist then you have problems.
CB @ 18.14
VW with a bit of polish is / was / will be worth £30milll.
He lets himself down by trying and failing at stuff he doesn’t need to do.
Quality bloke.
Just wish BO’B could perform to his standards,
Hmm debate the other night was if Celtic get 10m we shouldn’t reinvest it,I’d disagree with that totally, we should reinvest it in transfers plus wages, which probably means 2-3 and if you include fosters wages that would take us to nearly 4 but would see us have to spend a bit to get that 4th player. I think our squad is growing in confidence since the shocking 4-1 game to Warsaw and we are also looking stronger and stronger with Mcmanaman and some other French guy being linked with our club. I think we must invest the 10 million we make to continue to improve the stature of the club in Europe and enable Ronny to become one of our great managers.
Squire
RH should read more books.
The joke is and always will be Anglo centric.
Fantastic insight, Paul. Goes to show the rewards of hard work. This should be something the other players will hopefully aspire to.
Maybe we should look at giving players a cut of any transfer fee. This will reward hard-working players like Fraser and dis-suade them from letting their contracts run down and leaving for free.
It could also allow us to sign better players without too high a wage, as they would recoup this when they move on.
All the best with the rest of your career, Fraser – and thanks for all your efforts.
There is a Legendary Adage…
which… Intones… ( Adages.. especially.. Legendary,wans.. are. Alwiz.. Intoned..)
” The Mair Ah Practice.. the LUCKIER. Ah Get!”
n..Keeping that in Mind..
It Appears tae Me..
That So far.. n going Back.. tae the. well…. The Lisbon Lions Team..
Celtic, as a Fitba Team..
HIV NO BIN “PRACTICIN'”.. well…… Much!”
Sure, we hiv bin.. “Trainin'”!
Whitevah. Purview that Term Comes Under.. Ah hiv No Idea.
But, It is a Lead Pipe Cinch..
That.. Oor Training Procedures.. Hiv No Relation tae
good Old Fashioned..
“Practice”.( Of the Manly Sport of Fitba’… as She Should be Played.)
which wiz..well.. Practiced, by the Storied.. Lisbon Lions.
Ah Expect.. Ronny tae Rectify This…
N.. Return tae the Glory Days.. When The Manly Sport of Fitba. as She SHOULD Be Player.. wiz.. well.
Practiced.
n…P.D.Q.
As Ever…
Ah hope that Ma Expectations tae that Takin’ Place… wull be Vindicated.
But.. well. .There is Alwiz.. a “But”
Right??
Kojo
Still,Laughin’
the battered bunnet
12:50 on 9 August, 2014
On the Champions League shebawz…
My feelings are equally split between sympathy for Legia and ignominy at seeing Celtic in the draw.
Facts are that Legia obtained an advantage in the ties against St Pats by not including the suspended player in their squad, hence having a man advantage.
Against Celtic, the player had no influence on the outcome of the match or the tie. Celtic were roundly beaten home and away, performances that ought to have been written in Legia’s annals, and certainly goes down as a record European pumping for Celtic.
Legia earned their place in the competition through their performances. Celtic deserve nothing from ours.
In terms of acting in the best interests of shareholders, Celtic can do nothing but participate following UEFA’s ruling.
Personally, I’d rather we withdrew from the tournament. We have no business being there.
—————————
As much as I usually look for your posts, as they are lucid, insightful and informative, I do not agree with you on this one.
One could argue it’s a microcosm our hun neighbours issue.
Play by the rules and you prosper. Flaunting them will inevitably lead to a reckoning. Does anyone think that Legia, or indeed the player himself had no idea of what they were doing? The player was not allowed to sit on the bench while suspended, so arguably the transgression took place over the full 90 minutes.
Joe Fillipi. Sure there was a time when we won the uropean cup, we were very successful and secure financially too. There you go dude.
And it’s lawwell who picks who we buy. So he doesn’t escape. He also picks the manager.
We are a shambles but you claim PL is fab.
go figure.
FG @ 18.22
You ate talking crap.
Every new player is a 2D issue.
1) Can we afford the cash out as a lump sum for his transfer fee?
2) Can we afford his wages in our weekly wages bill?
FF left — therefore the weekly wage bill goes down.
Perhaps CFC should have a look at PW who currently plays at GFC where he is team mates with HG. I think he would be OK as he has worked under JD and CF at BFC. Maybe even LT could do a job for us in the EL or CL, he’s certainly good enough for SPFL.
AbbreviationsgrrrCFC
What happened to Mitroglou who signed for Fulham for £12mill, not on the bench
len brennan
16:47 on 9 August, 2014
ryecatcher, THG is supposed to be going to Germany (Bayern I think) so it would be a straight replacement with FF coming in.
HH
/Bishop B
the_huddle
16:48 on 9 August, 2014
Bayern have signed Pepe Reina as back up for the big German so no way Boruc is going there.
—————
Maybe Pistol Pete’s going for Neuer?!?
They way he played sweeper for Germany in the WC he could be our entire defence!
HH jamesgang
Take a club like Barca, or Real or Bayern, just for an example.
When training is finished the players will spend a few hours watching videos, learning about sports science, how to maximise their own potential…………
Our players will be on the golf course, in the pub, playing with their play stations.
And we wonder why we get beat by teams with lesser budgets than we have.
I know the teams mentioned have bigger budgets, but they are at the top and want to stay there, we have not a hope carrying on like we are.
HH
Ger57 another lazy post. I post frequently when we are winning but it doesn’t suit your mindset to believe that. You accuse me of doing what you do. You just can’t and won’t see it. You are a classic 3 wise monkey act.
Clive Anderson on R4 live at the Edinburgh festival on hearing a “Band” outside:
“I think it is an orange band….”
Pam Ayres:
“I thought it was a concrete muncher”.
…… no difference Pam.