Open training tonight

[silverhibee]

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Blows my mind that we still have to do that at this age. But its amazing how many young kids come through the system without being able to use both feet.

Are the kids coached to do it when coming through the youth system, I know Deek’s takes his lad down the park and makes him work on his weaker foot, he is a lefty but it is pretty comfortable with the ball on his right.

[Silky]

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Are the kids coached to do it when coming through the youth system, I know Deek’s takes his lad down the park and makes him work on his weaker foot, he is a lefty but it is pretty comfortable with the ball on his right.

I'm involved with my son's U13 team and we have similar things to the "wrong foot" game. It is something that should be taught from a very young age, though as the amount of kids who turn back onto their stronger side is frightening. My boy's a keeper and I do a lot of stuff with him on his weaker side (left), which is benefiting him, but I think the very early ages should do it as much as they can.

[Keepthefaith]

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Thought it was a great night and particularly enjoyed the wrong foot football on a very small pitch. As far as I was aware all the players stayed behind to sign autographs and get pics taken with the kids. For those who didn’t attend they worked their way along from either end of the east stand and they must have signed hundreds of autographs each! It was a slow process due to the volume of people asking for stuff signed etc but the guys attitude was nothing short of amazing. It was clear to me that this was a group of guys that were committed to the experience, the club and the fans. I was pleased to see how motivated they were to interact with the fans despite the constant booing they receive from a section of our support. For young guys in their twenties their ability to deal with the adversity shows character that I certainly didn’t have at their age. I will certainly be giving them my support at Motherwell on Saturday irrespective of the result.

Really good to hear this at a time when do many want to shoot the club down on every aspect. Agree it says a lot about their characters and I'll be going to Fir Park to cheer them on too!

[LewysGot2]

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Thought it was a great night and particularly enjoyed the wrong foot football on a very small pitch. As far as I was aware all the players stayed behind to sign autographs and get pics taken with the kids. For those who didn’t attend they worked their way along from either end of the east stand and they must have signed hundreds of autographs each! It was a slow process due to the volume of people asking for stuff signed etc but the guys attitude was nothing short of amazing. It was clear to me that this was a group of guys that were committed to the experience, the club and the fans. I was pleased to see how motivated they were to interact with the fans despite the constant booing they receive from a section of our support. For young guys in their twenties their ability to deal with the adversity shows character that I certainly didn’t have at their age. I will certainly be giving them my support at Motherwell on Saturday irrespective of the result.

Thanks for sharing.

[JimBHibees]

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Thought it was a great night and particularly enjoyed the wrong foot football on a very small pitch. As far as I was aware all the players stayed behind to sign autographs and get pics taken with the kids. For those who didn’t attend they worked their way along from either end of the east stand and they must have signed hundreds of autographs each! It was a slow process due to the volume of people asking for stuff signed etc but the guys attitude was nothing short of amazing. It was clear to me that this was a group of guys that were committed to the experience, the club and the fans. I was pleased to see how motivated they were to interact with the fans despite the constant booing they receive from a section of our support. For young guys in their twenties their ability to deal with the adversity shows character that I certainly didn’t have at their age. I will certainly be giving them my support at Motherwell on Saturday irrespective of the result.

Great to hear that

[Brightside]

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Are the kids coached to do it when coming through the youth system, I know Deek’s takes his lad down the park and makes him work on his weaker foot, he is a lefty but it is pretty comfortable with the ball on his right.

Some clubs deffo do it. Ive seen it at Lochend and at Spartans. Maybe its something that we will see an improvement in with this generation. (Rudi for us and Macauley Tait at Hearts were both at Lochend were weaker foot was enforced for lots of the sessions.

[He's here!]

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Thought it was a great night and particularly enjoyed the wrong foot football on a very small pitch. As far as I was aware all the players stayed behind to sign autographs and get pics taken with the kids. For those who didn’t attend they worked their way along from either end of the east stand and they must have signed hundreds of autographs each! It was a slow process due to the volume of people asking for stuff signed etc but the guys attitude was nothing short of amazing. It was clear to me that this was a group of guys that were committed to the experience, the club and the fans. I was pleased to see how motivated they were to interact with the fans despite the constant booing they receive from a section of our support. For young guys in their twenties their ability to deal with the adversity shows character that I certainly didn’t have at their age. I will certainly be giving them my support at Motherwell on Saturday irrespective of the result.

This is all good to hear but it's not unreasonable for fans to be unhappy with the performances on the pitch. The St Johnstone game was a massive letdown and while I've been standing up for NM on the back of some improved displays post January I can't offer unconditional support 'irrespective of results'. The team/manager have merited flak this season and unfortunately that's part and parcel of being a young footballer at a club which shouldn't be toiling just to make the top six.

[silverhibee]

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Some clubs deffo do it. Ive seen it at Lochend and at Spartans. Maybe its something that we will see an improvement in with this generation. (Rudi for us and Macauley Tait at Hearts were both at Lochend were weaker foot was enforced for lots of the sessions.

You would expect it to be a must now for kids coming through youth systems, things have changed so much for kids at grassroots levels, it’s a pity you never hear about players going to clubs from Hutchie Vale Tynie BC etc anymore.

[silverhibee]

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I'm involved with my son's U13 team and we have similar things to the "wrong foot" game. It is something that should be taught from a very young age, though as the amount of kids who turn back onto their stronger side is frightening. My boy's a keeper and I do a lot of stuff with him on his weaker side (left), which is benefiting him, but I think the very early ages should do it as much as they can.

The earlier they are taught the more comfortable they will come with the ball at either foot as they progress.

[Haymaker]

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The earlier they are taught the more comfortable they will come with the ball at either foot as they progress.

Yep.

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[Pretty Boy]

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I'm involved with my son's U13 team and we have similar things to the "wrong foot" game. It is something that should be taught from a very young age, though as the amount of kids who turn back onto their stronger side is frightening. My boy's a keeper and I do a lot of stuff with him on his weaker side (left), which is benefiting him, but I think the very early ages should do it as much as they can.

Definitely.

I was a keeper and when it came to shot stopping and whatever I was as good as anyone at the level and better than most. What always let me down was the football side of the game and that was far less important even 12-15 years ago than it is now. I started really working on it when I was about 17 or 18 but by that point it was really too late, I got better but the chance for it to make a meaningful impact had gone. Young keepers now should be doing outfield drills regularly and working on their weaker foot constantly. If you watch keepers warming up now so much of it is with their feet; any pro keeper should be a decent shot stopper, I always think when someone says that about a keeper it is very much damned with faint praise with the way the game has gone.

I struggle to understand why any player wouldn't do it. If you get to a Scottish Premiership club youth set up then you are close to making very decent money and a step or 2 away from life changing. Not making the effort to be the very best you can be just seems madness. Same goes for the young guys bevvying and whatever.

[He's here!]

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Definitely.

I was a keeper and when it came to shot stopping and whatever I was as good as anyone at the level and better than most. What always let me down was the football side of the game and that was far less important even 12-15 years ago than it is now. I started really working on it when I was about 17 or 18 but by that point it was really too late, I got better but the chance for it to make a meaningful impact had gone. Young keepers now should be doing outfield drills regularly and working on their weaker foot constantly. If you watch keepers warming up now so much of it is with their feet; any pro keeper should be a decent shot stopper, I always think when someone says that about a keeper it is very much damned with faint praise with the way the game has gone.

I struggle to understand why any player wouldn't do it. If you get to a Scottish Premiership club youth set up then you are close to making very decent money and a step or 2 away from life changing. Not making the effort to be the very best you can be just seems madness. Same goes for the young guys bevvying and whatever.

That's an interesting point. Things started to shift for keepers when they were no longer allowed to pick up pass-backs and some otherwise exceptional keepers (Jim Leighton springs to mind) were shown to be horribly uncomfortable with the ball at their feet.

I do wonder if this has also shifted things in terms of who actually wants to be a keeper. While there have obviously been many wonderful keepers from bygone eras who must presumably have harbored an ambition to excel in the role, there was also a perception at school level that the least able/last-picked kid would be stuck in goals and would be expected to do little more than try and get in the way of the ball. The role is now a great deal more specialised and it's a big ask to find a kid who is not only a brave and confident handler of the ball but has the footballing ability to impact the game at a pro level. You just need to recall games of old when an outfield player had to go in goal to see how challenging a role it actually is.