Todays guest joining Craig Mackail-Smith and Jim Burnside is John Bitting whose current role is at MK Dons as PDA Academy lead and interim manager of the ladies team who is an ex player and strives to improve the wellbeing and productivity of young players. JB has played an incredible part in some players progression into their professional careers whilst not forgetting some who haven’t been able to go as far as they would have hoped. JBs approach and bespoke model to this has been packaged for each individual players wants and needs in terms of support. JB came into football aged 11 and started playing for the year above teams). After turning 16 and being in some football programmes he found he enjoyed the coaching aspects. He shares his journey with dyslexia and the support he had by teachers & coaches. He started his coaching qualification at 15 and that lead him to getting B License at 19, working in schools & learning how to adapt and delegate in different scenarios such as dance routines! Going back to the college JB played at, he then made his way through grassroots, non league. In his mid 20s he suffered 2 ACL injuries as well as a few other injuries but he spent a long time coaching, gathering his badges at MK Dons and some other football clubs gaining so much experience. As JB had a front row seat watching the coaches facilitate the progression the likes of Dele Ali and the other team members go through and how they brought out a different side of the players positively. Jim Burnside and JB meet each other at a step 5 team and Jim recalls how he was mesmerised by how JB held the training session as a coach even with Jims lack of attention! Putting the players needs and requirements have been at the forefront of training sessions and Craig Mackail-Smith, Jim and JB talk about how coaches have different styles of how they session plan and how much there really is to learn when putting ego to the side. JB likes to take a different approach to getting a response from players and management. It hasn’t always been right but it does get noticed and results follow! Learning to listen to players and coaches enabled a new level of care into his career by understanding players levels and expectations. JB shared that he came back from injuries quicker than he should have done and how it impacted his confidence and how he felt with football. Signing up for marathons or ultra marathons helps him find his inner strength of going into thoughts and feelings that he may not have experienced. 2021 prompted JB to ask himself what direction he saw his career going in and if he was happy about it. He talks about a particular moment where he just couldn’t continue doing his job how he handled taking some personal time out and how it impacted his son, partner Carly and those around him. In a strange twist of circumstances JB saved a family members life and he found his purpose of how he wanted to moved forward. Question Time - A follower of the show asks JB How he prioritises progression over winning which takes Craig, Jim and JB on a journey of discussing supporting the player, their family and the club through grassroots. Academy and through the ranks and what is actually really important.