The Grassroots Football Coach

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Throughout UEFA Euro 2024, Mark "Rivo" Rivers and Richard Brant will be discussing the tournament in Germany, from looking ahead to the festival of football to dissecting and reviewing England's performances as 24 teams bid for European glory.

On this episode, Rivo & Rich review the final where a late goal from Mikel Oyarzabal 4 minutes from the end clinched victory for La Roja. We breakdown the goals in the 2nd half including Cole Palmer's wonderful finish and discuss the difference of shooting and finishing.

The duo then take a look back at Gareth Southgate's 8 years in charge of the Three Lions, from the thrilling penalty shoot-out win vs Colombia in World Cup 2018 to reaching back-to-back European Championship finals. They also look at the impact Gareth has had on football in this country and how he reconnected the nation to fall in love with England once again.

They then take a final look back at the Euro's in Germany, some of the highlights and moments of the tournaments plus how the young stars shone in Germany.

Music by Darren Fellerdale. 

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Throughout UEFA Euro 2024, Mark "Rivo" Rivers and Richard Brant will be discussing the tournament in Germany, from looking ahead to the festival of football to dissecting and reviewing England's performances as 24 teams bid for European glory.

On this episode, Rivo, Rich & Marley look back at England's Semi-Final victory vs the Netherlands with Ollie Watkins scoring after 89:59 and taking England to Berlin! They talk about the outstanding performance of Kobbie Mainoo and how substitutions have impacted the game since the introduction from 3 to 5 changes. 

They chat about Gareth's vital experience in tournament football and the critical moments of quality from players throughout England's journey which has led them to the final. They also look back at Spain's 2-1 victory over France with 16 year-old Lamine Yamal scoring one of the goal's of the tournament.   

They then look ahead to the final on Sunday in Berlin and discuss where the match can be won for Gareth's Three Lions and the dangers which Spain possess.  Also hear about the connection Marley has with England Semi-Final hero Ollie Watkins! 

Theme Music by Darren Fellerdale, Inspirational Music by Onoychenkomusic (Pixabay)

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Throughout UEFA Euro 2024, Mark "Rivo" Rivers and Richard Brant will be discussing the tournament in Germany, from looking ahead to the festival of football to dissecting and reviewing England's performances as 24 teams bid for European glory.

On this episode, Rivo & Rich are joined by the returning Marley to look back at England's penalty shootout success vs Switzerland. They breakdown the game, talk through the substitutions made and the impact Bukayo Saka had on the game. Plus Rivo & Marley talk about the mentality needed to take a penalty in such a high pressure situation and why it's important for players to believe in their process. 

They then look ahead to the Semi-Final ties and give their thoughts on who will make it to the final in Berlin on Sunday 14th July. 


Music by Darren Fellerdale

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Throughout UEFA Euro 2024, Mark "Rivo" Rivers and Richard Brant will be discussing the tournament in Germany, from looking ahead to the festival of football to dissecting and reviewing England's performances as 24 teams bid for European glory.

On this episode, Rivo & Rich look back at England's late late show vs Slovakia and discuss performance vs results at the elite level. Rivo talks about Jude Bellingham's mentality and quality of strike plus importance of being able to play in different positions with recent example of Bukayo Saka playing 3 different positions in 1 game. 

Rivo & Rich then look ahead to the Euro 2024 quarter-finals and look across the pond to couple of ties in the Copa America's last 8 too plus the pair discuss the differences between a BBQ and a picnic.  

Music by Darren Fellerdale

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Throughout UEFA Euro 2024, Mark "Rivo" Rivers and Richard Brant will be discussing the tournament in Germany, from looking ahead to the festival of football to dissecting and reviewing England's performances as 24 teams bid for European glory.

On this episode, Rivo & Rich are joined by a special guest as they look back at England's draw with Slovenia which saw the Three Lions top their group. They also look back on the group stages including Georgia's fantastic victory and they look ahead to the Round of 16 starting this weekend. 

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Throughout UEFA Euro 2024, Mark "Rivo" Rivers and Richard Brant will be discussing the tournament in Germany, from looking ahead to the festival of football to dissecting and reviewing England's performances as 24 teams bid for European glory.

On this episode, Rivo & Rich look back at England's draw with Denmark which keeps the Three Lions top of their group. They focus on the balance of the team, what changes Gareth may make and the similar challenges which grassroots coaches will face on a weekly basis. 

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In this episode, Mark 'Rivo' Rivers & Richard Brant are joined by former Reading, Newcastle United & West Ham Utd goalkeeper, Shaka Hislop for the 2nd part of the special. 

Shaka begins with his first stint at West Ham Utd under Harry Redknapp where he says under Harry's leadership, players like Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard & Paolo Di Canio were encouraged to be creative and not afraid to make mistakes. Shaka also talks about the infamous Di Canio scissor kick strike in 2000.

Harry then took Shaka to Portsmouth in what would turn out to be a promotion winning season taking Pompey back to the Premier League.

Rich makes Shaka relive the 2006 FA Cup Final where, during his 2nd stint at West Ham Utd,  the Hammers were seconds away from beating Liverpool in normal time before Steven Gerrard's iconic strike.

Shaka also talks about his honour in representing Trinidad & Tobago at their very first World Cup in 2006 and receiving the call up to play just minutes before their first game vs Sweden and keeping a clean sheet!! Next game was England where Shaka kept the Three Lions at bay for 83 mins before two late goals win it for England.  

There's also Shaka's take on the modern day GK, who he thought was the best player he ever played with, his career as a pundit on ESPN in America and find out if Shaka could beat Rivo in this week's quiz. 

Music by Darren Fellerdale  

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Throughout UEFA Euro 2024, Mark "Rivo" Rivers and Richard Brant will be discussing the tournament in Germany, from looking ahead to the festival of football to dissecting and reviewing England's performances as 24 teams bid for European glory.

On the eve of the tournament and with Rivo in the States with Arsenal, Rich caught up with Referee Development Officer Adam Parry to look ahead at the Group Stages. 

We will also hear from Rich & Adam on their tournament predictions and Rivo makes a brief appearance dialling in from Atlanta. 

Music by Darren Fellerdale   

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In this episode, Mark 'Rivo' Rivers & Richard Brant are joined by former Reading, Newcastle United & West Ham Utd goalkeeper, Shaka Hislop. 

On the pod, Shaka talks about his early days growing up in Trinidad & Tobago before attending Howard University in the States and studying mechanical engineering. Shaka explains how, when completing a summer internship at NASA, his mentor encouraged him to try out for the local indoor team and how his opportunity at Reading FC came about.  

During his time at Reading, Shaka provides us a insight into the challenges he faced initially moving to a different country and then soon becoming the number 1 spearheading Reading to the brink of the Premier League.

Shaka also shares his time at Newcastle United under Kevin Keegan playing attacking and expansive football with the Magpies taking Manchester United all the way in the 95/96 Premier League title race. He also talks about the unique challenge vying to be number 1 at the top level.

Join us again next week for Part 2 which includes Shaka's time at West Ham, his incredible story to be apart of Trinidad & Tobago's first ever appearance at the World Cup Finals in 2006 plus hear if Shaka can overcome Rivo in the quiz! 

Music by Darren Fellerdale.

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In this episode, Mark 'Rivo' Rivers & Richard Brant are joined by Arun Brar, a grassroots coach from Berks & Bucks FA.

On the pod, Arun talks about his early memories of football, how he fell in love with the game and provides insight into his journey and some of the challenges he has faced along the way as coach from a historically underrepresented ethnic community.

Arun openly discusses some of the potential barriers to participation for Sikh families wanting to get involved in football and shares his thoughts on traditional formats of the game and how they may need to evolve to offer a truly inclusive experience for all.

He also shares witnessing his brother being racially abused during a match over 20 years ago, opens up about his own experiences of racial stereotyping in his role as a coach and discusses the impact this has had on his life and how he is committed to changing the game for the better as a result.

The team then delve deeper into his coaching career starting out as a young volunteer at cricket in his mid-teens before moving into grassroots football at age of 21. Arun also talks about his placement at QPR as part of the FA's Club Placement Programme which provides opportunities at professional clubs for coaches from underrepresented backgrounds and more recently as part of The FA Mentee Development Programme.  
 
There's also chat about Johan Cruyff, Arun's love for Jurgen Klopp & Liverpool and his memory of Michael Owen's wonder goal vs Argentina at World Cup '98.

Music by Darren Fellerdale.