HE’S THE BOSS
haven’t been able to identify the hidden talent they possess. All you can do is give it to them straight.
Football is hard. I prefer a cruel-to-be-kind approach as there are so many young footballers out there who are wasting their time.
Trialists of all shapes and sizes have turned up at the various clubs I’ve been at over the years but two who stand out were when I was with Kilmarnock. These two lads from Uganda walked into the dressing room and their trial had coincided with the coldest and wettest day of the year. It was Baltic.
These kids had never experienced anything like it and when we went out to train there was no sign of them. Eventually out they came and they were wrapped up like Eskimos.
They had so much on that they could barely move. You could only see their eyes through the layers and they must have wondered what they’d arrived into as they entered the eye of the storm with rain lashing down.
Like so many others they’d underestimated Scottish football. They were given a game to play in and weren’t even close to being good enough so they were sent on their merry way. It’s quite rare for trialists to go the distance and land a deal.
Our game can be a school of hard knocks and the majority of would-be superstars will fall well short.