Goss supplying gloss can be the new bend it like Beckham
WHETHER inspired by following in the footsteps of David Beckham or fearful of having to buy a round of coffees for James Tavernier and Josh Windass, new Rangers set-piece specialist Sean Goss is relentless in his pursuit of free-kick perfection.
Former Old Trafford prospect Goss promoted the case for relentless practice of the art with his stunning strike against Hibernian last Saturday. Legendary stories of the hard work habits of a brilliant crop of Manchester United players, including Beckham, was the trigger for his devotion to extra drills.
And while there is some comedy behind the competition created at Auchenhowie, Goss is serious about ensuring that Graeme Murty’s squad benefits from a range of dead-ball options now in place since his arrival on loan from QPR.
‘I used to go out after training, stay back my myself and set up mannequins — because that is almost like the culture set in at Manchester United,’ said Goss.
‘A lot of the young kids stay back after hearing all the tales of what certain players used to do there.
‘I always used to watch Beckham when I was a kid and even (Paul) Scholes as well, although he didn’t hit so many free-kicks. Then when I went to Manchester United I always used to try to get a lot of assists, so I would go out after training trying to practise them a lot too.
‘It was a pleasure to train with Scholes. There were a few times early on at United where I was in
rehab and he was at the same stage. And we had a few times just doing ball work then progressing on. His technique was unbelievable and it was a pleasure to train with him.
‘Among all the senior pros at United, there’s always a tight bond between the first team and youth players. They always want to help you out. He gave us a bit of a head start as well, because he was our Under-19s manager for the Champions League.
‘Doing that bit extra is always important. We’ve got a little group here at Rangers that do free-kicks maybe five times a week. It is normally me, Josh and Tavs — and we always make it a bit of a competition to see who gets the coffees in.
‘Hopefully after the goal last week, I will keep the job a bit longer. I missed the one last Saturday before I scored — it was probably a bit close for me to be fair — so I had a massive earful off Tav on the second one. Thankfully I managed to get him away — and put it away.
Goss kept the identity of the leader in this week’s training ground contest to himself, after acknowledging that one free-kick he launched into the night air at Firhill in midweek ‘is yet to land’.
Ayr won’t be so fortunate if Goss can conjure another beauty in the class of his finish which clipped the underside of the crossbar and beat Hibs goalkeeper Ofir Marciano at Ibrox last Saturday.
‘The Scottish Cup is a massive focus for us this year,’ stated Goss. ‘We have all said since I have been here that one of our main aims of the season now is to hopefully end the campaign with some silverware.’