Rise of ‘Facebook footballer’ leaves Archibald angry
FOR Alan Archibald, the wisdom of two respected figures in Scottish football resonated sharply this week.
The Partick Thistle boss found himself nodding in agreement with SFA performance director Malky Mackay and PFA Scotland chairman John Rankin after they questioned the commitment of youngsters in the modern game. Mackay made the shock admission that it might be too late to turn around the poor attitudes of some of those aged 19-22 in the national youth set-up, while Rankin lamented a generation of young players he claimed were more likely to indulge themselves in a trip to Nando’s or the cinema, rather than do extra training sessions.
Archibald believes they were bang on the money in their assessment of what he calls ‘Facebook footballers’ after they emphasised the problems of those who think they have ‘made it’ after joining a senior club.
‘If I had behaved the way some of the young guys behaved and swaggered about, I would have got a clout around the ear,’ said the Thistle manager.
‘If I had walked into the Partick first-team dressing room 20 years ago, players like Chic Charnley, Alan Dinnie or Wayne Foster would have slapped me back out.
‘When you sign that first professional contract it is an opportunity — you have not made it.
‘It is in a young player’s hand to grasp the opportunities presented to them.
‘They should not give themselves excuses to say that they never made it. Some think they have made it and they switch off.’
‘I used to call them “Facebook footballers”,’ added Archibald with a shake of his head.
‘Their goal was to become full-time and simply to get the fact they are a footballer on their status.
‘They think they have made it but it’s only the first step on a big ladder. A lot of them say they should have done this and done that.
‘I always try to tell them that — and tell them not to be a flashy Dan.’
Harking back to his own playing days, Archibald claimed that today’s youth players do not have the same level of discipline as their predecessors in the game.
He puts that partly down to the fact that youngsters no longer have to carry out some of the mandatory domestic tasks his generation were expected to do when they were at clubs.
That could involve cleaning senior players’ boots — or just helping keep the stadium clean and tidy — and was seen as a good way of instilling discipline.
When asked if he would like to be a young footballer in today’s game, the Partick boss smiled: ‘I would want to be a young player now as there are no jobs to do.
‘Maybe that is a good thing or maybe it is a bad thing, but it earned you respect.
‘Today’s young players swagger about and don’t do any jobs like clean boots and sweep the stadium.
‘Youngsters were sent to clean cars and clean boots but that was not done for slavery or bullying purposes. It was done for them to earn respect and show some discipline in the process.’
Archibald is quick to point the finger at social media as one of the main problems why young footballers seem to lack focus. Too many noses are to be found stuck in phones when they should be sniffing out chances to reach the top of their profession.
‘I think social media is a world obsession now,’ he continued.
‘We are not saying: “Don’t use it” but we need to manage the different aspects of social media and try to stay on top of it to ensure a young player’s career is not over before it has started.’
Partick Thistle have already introduced a code of conduct over the use of Twitter and its equivalents, which has to be adhered to by their players all the way down to those aged 13.
Archibald believes it is vital to sculpt the personalities of young footballers from an early age, to give them the best chance possible of progressing within the game.
‘We try to give them as much help as we can (to create) a pathway into the first team,’ he said.
‘We will always try to have a young player in the Partick team, so that it gives the others a goal to go on and become the next Stuart Bannigan or Liam Lindsay.’
Instead of focusing on Nando’s, flashy cars and big houses, Archibald had some advice for youngsters trying to break through into professional football in Scotland.
‘You try to advise them from an early age — and our academy is telling them at 13 and 14 years of age about how to live their lives,’ he explained.
‘Go and be a footballer and play 80 games — or whatever it may be — and go and work hard to be the best player you can be.’