Thursday, December 23, 2010

Walker and Abbott go to Lions




Photos (Top to Bottom): Jeremy Walker; Will Abbott (right); CEO of FFT John Boulous [PlessPix]

Jeremy Walker and Will Abbott will play with Premier League club Kingborough Lions United in the 2011 season.

The Lions were the successful club in the application process for the two National Training Centre players.

Three clubs in all applied for the youngsters.

“After working through three strong expressions of interests and meeting with representatives from all clubs concerned, the panel felt that the Kingborough Lions United Soccer Club offered the best development opportunities to these two young players,” said Football Federation Tasmania CEO John Boulous in a letter to all club presidents.

“The NTC Head Coach, Dean May, will liaise with the club coaches of Kingborough United Soccer Club to finalise the agreement to commence in the New Year.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the clubs that submitted an expression of interest and made themselves available for an interview.

“I would also like to re-iterate that the NTC Football Program Head Coach, Dean May, (Male) and Michael Edwards (Female), and the FFT Technical department staff are available to work closely with all clubs and their coaches to provide any guidance or assistance to ensure the continued development of football within the State.”

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

huge signing for kingborough, cant say im not surprised, why the lions of all clubs?

roundball said...

Buddy if your not surprised, then you know the answers to your own question

Anonymous said...

Anon 10.44 your comment is contradictory.
You state you are not surprised and then ask "why the lions ?"

Anonymous said...

Walter, who were the other 2 clubs in for them?

Anonymous said...

lions average age under 20 now? no exp but lots of skills

Walter said...

Anonymous 11.50am, the other two clubs were Clarence United and Beachside.

Taylor said...

I wonder if the fact that the three key people involved here live in the Kingborough municipality had anything to do with it? Close to home, not far to go to training.

Anonymous said...

I thought that the idea was you had to play the 4-3-3 formation? Correct me if I am wrong, but haven't the lions always gone out with 1-9-1?

Anonymous said...

Whos really coaching kingbourgh then you cant coach a side when you are told what formation to play tim, geoff and dean all involved wow goodluck.

Anonymous said...

MARK ISELI AND WILL ABBOTT CENTRE BACK.. well that's a round about way to solve their problem of having no decent goal keepers...

Anonymous said...

Iseli and Abbot together all year at the heart of defence, nice for the Lions. Huge signing, although I am still not sure why they had to be farmed out, are they still hoping to achieve higher honours, because if they have not made it by now, I would think they have missed the boat. Only 3 clubs saw fit to apply? I understand that South would not bother, but all the others not being interested? Are we now so closed shop that we appoint our coach and then say no one else is allowed in? If Dean May helps out the Lions as part of this deal I can not see how it was not attractive to other clubs. Interesting to note that the clubs (excluding Beachside because I have no idea how they are set up) that applied are those that seem to have the most people in a coaching role. Obviously taking the adage that two heads are better than one rather than too many cooks spoil the broth! Will be an interesting year to see how they go...

Anonymous said...

That's a massive signing for the Lions. Options up front and at the back. It'll be good to see how they fit in to the line-up. Good luck to both lads and to Lions.

Anonymous said...

I must say that this is a ludicrous situation.If these guys have not been picked up by now I would think their time has almost past. Both nice guys and very dedicated to their sport and giving themselves the most opportunity in being approached from elsewhere.They have both been identified as we all know ,but looking at the clubs that have applied for their services , they are the three that will need the inclusion of good players more than any other club this year,in my opinion.Of course all three of these sides would be greatly improved by the inclusion of these two players.Is it in the players' best interest to go to a lower team or would they benefit more by joining a stronger team ? Too early to tell I suppose.It would be interesting to learn what the parameters were that had to be met in order to be successful.Is one of the requirements that the team adopt a 1,4,3,3 formation to suit these guys ? If so how well does the Kingborough coaching staff know this system and can they teach this to their existing players? It will be interesting to see what happens when and if things dont go according to plan during the season and what the remedy will be.

Anonymous said...

I believe that at the Southern President's meeting when this was first mentioned that John Boulous said that the club that got the two institute boys would have to stick to a strict playing format of 4-3-3. If the club did not adhere to this the boys would be taken from them immediately. Not withstanding the usual 7 day transfer period. There will be a lot of very interested clubs watching what formation Kingborough use in each game. I ask the question: Where else in the world is a Premier League dictated to by a development programme? No club should have entertained taking these two with all these conditions attached. No disrespect to Abbott and Walker but surely by the age of 18 they should have a mind of their own and not be pandering to Dean May who is desperate to place a player anywhere that can make him and his ego look good!!

Anonymous said...

If these players are serious about playing soccer at the highest level they are kidding themselves spending a year down at kingborough, boys do yourselves a favour and go and try out on the mainland or join a team like zebras or South that can actually play football.

Anonymous said...

I'd rather Tim May coach me some off-breaks.

Anonymous said...

Kingborough has the worst coaching team in the league so how will that help these kids? They also sit 10 men behind the ball at all times. What a farce!

djalbacore said...

So John Boulous...as per your article...states Dean May is happy to help out all clubs for the development of Football during the year....Question If a club was playing Kingborough during the year he would be happy to assist that club during the game..ie sitting on the bench,talking tactics,who would be playing against Abbott and Walker..??...I wonder....You cant have it both ways FFT....

Anonymous said...

the first comment is valid as it is a double negative. The people making subsequent comments are just a bit dumb.

Anonymous said...

good to finally see Will Abbott joining the senior ranks where he can play 20+ games with and against men. Should have happened 2 years ago. May owes him.

Anonymous said...

"the first comment is valid as it is a double negative. The people making subsequent comments are just a bit dumb."


hahaha just what i was thinking. Key word is NOT.

I would have to agree, forcing a team to play a particular formation sounds ludicrous to me. Surely at time you need to tweak you're formation to your opponents
strategy.

Furthermore, if I were a senior coach the last thing i'd want is some guy telling me what to do. The senior coach must command respect and but be seen in the players eyes as a strong leader, surely this is compromised with another bloke butting in.

This 'MAY' cause problems for the lions baha

Anonymous said...

The lions should have the right set up now. They have a very solid back four and GK. Good looking mid with Chel in charge.Now Walker might bring some goals into the club because that is what they probably have been lacking.

Anonymous said...

Dave abott as part of the pack?