This must be the most common question that emerges during my work with players and their families. This has surfaced over and over again during the work I have done in the past couple of weeks and I wanted to blog about it and, hopefully, put your mind at ease.
Are we doing the right thing?
Instead of thinking "are we making the right decision?", we should be asking "what is the decision we feel most comfortable with right now?" And once that decision has been made, ask "How do we make sure, we make the most of the opportunities that flow from that decision".
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If you read these blogs, you will know I love the conceptual idea of Simon Sinek's "always start with why?" and that it is worth asking about an agent.
"But they may as well take the extra training"
Research often flies in the face of "common sense". For example, we've all been told that practice makes perfect, so it stands to reason that the more we practice becoming a footballer, the more chance we have of "making it". Unfortunately, that is a very simple way of looking at things.
Do clubs have plans for their players?
It remains the case that in most academies, career planning is absent, leaving young players and their families vulnerable to clubs that, in many cases, also have not planned a player's career.