The key to producing the next Nahki Wells?

Bermudian football is enjoying a rare spell in the limelight thanks to one of its star products.

But director of the National Academy Richard Todd says the mentality of players and coaches needs to radically change if, for example, more Shaun Goaters and Bradford City’s Nahki Wells are to emerge from the island.

A lack of discipline among the young players, inconsistent teachings at club level and a reluctance of coaches to unite are just some of the issues he believes are holding the country back,.

Since Todd took the part-time position in August, he’s been taking stock of where Bermuda is at with regards to developing its next generation of talent.

And he does not hold back in his verdict. 

He told the Bermuda Sun: “If you talk to most of our youngsters, especially the boys, they will speak to you about dreams ‘I want to be a professional footballer, I want to play here and I want to play there’.

“I don’t think they understand what it took for a Nahki Wells right now to put himself in that position with Bradford, What did it take for Shaun Goater to work himself up from Rotherham? What does a day in the life look like for an Academy player in Spain? Or England or even the US compared to Bermuda?

“We show up for 6:30pm practice at 6:25pm, we stroll on to the field at 6:35pm with our shin guards in our hands and our socks pulled all the way down and our shirt outside our pants.

“These are little thing that even if addressed at club level, if they are consistent, would affect a change in players’ behaviours.”

Todd also believes too many plaudits are handed out to young players on the island, raising unrealistic expectations among the dreamy youngsters.

The former Bermuda international said: “I don’t think we are being honest with our players. We tell a lot of them how good and great they are but less than one per cent move on to be a professional.

Significant

“But if you look at the number of players who have come through the age groups and gone on to prep schools, high schools and graduated, they find football is actually helping a significant number of kids.”

Todd has a wealth of coaching in the States and in Bermuda, having assisted Kenny Thompson when he was manager of the national team, worked with current Bermuda boss Andrew Bascome at Boulevard and held the position of technical director at St George’s.

Discipline

Instilling greater discipline in the young players is key to them progressing, he says, emphasizing that some clubs need to do more to create a better structure for their players.

He said: “The quality of the practices is one of the biggest challenges and I think a reflection of what’s going on at club level — it’s very inconsistent.

“Some clubs are doing a good job in one or two areas, others may not be the same. We find that players struggle in terms of the intensity level in regards to taking the information in.

“When we create conditions in practice it is to get, by force or design, a result from the players or the teams. Be it two touches or attacking down the flanks for example.

“What we find that during the period of restriction we see the things we are looking for but the minute we go into the game phase so the coach can assess where the team is, the player lacks the discipline to see it through.

Criticism

“They just revert back to what they were doing. The defenders in the restricted sessions are defending but then in a game they want to play forward.”

He added: “We want our guys to have a better level of focus and intensity. We tend to play only when we have the ball so when our players have the ball we looking and saying ‘he’s good!’ he’s got speed, he can do these things.

“When we don’t have the ball we just stand and watch. Communication as well, the players don’t talk to one another in positive language.

“It’s mostly negative, we wait for mistakes to occur and we’re jumping on players and we continue to harp on about what should have been done instead of ‘unlucky, let’s go, keep playing, mistakes are part of the game.

“Some of the our players aren’t used to criticism, but they are coaching points. Players are always defensive, some will shut down when given information.

“I just think there are too many excuses that are being made for the players.”

Coaches need to unite to help produce more talent

Richard Todd has called on Bermuda’s top coaches to put egos and past issues behind them and unite for the good of the country.

Todd says 60-70 per cent of Bermuda’s top football coaches are not involved in the BFA’s Academy set-up — and he wants that to change so players can benefit from the expertise that is currently being wasted on the island.

He said: “There is always a group of coaches that withdraw, that pull away, and to be honest it’s quite frustrating because if you look around Bermuda the top 10 coaches who are on the island you’ll find 60-70 per cent of them are not involved.

“There’s a lack of support professionally for each other. We tend to nitpick — if this person is involved I don’t want to be. That translates to players at the clubs because they then read the coaches aren’t supportive of what’s happening at the national level.

“We have to raise the standard of our coaches across the clubs, the coaches have to come together and unite.

“Also we need a syllabus to prepare for the club’s lack of a curriculum and syllabus. There did exist a philosophy before I came but it was not documented and when the previous people left, they took their work. So we’re starting from scratch. We need to create something that can continue after I’ve gone — that’s the biggest challenge.”

He added: “The first thing was we had to do was retain as many coaches as possible. We know the likes of Devarr Boyles, Scott Morton, Maurice Lowe are not involved, the Kenny Thompsons that are out there that we would like to see involved.

“One of the first thing was to reach out to those guys to say we need to come on board. It’s a process, I know there are some issues, there are maybe things that have occurred in the past, but I think we need to let go of those things and come to a place where the Academy is not only the place for the best players but the best coaches.

“The talent is there but the philosophy has been to go it alone. Egos are a huge thing with us in Bermuda, there are issues we need to move on from because they are stopping us putting together a good product for our country.”