Tag: Everton

Blogpost, posh, self-reliance

POSH OTJ Training Under the Spotlight

Pete Huryk

This week is an opportunity for the young POSH squad to perform under the spotlight. Wrexham on Saturday brings extra attention due to their owners and media attention. Having been at the Sunderland match years ago when they were doing their docuseries, it’s easy for a match to end up on the cutting room floor because it doesn’t fit the narrative of the show. Then the trip to Liverpool in order to play Everton brings a very real amount of attention due to the magic of the FA Cup. The problem that most people have with the spotlight is the prospect of “failure”. It’s why public speaking is often feared at a near death level. Mistakes are a part of life but when they are public, they can be crushing. But it’s all practice… erm… I mean training.

Father vs Son Rivalry too!

My son and I won’t be at Goodison for this one

but we’ll be watching!

This season is all about “on the job” training. Players are being asked to perform at levels with consistency before they’re really ready. This is a tall order. Thousands of people watching and every moment being scrutinized can cause chinks in the armor of the most confident person. This week will accentuate that situation. Extra cameras, extra pressure, extra scrutiny, extra stakes and extra opportunity to learn.

In my first year, and I believe my first week, as a teacher, I was talking about the assignment for the day. I kept switching between referring to the paper as a sheet, then ditto, sheet, ditto, then it came out “shitto”. In a room of 26 sixth graders, they thought this was hilarious and burst out laughing. I just had to move on. Just like every career in the world, OTJ training is where you learn the most. Four years of college, seminars about teaching, student teaching experiences, lesson planning, etc. NEVER had the concept of cursing in front kids when I was the adult had ever entered my mind. These mistakes need to happen because you’re not ready for everything yet. None of us is “born ready”. We’re all born naked and afraid. Yet we press on.

The POSH young guns are not performing consistently at the moment. They’re naked and many are afraid. They weren’t born/bought ready. On the job training is the only way for them to get past it. It’s the best way for them to learn. In the arena! Performers are in there. Just not consistent performers yet. I hope that it’s this week in the spotlight they find the determination to keep their nerve and concentration for 90+ minutes. While most people fear the spotlight because they anticipate the fall, those who dare to be great want the spotlight to see them take off into flight!

Fly you fools!

Pete

Blogpost, posh, SoccerLifeBalance

POSH Pilgrimage 2024

Pete Huryk
An article from the Telegraph before the annoying pop up ads.

It took a little while to find the time to write up a post about my trip to England but here it is! The POSH Pilgrimage 2024 was a much longer and more involved trip but it created some great memories for my son and I before he left for college! Our love of football (soccer) has been one of the biggest parts of our relationship. We did as many things football as we could throughout our time there. Since his birth, I’ve been trying to convert him into a POSH fan. This trip was at least another partial attempt but I’m not sure if it worked.

The timetable of the trip was set for months due to our flights but the fixture list held us hostage for a while. Huddersfield at home was a great draw from a location perspective although the competition was going to be difficult. We arrived in Peterborough the day before the match. The city has changed a lot since my last visit. My affection for the club bleeds over into the city. So it’s interesting to return after a few years and see what growth has happened.

POSH vs Huddersfield– On match day, I got the opportunity to meet former Yellow Block personality Matthew Kisby. We met for a pint at Charters with my son and I drinking our first beer in England together. The prematch gathering was much better this time around. Last trip we went to Ebenezer’s which was a really cool place but a bit off the beaten path. London Road is still London Road regardless of what name gets slapped onto the outside. With this being my third trip, I know what it is and what it is not. The LRE keeps the noise of the fans in and it’s not the best ground in the country. However, it is the home the team that I support. So, I love it regardless!

The match was about what I could have expected. On my first trip, I saw the POSH dismantle MK Dons. Last trip we tied Sunderland on a last gasp goal. I was destined to see a loss at some point and I got it this go around. There was just that cutting edge missing to the attack but I knew that coming into the match. This season was going to be a project and I saw the beginning stages. Not disheartened in the slightest.

On Sunday, I got the opportunity to go to the training facility to watch the U18s and U16s play. It was great to see young players trying to apply the same principles as the first team. Just going to the facility was enjoyable for me because I remember the stories of players changing in their cars when they practiced at a park. The club has come a long way in the last twenty years. Despite my desire to stay and just watch as many training sessions and youth games as I could, the trip was about us seeing as much football as possible.

Sheffield Wednesday vs Plymouth– I know… I know… Sheffield Wednesday… I’m supposed to hate them due to the loss but I needed to be practical. It was the only match that worked for our schedule. I’d never been to Sheffield before despite being a fan of Def Leppard.

The time crunch between our train, to the hotel, to the match was an obstacle but we made it. The walk from the hotel to the match among Wednesday and Plymouth fan was enjoyable. Little bits of banter back and forth but nothing of concern. The ground itself was a definitive step up from London Road. Obviously, the history, fanbases, and financial backing are very different. So, it’s not a slight just a reality. The match itself was enjoyable for a neutral. Wednesday was dominant and it made for a really good atmosphere.

POSH vs Oxford United – The next stop on the pilgrimage was in Oxford. Great city to explore! The university and the other sites in the area made the visit worth it even before the match. I wish that we’d had more time to spend there but since it was a total unknown prior to our visit, I only had us there for the day before and match day.

I feel sorry for the fans of Oxford as their stadium stinks. Literally! The facility itself was fine but the odor was pretty overwhelming. This match played out much like the first. The faint continuous cheer from the POSH fans who traveled summed up the match well. Not everyone seemed ready to sign from the same song sheet. Hayes looked extremely lively but POSH couldn’t find the net and handed the result over to Oxford through mistakes. Winning my son over as a POSH fan was not working out well. Two defeats in two matches was less than ideal. It was time to move on to London for a couple days of football sightseeing.

Chaos in the Capital – The trip from Oxford to London was one of many where a train cancelation had us standing in the hall near the toilet for the trip. Arriving in London, we took the Underground and a bit of a walk to our hotel. It was one of those places tucked into a neighborhood. Upon our arrival, there was a note on the door stating that the hotel was closed down temporarily. This was a huge surprise but I sprang into problem solving mode quickly. I found a room at the Chelsea Cloisters building. It was reasonably priced and didn’t look like a bad option online. BUYER BEWARE!!! Upon our arrival at our room, I knew it wasn’t going to work and tried to either change rooms or get a refund on the room that I had been in for 5 minutes. The letting office were very nice but had no options or refund available for me.

So Luke and I went on a walk to get out of the funk that the situation had put us in. We visited Stamford Bridge’s store to pick something up for a friend who is a fan. While walking around the ground, I decided to look up the price for the hotel attached to Stamford Bridge, The Millenium and Copthorne Hotel. IT WAS ALMOST THE SAME PRICE AS THE VERY DISAPPOINTING CHELSEA CLOISTERS!!! On my phone, I made a reservation and despite paying for a hotel that I never stayed in, I was extremely happy with how things turned out. I’m not a Chelsea fan. I don’t dislike them at a Man City level but I am happy to sing the praises of their hotel. It was the best place that we stayed at our entire trip!

Since there were no matches in the later part of the week, we did stadium tours. Our tour of Hotspur Stadium was eaten up by our hotel fiasco. Now that we were housed at Stamford Bridge, doing a stadium tour only made sense. We also ventured to Craven Cottage which was my favorite stadium that we visited. From its location on the river to the historic aspects of the ground, it just has a character all its own. The construction of the new hotel makes the place a work in progress but I’m hopeful that I’ll get the chance to visit when it is all done.

This photo is taken from our seats. AMAZING!

Everton vs Brighton – For Luke, the main attraction for the trip was going to the Everton match. Acquiring tickets was a bit more difficult this time around. For our last trip, I had bought tickets through the Everton USA supporters group. Unfortunately the club changed that process and the group was no longer able to purchase tickets for American fans. Luckily, a supporter who is a season ticket holder saw my post about my trip and offered to sell me his two seats for the Brighton match. It was probably the most stressful part of the trip for me because up until we were in Oxford, I wasn’t sure if they were going to come through. Not only were the tickets transferred, they were amazing seats! I won’t list his name here but I am so thankful that he made this part of the trip a joy for Luke. He was literally “over the moon” with where we were sitting. The performance by Everton…. left a decent amount to be desired but since we had seen them thrash ManU on the first trip, he took it in stride. Of course, the POSH won in Shrewsbury! Although I would have liked to have seen it, being with Luke for his last match in Goodison was worth it.

London to go home – Due to our great experience earlier in the week, I booked our last night in London at the hotel at Stamford Bridge. There was a match on that day which added a bit of atmosphere to the place. Luke begrudgingly went with me to the area of Richmond where Ted Lasso was filmed. Despite the several complaints that we were being “such tourists”, he took some photos of me in the area. I was mildly surprised how much of the area was used in the show. Even though it was a complete tourist trap, I still loved going there.

After another great trip (not in terms of results), the one thing that probably has stuck with me the most is what Luke said after the Brighton loss. He said that he “needed” a loss like that to really solidify his fandom. It’s easy to be a fan when everything is going your way. The more difficult thing is to stick around when everything isn’t.

Up the POSH!

Pete

Blogpost

The POSH Pilgrimage (Recap)

Pete Huryk

My son and I returned safely from our trip to see the mighty POSH and another team based in Liverpool.  Compared with most of my other trips abroad, it was basically incident free.  That was of course by design because while traveling with a 13 year old, it is probably best to play it safe.  Despite that lack of crazy happenings, the trip was extremely enjoyable and gave us many things to ponder and remember.

Can’t Buy Me Love!

IMG_4315The Beatles may have been right by saying that  love can’t be bought but the purchase of a new jersey of your son’s favorite team does help.  Our first stop was in Liverpool for the Everton vs Manchester United match.  We had a day to tour around the city a bit but most of our time was spent at the club shop and taking photos near the two stadiums of the city’s rival teams.  Despite leaning toward Liverpool in the past, I had to stick with my son in his support of the Toffees.  It was not an easy thing to do since the first English player that I ever knew by name was Kevin Keegan.  Remember that I was raised in an era before the internet, so VHS instructional videos on soccer were my introduction to international soccer.  However keeping with my overall thought process, supporting Everton makes much more sense for me.  I tend to choose the road less traveled.  Regardless, on match day it seems that I made the right choice.  Everton pummeled the Red Devils from start to finish.  It seemed as though ManU was expecting the Toffees to roll over and die.  My son got the perfect introduction to live football in England, coincidentally 4-0 was the same score to the first POSH match that I ever attended.

We Lose If You Win!

Before and during the trip, I tried to impress upon Luke that football is taken very seriously throughout Europe but especially England.  During our train ride to Peterborough, he got an up close look at what I was talking about.  I had feared that we might end up seeing a clash between fans of opposing teams at some point.  That didn’t happen.  However on our trip to Peterborough, three Man United fans were having a heated discussion about who they would prefer to win the league.  The two older (around my age) fans were adamant that they would prefer that ManU lose to Man City in order for City to win the title.  Their historical hatred for Liverpool was so strong that they could not bare to see them win the title.  The younger man was not bothered by who won the title and only cared whether United sorted out their own issues.  It never looked like the conversation was going to turn physical but it was just enough of personal experience for Luke to see the gravity of support for one’s team in England.  We changed trains in Manchester and headed toward our next destination.  In the evening of Easter Sunday, we reached Peterborough.

Home Again!

One of my favorite quotes is “A man can never step into the same river twice because the river is different and so is he.”  This quote applies to my return to Peterborough.  Whenever I travel, I try to go for a run early in the morning.  It’s a great way to see a city before it becomes crowded with people, traffic, etc.  My first destination was London Road Stadium (The ABAX).  It had been almost exactly twelve years since my last visit.  The stadium much like the team seems to have been upgraded in noticeable ways but there is a core to both that have remained and make it seem the same.  I often wonder how fans of teams that have been bought and revamped like Man City feel about their club.  Having read the book by our chairman, I am quite comfortable with the methodical progress of the POSH over the past decade plus.  The success has come with sacrifice and resources that are not limitless which suits me perfectly.  The same is true of the city.  Peterborough is a small city that is not overwhelming.  It’s easy to feel at home there.

When In Rome!

IMG_4381 (1)With my young son in tow, I could not take part in everything that football culture has to offer.  I did take the time to visit the home of PISA at Eb’s.  We didn’t stay long and I only had one beer but I felt like I needed to show up and see what was going on.  I really should have coordinated better with some of the people on londonroad.net.  It would have been nice to put faces with screen names but this was a last minute decision because I did not know what to expect from the place.  It was actually the perfect place to go prior to the match.  The food looked and smelled good.  The memorabilia around the place was a good retrospective on some of the reasons why I’m a POSH fan now.

Close Enough to Feel a Part!

IMG_4398The match itself was preceded by a “First Time Fan” experience.  My son got the chance to sit in the team seats and high five the players on their way out to the warm-up.  For me it was an opportunity to be a few feet away from two POSH legends: Aaron Mclean and Darren Ferguson.  Although I must admit that I dropped the ball on getting photos with both.   As a coach I just couldn’t bring myself to interfere with pregame preparations.  Despite that fact, I still enjoyed the experience of getting down on the field level and seeing the players up close.

Our seats were great and the Sunderland fans were definitely up for the game.  During the first half, I was a bit worried by our play and support.  The team created a few opportunities but there seemed to be a non-committal feeling from the players and the POSH fans.  It was as if neither were truly ready to give their all for fear that they might be disappointed.  In the second half, that all changed as the players and the fans seemed to be fully invested in challenging a “big club” for the win on the day.  Although the Sunderland goal came first, it was at a point in the game where POSH were starting to cause real problems.  I knew we could pull level!

Then it happened!  Godden’s goal electrified the stadium (other than the Sunderland areas).  I don’t know exactly why but the combination of all of the circumstances culminated into so much excitement that I almost fainted.  Jumping, cheering and clapping, I could feel myself getting light headed.  The only thought that saved me was that if I passed out, my son would have to deal with it.  So I calmed myself down.  Godden had a chance to make it the perfect occasion but it wasn’t to be.

IMG_4404Prior to the match, the man who lead the “First Time Fan” activities had said to the group, “If we win, you need to come back because we won.  If we tie or lose, you need to come back to see a win.”  Although the game ended in a draw, it was still a great experience for Luke and I.  I would have preferred three points and a dominant performance like I got during my last visit to London Road but this was special in its own way because I was there with Luke.  We will will be back at some point and hopefully it won’t take a decade this time!

Pete