I read this story earlier.... 8 years old, touted by several clubs... I still don't know what i make of it... On one hand it's fantastic, and hope he goes on to bigger things. The other side is, he's only 8, and the pressure he may feel...it's supposed to be fun at 8 years old... I just don't know...
Its probably too early to tell how good hes gona be, but he must have somthing if City were interested!
My mate's son is eight and is being watched by both Newcastle and Sunderland. It's mad, he's just a bairn.
IMO it's to young but if he is a local lad then it's like playing/training for your local side. It's when they are taken from further a field that I wouldn't agree with as it puts extra pressure on both the kid and the parents (they need time to be a kid as well). These kids are still growing and in my opinion shouldn't be playing competitive football (bigger pitches/recording scores) until they are U12/14 level as you would be surprised how many start to flourish later on as they become comfortable with their team mates and surroundings and their confidence builds, this could also be knocked out of them if too much pressure is put on them.
In Brazil and Holland they have signed up players this age for years, and it seems to pay off for them, so let's hope the lad develops into a real 'home grown' talent...
Good luck to the lad,but its a long way to go.....look no further than his dad..Michael Smith??? who represented England at school boy level?
There was a bunch of young kids playing on the pitch at ht against Bolton and some of them had unbelievable tekkers. The natural ability has to be there but you only get certain things added to your game by working closely with top coaches. Id sign my 9 week old up now if I could but he hasn't decided how to balance his professional football/boxer/rockstar career. He's very lazy
There was a bunch of young kids playing on the pitch at ht against Bolton and some of them had unbelievable tekkers. The natural ability has to be there but you only get certain things added to your game by working closely with top coaches. Id sign my 9 week old up now if I could but he hasn't decided how to balance his professional football/boxer/rockstar career. He's very lazy
I'm afraid this is the way things are now with the young uns. My mates son was playing in the Bolton game at half time, Manchester city also after him too, even offered to pay off his fathers mortgage to get him to sign. Now there talking about opening academies all over England, with one being in the north east so the stumbling block of these young uns moving away from is removed. Crazy
