28-09-2021, 08:43 AM
I am more than old enough to remember the emergence of a very young Bobby Charlton as one of The Busby Babes.
He featured in Sportsnight (then hosted by Harry Carpenter) piece about him, they showed a clip of him working all afternoon practicing his shooting with numbered boards hanging up in the goals and someone calling a number which he had to hit from the penalty area on the run with one of the youth team tackling him. They also showed how he had developed his exceptional 5-10yd burst by working for hours and hours with a PTI at his National Service base, he was a fitness fanatic.
Result ? A great international striker with exceptional pace and blistering shot and stamina way beyond his team mates (who spent their afternoons golfing or drinking or down the betting shop according to Eammon Dunphy’s excellent ‘United- a strange kind of glory’).
The entire Pompey squad would probably benefit enormously from such personal dedication - our three lacklustre strikers especially so, but, they unfortunately seem happy to be what they are. No amount of machinery, no amount of personal trainers can achieve unless you are prepared to put a lot more than just a shift in.
Finally, it’s a tragedy that Bobby seems to be going the same way as his brother, a victim of mental disease probably as a result of his profession.
He featured in Sportsnight (then hosted by Harry Carpenter) piece about him, they showed a clip of him working all afternoon practicing his shooting with numbered boards hanging up in the goals and someone calling a number which he had to hit from the penalty area on the run with one of the youth team tackling him. They also showed how he had developed his exceptional 5-10yd burst by working for hours and hours with a PTI at his National Service base, he was a fitness fanatic.
Result ? A great international striker with exceptional pace and blistering shot and stamina way beyond his team mates (who spent their afternoons golfing or drinking or down the betting shop according to Eammon Dunphy’s excellent ‘United- a strange kind of glory’).
The entire Pompey squad would probably benefit enormously from such personal dedication - our three lacklustre strikers especially so, but, they unfortunately seem happy to be what they are. No amount of machinery, no amount of personal trainers can achieve unless you are prepared to put a lot more than just a shift in.
Finally, it’s a tragedy that Bobby seems to be going the same way as his brother, a victim of mental disease probably as a result of his profession.