Goalkeeping coach Tony Roberts introduced a number of academy players at the club to life as a goalkeeper earlier this week in a workshop at the Avant Training Centre.
We caught up with Roberts after the session to discuss the importance of the day and reflect on his time so far with the Canaries' backroom staff.
First of all, just tell us a little bit about this session and what you were trying to achieve on the day.
It was an introduction to myself and the staff for all the parents of the young potential goalkeepers we have got here and to introduce them to the life of a goalkeeper. So, we’ve shown them a lot of stuff that the first-team boys do and the pathway of how to get there. These young guys are on the journey now, starting right at the bottom and hopefully we can get one of them to work their way up to replace Angus (Gunn) at Carrow Road, like one of the boys said to him, which is brilliant!
Why is this workshop so important for them to learn and see at such a young age?
Because they've been spotted and brought here for a reason; they watch the Premier League, they’ve watched England play, loads of different games and goalkeepers; and now it’s an insight into the detail of every aspect of goalkeeping, from shot stopping to dealing with crosses to certain set-piece situations. They have to learn and deal with and read the games, and it's our job to teach them that, obviously in building blocks at different ages, but it's just like an insight into what they're going to be doing in hopefully the next however many years that they play in goal.
How important is it that there were so many faces here today that those young players will recognise, like Angus Gunn, George Long, Vicente Reyes, Archie Mair, Dan Barden and even John Ruddy?
We're all part of a union, we're a special breed, goalkeepers. As soon as I mentioned it to the boys last week about what we were doing this evening, all of them put their hand up and said that they wanted to be here to show support because they understand the problems of what these young ones are going to face. A lot of the session was about the mentality side; to be a goalkeeper you’ve got to be mentally tough and mentally strong and our role comes with mistakes; it’s just about minimising those situations. So, if we can educate them how to read certain situations, hopefully they'll be in the right position and they'll make a save or they'll catch a cross and snuff out that danger, so that is the main reason really.
Moving away from tonight’s session, just for those who may not know, can you tell us few of your key highlights from your career?
I was a goalkeeper myself, I played in the Premier League and I’ve played at every level here in England. I was fortunate enough to have been the first team assistant at Arsenal, where I started, then I went to Swansea in the Premier League. I was in Birmingham for a short period, I was at Wolves for three years and in AC Milan last year. Now I've come back through knowing Ben Knapper from my Arsenal days. He asked if I'd be interested in coming and I'm here now! Hopefully, I can pass on all of my experience with all the other staff, all the way down to these younger age groups and hopefully we can produce one of our own. If you look at our top Premier League goalkeepers, if you want to buy a top one, that’s £50 million. So, if you can produce one through your academy with these facilities we've got here and the training ground that we have, with our good coaches teaching them the right stuff, then hopefully we can get one through.
Has there been a moment in your coaching career that really sticks out to you where you've seen your work showcased by the improvement and development of a goalkeeper on the pitch?
Yes, I’ve had a few. I worked with Wojciech Szczęsny at Arsenal when he was 16 or 17, he then went on to become the first-team goalkeeper at the club and he's now at Barcelona. I also had a good time coaching Łukasz Fabiański, another one at a young age. I've had a lot of goalkeepers that I’ve worked with who are playing in the Championship or in the National League, so I’d like to think I have a programme that works and educates them in all aspects and then it's down to them to see what level they can get to. That’s been the highlight; whichever club I’ve been to, the goalkeepers have always had good seasons and performed all during the year, so hopefully I can do that here with the boys we've got. We're getting there slowly with this programme; it doesn’t just happen in a month or two months. It's a period of time where you have to take a lot of information in, absorb it and then go and produce it.
Has there been a moment from your playing career with the coaching you received that has helped shaped your style of coaching today?
One of the first coaches I had was a man called Bob Wilson, who I worked with when I was playing at QPR. I was number two to David Seaman, who he then helped get to Arsenal. Bob has shaped a lot of my coaching career because of the way he explained goalkeeping and showed me the detail of the goalkeeper's role and what we have to be aware of and I've always taken that on board. Another gentleman called Mick Payne, who was my coach when I was at Dagenham for years. I've picked up a lot of small snippets of different people and moulded them into the way I am now. The whole point of coaches is getting your message across and hopefully, the boys are taking it on board with the way I work and the knowledge I’ve accumulated over the years.
What is the one message that you hope these players take away from tonight’s session, if anything at all?
It's just to be focused and love playing football. I want them to wake up in the morning, think that they're going to prepare right during the day because they've got training tonight, by eating right, sleeping right, preparing right, getting their bag ready for training. So, it's all that focus on the small details. I've had people turn up for training and they’ve forgotten a boot or they've forgotten a glove, so it's about trying to get them to focus on things like that. They've got to be disciplined and want to learn and be coachable and accept advice, whether it's good or bad. So, that's my thing, I want them to enjoy wanting to come to work with whichever coach is putting the session on.
Lastly, you've been with the club four months now. How are you settling into life in Norwich as a club and as a city?
It’s beautiful, the facilities here at the training ground are Premier League level and the area itself for me, I love it down here. It’s been a really good four months and hopefully I'm here for a really long time.