Scott has had a busy summer so far. He has been used for help with their finishing by both England strikers. He tells Sky Sports that it is full. I really like it.
The rest of the squad came back for pre-season after a session with Watkins. He has a goal this year. He is more confident in his ability to hit that target because of that repetition. He just wants to get better.
In the hopes of getting a head start, he used the summer. He wanted to do some work before the team left. He worked on repetition with us. I hope this will be a breakthrough season for him because he has a good chance.
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There are more than just two of his clients. Many of the other players who I work with don't want me to mention their names because they don't want it to be public. I work with a lot of people.
Some might be surprised that the top clubs have this covered. Micro-management of nutrition is what it's called. The football team uses a throw-in coach. The stars are seeking one-on-one sessions with the coach of the women's basketball team.
He says the meeting was a chance one. I met a football coach while on vacation. He talked about the coaches they have there. In England, we only have a goalkeeper coach.
He identified a gap in the market and had the experience, having been a coach at academy level with Queens Park Rangers and Spurs. There was a market for it. It went crazy when players noticed that I was doing it.
Kai Corbett was the first client. The man who made his debut for the club last season was X-ray man. He came to me because he wasn't shooting enough.
The venture has grown and grown.
A lot of people reach out directly. It was at the age of nine when he first met him that he knew him. Others are contacted by coaches. His work can be seen on social media. Recommendations are a lot of it. You have to be trusted by the players.
What is the actual work that is being done? That repetition of shooting is what they would like. Is a finishing session specific to the player? The other five or six players in that session need more than that.
Personal attention can make a difference. They watch the sessions back together. Players don't realize they are doing something until they see it. It is not possible until you show them. Video is powerful.
There is more to Chickelday's work than just having 200 shots. The sessions are planned out and based on what I have seen in games. We are sitting and talking.
They want it to be tailored to their needs. What they want from it is up to them. The areas where they should be scoring more goals are identified by us. The box could be inside or outside. It might be making their movement better.
Reducing the number of touches around the box is something it could be doing. We try to get into productive areas from limited touches because some players need too much. We use different techniques of strikes.
It looks like the devil is in the details.
It's important to choose the shot. When we can, we use goalkeepers when we can because we base a lot of the shot choices on their movement. The goal screen is used if we cannot. Different parts of the foot are used.
We work a lot onHarvey's wrap shot. We are working on a shot. There are different kinds of shots. We have to make sure that the contact is clean and away from the goalie if we can.
Touches that are going to move the goalkeeper across their line are what we work on. Being clever with those touches is what it's all about. The goalkeeper will be moved to the left if we use an angle to the right.
"We use the touch to get a weight shift from the goalkeeper and as soon as we get that weight shift, we are making our shot choice to reverse the shot and get the ball across the goal line." The ball is used to manipulate the goalkeeper.
A large part of the session is that. The goalkeeper is never in a set position and we must always ensure that we are using an angle touch so we don't come off a straight touch. We can use the weight shift if we have one.
Why are the coaches at these clubs not doing this work themselves with their own multi-million-pound assets?
It's odd that players come to work with me on finishing when they're in elite environments. Managers work on formations. Maybe they don't have enough time. I'm not sure.
Many players prefer not to do this work in front of the people with whom they are competing for a spot in the team, and the people in charge of selecting that team. This is a safe place to work with an outsider.
Some players want to do an hour on their weaker foot. Maybe they don't want to take that to their manager because they think they are getting away with it up to now.
Harry Kane did it at Spurs, where he worked on his left foot in training for three months, but some players may not have the confidence to tell their manager they are only going to use their left foot.
We will do a lot of work on their weaker foot. They will tell you that their left foot is behind them and they want to work on it. I've done that with a lot of players, just doing two sessions in a week.
There are some players who don't want people to know that they are putting in extra work.
Watkins was allowed to do these sessions at the training ground by Villa. The sports science departments are wary of the players being too much.
When players get to the top, they say it's because of all the work they've put in. How are they supposed to improve if you tell them not to do that?
I would like to see a player working on his shooting. It is goals that win you matches and winning matches that win you cups.
One day, Chickelday wants to return to an elite role. He wants to get into a club environment and work with players daily. The decision on his importance is already made. There is a client waiting. The man is going back to the grass.
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