Bristow leads Havant to promotion

Havant have finally secured promotion back into the national league after a troublesome period for the club, and I would say something had to do with the return of Chris Bristow taking over as first choice. With Ben Cowling replaced and with the former Surbiton goalkeeper and player/coach at Eastbourne returning to his old club to help them return to the national league after the demotion into the regionals, it looked like a switch to a more experienced and strategic minded goalie sorting out plays from the back, had an impact on the squad and dressing room to secure victory.

Bristow is known for a pretty aggressive style, being active in his D in rushing out to close down attackers but that seems to have calmed into a more balanced approach (doing as needed rather than all the time). And with experience in the England setup, albeit for a short time, and his player/coach experience, a more tactical mind has made the minutest difference that ensured this season they finally beat their demons as a club.

There have been a few changes at the club with coaching staff shifting and the squad changing, and an experienced goalkeeper with Premier league experience under his belt, and loyalty to the club that helped him grow into the athlete he is, Bristow will also help them in the efforts to remain in the West conference this upcoming season as they look to bounce back from a rough patch as a club.

Cowling switches to TK

Another convert to TK foam of recent times seems to Ben Cowling at Havant. Staying on at the coastal side, the former Canterbury shot stopper will be keen to lead his side out of the divison and back to the national league. Wearing the rebound enhancing TK Synergy pads he can get the best out of his reactive style of shot stopping dealing with corners.

Picture courtesy of Hockey Images:

http://www.hockeyimages.co.uk/4d52088

Season review: Cowling not as resurgent as hoped

How does a goalkeeper capable of earning clean sheets in the Premier league, 'stopping the rot' in relief of another goalkeeper having their season implode, only to move down a division to be part of a squad that ends up getting relegated during that same season? That's the question that hangs around the situation of one of the most historical national league clubs getting demoted in the West conference. With other teams digging their heels in to stop the same fate occuring, it was a battle to the last for a number of teams in the West division.

Whilst it may come across like a turncoat of the GK Union bitching about elite players, this does stand out on a technical level of analysis with the 'mental game' in mind. Especially considering that Cowling has had the luxury of playing behind a strong team (little work to do not relative to a goalkeeper's performance). Cowling's confidence 'in between the sticks' has always stood out in the national league. His puffed out chest, his air of self confidence and oozing self belief. He is a lot like Max Weinhold (German Olympian) in this respect.

And belief is crucial to a goalkeeper playing well - crucial for the team in front of them. And their consistency over a season; whether a bad loss effects them or not going into the next game etc. Peter Shilton for instance swears by the need for the goalkeeper to be 'full of it', with a lot of goalkeeper coaches encouraging a real intensity to the goalkeeper's mental approach to playing, with the need for goalkeepers to be confident in their shot stopping; the two linked intrinsically.

Unfortunately for Ben and Havant, this was a regular sight this season just past.

Compare all this to Simon Mason and his performances which pretty much ensured the survival of the Surrey side. Just so in a surprise win over Havant playing away (in which the photo above was actually taken). Whereas Mason kept struggling on and battling away no matter what, Cowling sometimes seemed to lose the thread of consistency as his confidence crumbled.

It's easy to forget the team role of goalkeeping in hockey, a team sport! If the goalkeeper gets too cocky, they can believe themselves to be above the team and their team mates, even if the defence is arguably a reason for their success. And similarly, if they stop believing in themselves, their defence can end up going the same way. As they say in ice hockey, a goalie should 'carry his team'. Goalkeeper is a self sacrificial sort of mentality and position. Goalkeepers need to bleed for their team mates, to go all out, to do whatever it takes. And have that competitive edge. Without this, you can guarantee that the season won't go well.

In an objective world of analysis, goalkeepers would be critiqued on this and also coached on this incredibly important aspect of the game. Of course, athletes are still human, but for this level of sport, the goalkeeper has to take on the responsibility for their own game and their confidence levels. If these drop, they need to restock, refresh and start believing in themselves again to get out of a 'slump'.

Cowling backstopping Havant

Havant have the most goalkeepers registered in any national league squad for this season upcoming, along with East Grinstead, at the maximum of four. But they arguably have the most depth in the league, although Beeston are in for a good shout as they have enough depth to help them through George Pinner's international training schedule and involvement. Caelen Dillon joins from Winchester, with experience at junior international level, whilst Ben Cowling, Canterbury's first choice for the latter end of last season, with his own junior experience at U21's a while ago, joins via change of work and life circumstances (or however you phrase it!).

Personally from what I have seen, Cowling is not up to scratch, like some of the goalkeepers in the national league, which can be argued with quantified results, analysis and stats. Cowling's main facet is his unbreakable confidence, which all (something you can learn from the career of Ray Clemence, who would dust himself down and get back at it, every game, as they say). Havant looked like they were going to be back in the Premier league by this season, and were doing really well, with great consistency, but then started to falter, losing their confidence in an unexpected loss away to Guildford.

Yes, Cowling has experience, and some natural talent is there, but just because a goalkeeper plays behind a strong team it doesn't make him a good goalkeeper. When judging it should be on current standard of play, it shouldn't be "oh, so and so plays for Man Utd ergo he must be awesome". Cesar at QPR played outstandingly at QPR last season because he had a porous defence in front of him, not the other way round!! I know it sounds harsh, but if we want hockey to be of the same standard as the "professionals", then we have to be critical and push for more analysis and better able athletes in goal, rather than putting whoever wants to go in goal there.

He showed promise to start the season, but then things have seemed to go a little awry. And without that confidence level his game will probably fall to pieces, so he needs to reset and refind his game before the team implode in front of him. A lot like Gomes, sports psychology is incredibly important for goalkeepers; without it athletes struggle, the game is always 90% mental and 10% talent as they say. But it is not just that. I have seen him get beaten by simple shots, such as when making the choice to log against drag flicks, when playing for Canterbury, which are unjustifiable at the elite level, showing poor decision making, and will go punished if this type of thing continues. If he were to attack the ball more rather than be so passive with his size, he would also see different results.

Working with a goalkeeper coach, as they have at Havant, which is quite a rarity in English hockey to be honest, regularly should help him ground his technique for the game. This with working on the fundamentals that are the basis for any elite goalkeeper. But whilst he started strong, things have started to hit a bumpy road.

Here you can see Cowling's newly changed hand positioning

 at short corners as he leads his defence on this PC.

The goalkeepers around the club also demonstrate different approaches in technique and kit, which is better for the game. Although, if the team are used to playing with a certain style of goalkeeper and need perhaps to change it up, they need a reserve goalkeeper that can play in this way too. For instance a like for like match; take Freidel playing differently to Lloris for Tottenham and the results, for an analogy! Matt Weeks featured when Isaacs went down injured last season and Aaron Hoare has featured in the indoor seasons with Isaacs (now at Bromley) not making an appearance, although it would have been interesting to see him have adapted his sweeper keeper to indoor with a radical style, if improving on that of Andrew Charter's throwback development in recent years.

Other than that, Caelen has got all the skills to be an elite starter down the line, and the make-up of a long term champion, if he sticks with it and works hard to get there. With goalkeepers difficult to scout because they mature later, if he sticks to finetuning the technique he has so far, he should definitely be in contention for senior international selection. In my opinion he could have a similar "career" (for some reason ) path like Jimi Lewis, like when he himself was at Havant. He's grounded and shows maturity and the desire to improve, which reflects in his play. He took over as first chance for England U18's over the summer by battling for the shirt at the recent Junior tournament in Spain. He is confident with his feet on short corners, a facet of the contemporary game which allows better rebound control and reactive saves, and shows a strong, grounded base of technique, plus the confidence and game psychology to go with it. And these are sure signs of true potential.

Canterbury starting to wobble?

With Canterbury doing a lot worse than they have been so far so so in the new season, Kindler might be in a spot of goalie hell (in terms of those nightmare goals that won't get of your head), if things don't improve over the course of the next few weeks. Unfortunately it's part and parcel of representative hockey at this level, and without having seen the game in person, I can't really discuss the technical analysis of where things caused goals to be conceded. But the goals against doesn't look great from any angle right now sadly.

East Grinstead play a very hit and run, always attacking style of hockey where they will always over run teams that cannot keep the pace defensively or held their shape in a disciplined fashion as they lose focus or self confidence and belief in tying things up again. When faced with this kind of threat, a time needs to either look to slow down the pace of the game, or go on the counter attack. If a team holds the shape properly, then it can be counteracted, just look what Wigan did against a now free flowing Tottenham last season, Everton also. If these can of defensive breakdowns are becoming more regular within a game, then the goalkeeper needs to adapt as a sweeper to come out and challenge more to help out in these situations, in order to eliminate goal scoring chances rather than letting themselves be faced with such precise shots. Just look at what Lloris is able to do right now in terms of shutting down attacks, against Cardiff especially. Sorry about the future reference, but it's a useful analogy!

In these kinds of games, the goalkeeper is essentially holding back the tide. This is the kind of game that the goalkeeper has to forget about losing and focus on reducing the deficit. I.e. making sure the game doesn't get out of hand. Just look at how well Guzan played for Villa, enough to get called into the USA squad as a result. And if the team don't put it behind them quickly and recently mentally and just focus on the game in hand, things honestly don't look good. This is the same team that pretty much just missed out . Where others have reinforced , Canterbury perhaps have not got that option. But their strength is that they play as a team rather than a band of mercenaries or individuals (read Man City of last season!) and should stick to their strengths to get back points in a league that is now stronger than it was last season. They need to get back that strong start if they want to sort things out.

I'd back Kindler to sort things out and reright the ship given his internal balance (sports psych wise) and the maturity that he can bring to his game. It's what Stubbings struggled with so greatly, who has gone off the . As soon as a goalie has a confidence collapse in the span of the game, the more they feel useful or too overly self critical, the more these beliefs play out as they lose the grip on their confidence and thus playing abilities within the game and it just becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. There is also a huge amount of psychology relating to sport and this is a case in point of where it affects anyone's performance. Hopefully Canterbury will refind that spark and self belief, as I'm sure they can (no such thing as can't, no point dwelling on negativity, it's just deconstructive not good for anyone!), otherwise they're going to need , before the management, coach and team lose confidence in whoever it is between the pipes. Goalkeeping is about confidence: the confidence to get to free balls under pressure or fear of injury, the confidence to play well in tough games or against the league leaders and so on. But if a team wants to do well, they need to trust that their goalkeeper has their back. If they don't, the team mojo goes adrift.

Ironically Cowling whose main elite skill is his mental strength has left for work reasons, playing at Havant where he is instigating a turnaround, so he's not there to be put in to stop the rot for now. So Kindler and Canterbury really need to just refocus and act as if nothing has happened. Refind that confidence and get on with the task at hand, without fearing relegation, otherwise they're going to struggle, and the club might end up being a goalie graveyard like Surbiton was before Kettle came in and shored things up at the back.

Cowling goes to Havant

With summer transfers under way, the first goalie transfer in the Men's national league in England is Ben Cowling. Having performed well in place of Stubbings at the latter end of the season just past, he managed a clean sheet against East Grinstead (unless I forgot wrong) and performed well as Canterbury attempted Euro Hockey League qualification, which means it's an interesting move. With Isaacs on the move (more on that later, might have to go in a rumours section!), Havant are obviously on the lookout for a competent starter as they look to get back into the Premier league. Cowling has played in the Super Sixes and with Havant looking to get back to the standard of indoor they played not so long ago seems like a good idea. For Canterbury the future will be now as Stubbings will presumably become the incumbent first choice, with Triggs still signed up just in case.

http://www.englandhockey.co.uk/fl/ehl/playermovement_m.asp?l=1