Goalkeeping coach Jack Stern has spoken about working for his boyhood club on the latest edition of the Official Brighton & Hove Albion Podcast. The former West Bromwich Albion and Cincinnati FC coach grew up a Seagulls fan and covered a range of topics in the latest episode, including our current crop of keepers and how much goalkeeping coaching has changed in his career.
âIn the past you would maybe work once or twice a week on goalkeeping, with an overweight guy that would just smash a ball at you," Jack said. âItâs changed completely. Iâve been lucky enough to see that. The access I had as a young player and early on as a goalkeeping coach, to when I started coaching full time in 2010 [it changed] and since then itâs moved on so much in terms of what youâre expected to do.
âAlso the way we train is so different, moving from static exercises; volleying the ball into peopleâs hands and simple things.
âNow, we look at the opposition, the stats and analysis of what a goalkeeper has to do in a game. We do more live practices that look like a game. Itâs changed for the better.
Jack Stern joined Albion in January 2022.
"Iâve seen the âold schoolâ way of coaching and the new way, and I want to bring some of that together, because what goalkeepers were doing for 60 years before wasnât all wrong, there were still really good goalkeepers.
âThere were good things going on 20, 25 years ago. Itâs a hybrid model, you look at the modern trends, but also keep some of the fundamentals.â
Jack also discussed his role with Albion and how theyâre always looking for the next number one.
Bart Verbruggen speaks to Jack Stern in the Stadio Olimpico.
âItâs well known that we loan out a lot of goalkeepers â weâve got Carl [Rushworth] and James [Beadle] playing in the Championship. Keeping track of how they're doing, looking at recruitment, seeing who is next, where might we lost a goalkeeper and how do we replace them.
âItâs definitely a bigger role than just coaching the first team goalkeepers, but thatâs enjoyable as well. Iâve done it in other clubs, but itâs special for me to be able to do it here, a club that I supported as a kid. To be involved in future-proofing us as much as possible, itâs exciting.â