Football boss debunks short corner myth as fans praise ‘phenomenal’ explanation
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You know that collective exasperated groan football fans make when their team takes a short corner? Well it turns out it's completely unjustified.
Since time immemorial, supporters have considered failure to arbitrarily lob the ball into the box from the corner quadrant not only a gigantic waste of time, but also a crime against sporting ethics. Short corners are about as loathed as half-and-half scarves, but that might not be the case for long after Notts County manager Luke Williams went full myth buster on the overtly-dreaded set-piece tactic.
He claimed his side were best corner takers in English football, with one in four producing a shot on target. However, due to the widespread close-minded view of what constitutes a corner, those shots are deemed, incorrectly according to Williams, to have come from open play.
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"Right, I'm going to tell you the truth now," he said at a press conference after his side's 4-2 win over Bradford. "We have the most shots on target from corners in the EFL. One in four corners results in a shot on target, which is the best by a long way.
"We've actually scored the most goals in the division from corners, but you [reporters] don't know they're from corners, do you? Because unless we whack it in the box it's not a corner. We take a corner, we pass the ball, until that ball is turned over or we give it away or it goes off the pitch, it's still a corner! And we are extremely successful at corners. I'm sorry to break your hearts but it's the truth.
What do you make of Williams' comments? Let us know in the comments section below.
"I made sure we did the research, and I'm being serious now. Corners [crossing the ball into the box] have a very low success rate across football worldwide. When someone runs through the crowd and heads the ball and smashes it into the back of the net, we remember it.
"We don't remember the 50 corners that get caught by the goalkeeper or hit the side netting or get headed away. We just forget. We also forget that when ball comes into the pitch immediately and gets passed five times and crossed in from the other end we think it was open play, that it was just a part of the game. But it wasn't, it was from a corner."
He also said his County side make it their mission to keep the ball moving to ensure their opponents never get a breather, noting that "defenders love corners" that get crossed in because most of them are "6ft 3ins" and are "happy to have a rest".
A clip from Williams' speech has been doing the rounds on social media and fans have been lavishing the former Swindon boss with praise ever since. One X user wrote: "This is phenomenal. Believes his way works and has the stats to back it up. Top level management."
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Another said: "Brilliant. Wish mainstream sports channels would show more of this type of insight instead of the Prem entitled cry babies day after day." A third added: "Luke Williams is a football genius."
A Notts County fan beamed: "Can’t stop watching this. Of all the signings we made over recent years, Luke Williams, surely, is the greatest of all. It's like all the learnings and wisdom gained through a coaching career released in the Notts County sandbox and here we now are with a castle. Inspirational."
County are gunning for back-to-back promotions following their jump up to League Two from the National League last season. They're currently third in the table, level on points with fellow promoted side Wrexham, after winning 10 of their first 18 league games.
Williams arrived at the club in 2022 and guided the club to a second-place finish in the National League in his first season at the helm, achieving promotion via the play-offs. He's won a whopping 60% of his matches as manager of the Meadow Lane club, with 45 wins from 74 games.
- Notts County FC
- League Two
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