Thursday, 29 April 2010

Finger AND thumb??!

A relatively quiet week for a change with the biggest excitement coming from our Factory manager who emailed to say "Is it necessary to include a protection spine in the thumb?" As someone who has suffered his fair share of sore thumbs over the years, and also as someone whose two index fingers are pointing at funny angles and cannot be fully utilised anymore, then Yes it is essential! I grew up without Finger Protection Goalkeeper Gloves, and as such they feel "weird" on to me now and that is why with our last Finger Protection model, the Portiere Pro Protezione that we focussed on the comfort and flexibility above all else. Their biggest compliment was from non FP wearing keepers who said "I'd wear them".

Comfort is a priority at WarbyGK, and along with performance is what we design the gloves around as the actual look of the glove becomes secondary during our initial design consultation process. I can safely say that this years goalkeeper gloves are THE most comfortable that we have produced, as we have experimented with new materials in order to offer the very best and we have even included pre-curve into this years designs and this was a massive positive from our contracted goalkeepers who put the gloves thoroughly through their paces over the past 10 months.

I appreciate that for the last few weeks all you've heard is about the new range, and I have tried to not be continuously talking about the same subject, but I can't help it....we are just so childishly excited!! 

26 April 2010

A happy belated St Georges day to you all, and for those that aren't members of our Facebook Group or follow the goings on of WarbyGK Goalkeeper Gloves on Twitter, then here is the You Tube link to our celebratory present to you - a brief glimpse of one of the new goalkeeper gloves that we are bringing out in just a few short weeks.

We are really excited about this glove as it features our amazingly popular Adesivo palm plus this years new development for WarbyGK - a pre curve roll finger palm, all coupled in with an amazing design featuring all latex backhand and an embossed St.George and the dragon! What more could a patriotic English goalkeeper ask for?

The goalie gloves which we are releasing will be staggered over the course of the 2010/11 UK football season in order to keep things fresh, and once again we really have created a goalkeepers glove for everyone as there will be gloves with fully removable finger AND thumb protection, Giga grip Latex, Mega Grip Latex plus the return of our stalwart Acqua and TotalSoft latex too. The design is our strongest to date and we are working extremely hard behind the scenes in preparation for the telephone call from HM Customs that says the container has docked in the UK, and then the fun begins!!

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Thursday, 22 April 2010

So close you can touch them (ish)!

Just as I felt things were slowing down on the WarbyGK goalkeeper Gloves Roller-Coaster, we strap ourselves in again as we're about to embark on another journey...

We have addressed several "issues" that surrounded the Portiere Pro range and have sourced a new factory that has managed to blow the other sample gloves we received straight out of contention. We were provided with samples of all of their available latex and we duly sent them off for rigorous testing before collating the results and feedback so that we could select the very best to take the WarbyGK brand of goalkeeper gloves on to the next level. I can confidently say that this has been achieved, and the quality of the stitching, design and materials will ensure that these new goalie gloves will be the object of desire for custodians worldwide.

I know it feels like they've been a long time coming and that it also feels as though this Blog has contained nothing else, but we have been sent pre-production images on Tuesday for our approval, and they have injected a new energy to our office. These goalkeeper gloves look fantastic, and even better they play fantastic! The ranges launch will be staggered throughout the season though, with just 3 initial gloves followed by several others as the season ticks along. Don't forget about our newsletter to stay updated on the happenings of these exciting new developments.

19 April 2010

What a strange week it turned out to be over the last seven days. First weird occurrence was having to scrape ice from my windscreen TWICE before leaving for the office...TWICE...it's April for crying out loud! The second happening was having a conversation with a Police Dog Patrol Unit at half five in the morning! Top bloke, but I guess he'd had a long night - he looked shattered! Dog was fine though......

We are hopeful of being able to make an imminent announcement regarding the new range of Goalkeeper Gloves. The Try Me, Love Me promotion has been a real double edged sword as on the one side, it worked phenomenally well and the amount of new customers generated was amazing but on the flipside being without stock for nearly 6 weeks is a huge inconvenience to both our customers and also our development but as we had originally projected to be carrying enough stock to last us until the end of the season and now we have none, means that another cloud has a silver lining!

I can reveal though that we are bringing in new latex that we haven't included in our range of gloves before, and retaining some of the "old faithful" palms which have served us well over the last 3 years, and the reactions we have had from our goalkeepers has been a hugely popular one with regards the new grips and rightly so too as the research and trials that have gone into these developments will begin to pay dividends once goalkeepers (finally) get their hands in a pair!

Thursday, 15 April 2010

Click, Click, Click........

As bizarre an opening to a blog this title may be, it is in fact the noise I make when I'm walking now! It's quite comical when I'm in a quiet hospital and you can hear me coming from a mile away! Since the operation to repair my cruciates, my right knee can now do morse code with every step and then ad to this cacophony my left ankle....

I turned this ankle just before I was due the operation last year. I was coaching and we were working one on ones and as I dribbled in and the keeper claimed from me, I jumped over him and landed on the turn. This twisted my ankle and caused some ligament damage however as I knew that I would be laid up shortly with the knee operation then I assumed time would heal it......which it kind of did, but I'm now left with an ankle that makes me sound as though I'm wearing calipers!

Some days are naturally better than others, but it is my knee that still causes me major grief. I'm hopeful of some light at the end of the tunnel though as I have my long awaited MRI scan scheduled for the end of this month and then hopefully we will know exactly what is happening in there. All I know is I'd like the pain to go away and just be able to get on with everyday tasks without wincing or grimacing. Striking a football again would be fantastic, though I feel I'm a long way off this....

On a final note, the home page has been updated along with some images of what's (perhaps) coming soon from WarbyGK on the Products page..............enjoy!

12 April 2010

I find it increasingly hard to believe that we are already nearly half way through April, the time is just flying currently with no signs of slowing down (well, the only time time goes slow is when I'm waiting for my wife to make my dinner!) and we already know the finalists for the FA Cup in May.

As a youngster, FA Cup Final day was always incredibly special as the build up used to begin early in the morning on the BBC. Sat with my Brother, our whole day would be devoted to watching the spectacle from seeing the players at their hotel to following the team bus all the way up Wembley way and into the magnificent stadium itself - the TV cameras seemed to have full behind the scenes access and that was the lure for me, the game itself was secondary. I have always been left disappointed in recent seasons as the coverage is very professional and sterile but even so I still have to watch the whole build up and so the wife is already pre-briefed that Saturday May 15 is FA Cup Final Day and nothing can interfere......

I have my fingers crossed that David James can lift the trophy for Portsmouth as he has been one of the outstanding goalkeepers for the last decade, and has now seemed to mould himself into his role whereas before he always came across, to me, as trying too hard. What I liked yesterday when Portsmouth were 1-0 up is that any ball launched into his box he always looked to come and claim. Just by watching him you could sense this first thought and then sense his wise decision to stay at home instead, but that impressed me as he will be fully aware that he alone can relieve the pressure on his teammates and he made the right decision time and time again - those actions proved to me that he is world class and, my opinion, deserves to be the Number One for England this summer. Only time will tell.......

Thursday, 08 April 2010

Look out Shakespear!

As many of you will be aware I have yet to truly kick a ball in anger since my operation last June. To say I expected to be laid up for around 3 months would be a serious under estimation as 10 months later I'm still next to useless in everyday tasks! Anyway the enforced lay off has allowed me to develop the other side of my businesses and particular a (secret) passion of mine....writing!

Making the time before the operation was a serious no go as often with my coaching I'd be out for 10-12 hours a day doing various freelance and club coaching sessions and so anything else took a back seat. I am lucky in that WarbyGK has recruited very good staff members and at the time, I could allow them to work on the gloves whilst I was out coaching goalkeepers, but always on the end of a phone if necessary! As previously mentioned in my Blogs I have become "office" bound but, always one to look for a silver lining, have used this time to develop my other skills and in all honesty I have really enjoyed this now that I know what I'm doing! Previously the thought of being in an office all day would bring me out in a cold sweat but now that I have adapted the situation to suit my needs it works OK, plus I am now a "One Finger Whizz" on the keyboard! I made sure that I have an office with a BIG window, and somewhere that I can listen to Radio One all day long without upsetting the others, and the only complaint I have is the untidiness of my colleagues - my desk is always particularly tidy as everything has it's own place (I was the same packing my kit bag before a game!) but as soon as I leave the office I always come back to find my desk in a right state! "I was looking for that invoice....." or similar is the reply. Look with your eyes then, not your hands!

Anyway, I digress. Here's a link to some of my articles:

Pilgrim Goalkeeper Coaching

Goalkeepers Locker

05 April 2010

As it's Bank Holiday today in the UK, I'm hoping to be able to get this blog written and get home again in time before the kids wake up....I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it all goes smoothly so that I can take the rest of the day off and not worry about goalkeeper gloves until tomorrow.

Easier said than done, as WarbyGK Ltd is more than a business or a job - it's a passion and when you have so much more than money invested (emotions) then there is rarely a minute go by when you are not thinking about what to do next, how to develop, where's the next path going to lead us? I have tried to limit the amount of hours spent in the office recently as it is easy to become unproductive whilst working long days, but this only lasts for a couple of days! There is an inevitable question that cannot be answered by the others, or some complication or delay and as a Director I have a duty of care over the business and put simply, I cannot leave it alone!

We have some news regarding the new developments and will release details as soon as we are able to, needless to say that nothing is straightforward and we have had to make some big decisions regarding what comes first due to the availability of the material. We are aware that the huge success of the Try Me, Love Me campaign has created many more customers for the WarbyGK brand and we are under a certain level of pressure to fulfil their subsequent orders so please rest assured that we have devoted as much time as possible to ensure swift delivery of the first batch of goalie gloves, and again please sign up for our Newsletter to be among the first to know!

Thursday, 01 April 2010

Bye, Bye March!

Welcome along to the start of another month, and as we leave March behind we can look back at our achievements with great pride. What other company that sells goalkeeper gloves can boast these achievements last month:

2 endorsees winning their League already

1 endorsee made both his and WarbyGK's Wembley debut

1 endorsee jumping up two leagues on to League One

We sold out of every single pair of goalkeeper gloves

Neville Southall was pictured wearing our Legends

Reading back through the blogs makes good reading from a business perspective, and is a permanent reminder of how far we are progressing but perhaps MY proudest achievement in March was my eldest daughter (4 years old) saying "That's our business" when she saw Adam Collin wearing his gloves at Wembley on Sunday. Not just "Our Gloves" or even "Daddies Business" but specifically "Our Business" and that, as a parent, made me really proud as it puts all the sleepless nights and long hours into perspective when your children realise exactly why you are doing these things!

Just touching on business, it amazes me how silly some people can be: there was a treadmill on eBay I had my eye on, and it was based in my town. Starting at £100 with a £150 Buy it Now price, I emailed and offered £120 cash and pick up the same day so no eBay or PayPal fees for the seller. they reply that they will let it run and see what happens (only 1 day left, no bids!). Turns out they sold it for £100 first bidder and will have had their fees on top - unlucky! The hard decisions are often the right decisions....