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Football In Denmark Meets...AGF's Bailey Peacock-Farrell
664 Plays1 year ago
An exclusive interview with AGF & Northern Ireland goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell following his move from Burnley in the summer. We talked about how the move came about, his first impressions of Denmark, coping with pressure and much more.
If you enjoy this episode please consider supporting everything that goes on at Football In Denmark by becoming a Patreon - it costs the equivalent of a coffee a month and helps keep the content coming.
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Transcript
Bailey Peacock Farrell's Move to Denmark
00:00:15
Speaker
Welcome to another special edition of Danish Dynamike the Super League podcast and I've got a great exclusive interview today where I sat down with Bailey Peacock Farrell
00:00:25
Speaker
the Northern Ireland number one goalkeeper and on loan at AKF for the season. And it's always quite rare to get a player coming from the championship or the Premier League, coming over to Denmark at this point of his career. You know, he's only 26. He's the international number one and he's got bags of experience, bags of talent and yet
00:00:45
Speaker
still coming into his peak. So a really interesting character. And as soon as he came to the Super League, I was like, I've definitely got to get this guy on Danish Dynamike. I think it's such a cool story. And he's really turned heads with his performances in the first few weeks of the season.
Virtual Interview Insights
00:01:02
Speaker
So yeah, I sat down with him virtually after training one day.
00:01:06
Speaker
And we just talked about the move, how it materialized, his first experiences of Denmark, and hopefully it's a really interesting conversation. So without further ado, this is football in Denmark meets Bailey Peacock Farrell.
Decision Factors for Joining AGF
00:01:21
Speaker
Bailey, welcome. Firstly, welcome to the Superleaker. And I wondered, could you talk a little bit about how the move unfolded? Because I remember there being rumors that there were, you know, championship clubs who'd made offers. And then a friend of mine, AGF supporter, actually the guy who gave you the bunch of flowers at the supporters thing, he said to me, oh, we're interested in this guy, Bailey Peacock Farrell. And I was like, this rumor is too out there to be false. So yeah, tell me about the summer.
00:01:45
Speaker
Yeah so like I said you touched on there I had a couple offers in the championship that were there for me and then over the course I've got to say from start to finish I'd say it's probably two weeks where AGF came involved and came onto the scene and
00:02:01
Speaker
pretty much the get-go. It was at the front runner in my mind. I've always said to my agent and said to people in football, my teammates, European football really intrigues me and it's something that hopefully I can get to do in my career. And I've said this for many
Choosing AGF for Playtime Over Burnley
00:02:17
Speaker
years now. So then to when an opportunity does come up to turn it down, to stick with the so-called easier, convenient options of staying in England,
00:02:27
Speaker
I thought it was a really good opportunity to to explore so over the course of those there's two weeks I spoke to Uwe and he gave me a brief like overview of the league and the club and how he works on now as to compare to obviously I had him at Leeds but I was third both choice at that time so I wasn't fully involved in the first team as a first team member so yeah he just gave me an overview and I thought
00:02:54
Speaker
This is really, really good. He told me it's pretty much the same as championship. Tactically, it's a better league. You've got real tight games, whereas in the championship you can have a lot more often you have the three nils and the four nils.
00:03:10
Speaker
He said it was a more European-style football similar to how I am at international football, that kind of pace of the game. And just basically overall what he said really intrigued me and I was really interested. So over those two weeks, I just decided, you know what, I'm going to do it. I'll take that jump, that so-called be prepared for such and get on a plane over to Denmark.
Surprise Amongst Friends and Teammates
00:03:32
Speaker
Yeah, I wondered, having played a part in Burnley's promotion to the Premier League last season, was it a tough decision to leave? No, it was an easy one. I myself, I need to be playing football. I'm in that stage of my career where I need to be playing regular for my career and also just my happiness. I ultimately
00:03:53
Speaker
enjoy playing week in week out and at that moment Burnley wasn't fulfilling that aspect. Burnley were aware of that and it was a fairly easy decision for me to go and search for regular game time elsewhere this season.
00:04:10
Speaker
Makes total sense. And you know what? I'm always so surprised that more top players don't come from the Premier League and the Championship to test themselves in Denmark. So I'm really delighted that you made the move. But speaking to your, I don't know, friends, former teammates, were any of them surprised that you were headed over the North Sea?
00:04:26
Speaker
Yeah, pretty much everyone was surprised from the start, really. And it was basically from what once I've explained the picture and the league and like we've just touched on before we started, not many people know about the ins and outs of this league and in England. So it's a case of they're not just not educated on the league or the standard and they can't see how it could compare or to the kind of levels of English
Tactical Diversity in Danish League
00:04:55
Speaker
football. And
00:04:56
Speaker
And once I pretty much explained to them, I said, look, you've got a real tough league here and a league full of really technical players and tactical abilities. And the way that every team pretty much plays by the odd one is good football. Whereas in England, you can have in the championship, for example, you can have
00:05:18
Speaker
maybe only, I think, at Burnley we were a very passing team last year, a good footballing team, still are now, but maybe there's only six or seven footballing teams in the championship that you'd class, Swansea would be another one, whereas pretty much here, everyone is playing out, everyone is playing through the thirds and there's not many direct teams.
00:05:43
Speaker
which is quite a nice thing to do. It's a good league and people really probably need to understand that a little bit more. But like you said, there's not much coverage of it in England.
00:05:55
Speaker
Yeah, I was speaking to the FC Nordsland manager, Johan Torrup, after the conference league game the other week. And he was saying that, you know, I was asking for help selling the Danish League. I was like, what would you say, you know, to people to get them to watch the Danish League? And he said, look, of the 12 teams, there's not a single one who plays the same style. And that's really interesting from a from a, I guess, a tactical perspective. Yeah, yeah. Uwe said the same thing.
00:06:21
Speaker
everyone's a little bit different tactically because of the league, you've only got one game a week. It leads to a lot more coaching throughout the week, which in turn leads to more tactical awareness and ability. So overall games are tighter, they're more structured and there's less
00:06:43
Speaker
chances to give away because everyone is so well drilled in their shape and their own style. So yeah, like it, like he said that everyone is slightly different. On a whole, I would say everyone's technical ability is still over, is of a really good level as well. And then on top of that, they add their teams DNA to the game
Adapting to Danish League Tactics
00:07:05
Speaker
as well.
00:07:05
Speaker
I know you said before that you didn't know a huge amount about AGF or the Danish league before arriving. What have you done in the lead up to the move and sort of in your first few weeks? What have you done to kind of immerse yourself in the league? So basically how it's just been going is just through training and match analysis of whoever we're playing and I just learned that way. So throughout the week we get thread information of
00:07:30
Speaker
whoever were playing against, how their style and how they are. So that's how I'm learning. And over the course of the season, obviously, it splits next year into the top six and bottom six, we'll play each other again and again. So I think over the course of the season, my knowledge will be just constantly learning. So every week, new team, new chance to learn something about
Goalkeeping Dynamics and Performance
00:07:53
Speaker
them.
00:07:53
Speaker
Brilliant. And it seems like from what I've read and bear in mind that everything that I read in the Danish press, I have to put through Google translate, so I'm not getting it direct some of the time. But it seems like from what I've read, the understanding was that you'd get a run of games to prove yourself, which I think you certainly have, you know, six games, three clean sheets, only one loss there. Has Uwe pulled you to one side yet and and told you that you're the permanent number one for the rest of the season? No, I don't think.
00:08:20
Speaker
any manager does that anymore. I've been given an opportunity and like you touched on there and I probably said I've taken it. So it's mine to lose. I think you'll be hard pressed to find any team in the world now where the current playing goalie if he has three, four, five bad games in a row, he's not going to be swapped just like any outfielder.
00:08:45
Speaker
I think gone were the days of where you've got back in the days where you probably had an out and out one, an out and out number two and an out and out number three. I think most teams now like to carry at least two playing goalies.
00:08:58
Speaker
So I think, I think Uwe and Stig, the sporting director across the entire team is trying to create competition and elevate the team, each transfer window. So yeah, it's currently mine to lose, but just like every, every single player, I'm out there to try and perform to the best in my ability and to continue playing for this team. Yeah. And I guess if you keep, if you keep playing those passes like you did the other week with the, uh, it wasn't quite an assist, but maybe it was a pre-assist. Second assist, I want to call it. Yeah. Yeah.
00:09:29
Speaker
Yeah. If you keep doing those, I'm sure that's going to help your cause. No end. Yeah, I hope so. I wanted to ask a bit about the goalkeeper's union. And I guess this might be a difficult question, but I wondered how the relationship between goalkeepers at a club works. So unlike outfield positions, the idea of
00:09:45
Speaker
rotating goalies between games or, you know, coming off the bench and playing 20 minutes doesn't really happen necessarily. So I guess there'll be situations where a starter becomes a backup, as is now the case with Jesper Hansen. How does the group maintain kind of a good relationship despite the fact that there's such fierce competition? It's a strange one to keep pursuing because it's hard to explain. I think there's just an understanding there. And ultimately, it's the manager who chooses the team.
00:10:13
Speaker
So you can't really deflect your anger towards the player who's playing ahead of you at that moment in time. So I've been very fortunate in my career so far where I've had a good goalkeeper's union from, I don't know, 16 years old. It's been really good. I think there's something in our DNA where we stick together. There's a feeling that you pull towards each other naturally.
00:10:40
Speaker
Because obviously we're separate from the team for a lot of the time. We're an individual in a team sport is probably how I like to describe it. It's a specialised position. So we train by ourselves and then we come in to the team. So we're with each other 24-7 pretty much.
00:10:57
Speaker
I can only speak from my side because, like I said, I've only had good ones, but it's been fine. It's been great so far. Jesper's been amazing in terms of helping me understand the teams that we're playing against. He as well is telling me.
00:11:13
Speaker
This player's got a great right foot. He likes to cut inside and get a shot off. This team is a bit more physical on corners. He gives me that kind of insight because obviously, as we well know, he's played in the league for a long, long time now.
Impressions of Aarhus and Integration
00:11:27
Speaker
So he's been great in that aspect as well. And then off the pitch as well, he's letting me know a few places to go and visit and helping me with certain things as well. So he's been a great interaction so far and a good goalkeeper's union. Brilliant.
00:11:41
Speaker
Speaking of kind of off the pitch stuff, what's been your first impressions of Denmark and Aarhus especially? Has there been anything that's kind of surprised you in the positive sense about the day to day? The one bit I've probably noticed just is how incentivised you are to ride a bike or have an electric car or basically not to drive your car. Bike lanes are great and you've got the scooters you can hop on, the bikes you can rent.
00:12:07
Speaker
I've noticed that about the city. The city is super clean. It's a great size. It's not too big, not too small. It's got enough going on. I've been honestly really, really happy with the place as a whole. I've been here for a bit of time now and just had a walk around because I was in the hotel for a couple of weeks, so there was not much to do in a hotel. So you just end up walking around the city.
00:12:31
Speaker
discovering bits and bobs and it's a really beautiful city and along you buy the water as well which has its own great benefits as well so it's been really nice and a lot of the team have uh took me out we went for dinner we've gone to the cinema so there's a good group of us as well so i've managed to see quite a bit in my short time so far
00:12:51
Speaker
Brilliant. And which of your teammates has sort of really gone out their way to help you settle in? I'd say I've probably spent the most time with Felix. We've got a common friend, Yalma, who's at Burnley. Okay. So I've done a few bits with Felix. He's been helpful. My roommate Magnus also been really helpful as well. And there's about, there's a good six, seven of us in there that go for food and cinema quite a bit. Yeah. But those are the two that stick out.
00:13:19
Speaker
I saw at your unveiling number 45, which is quite an unusual number for a keeper.
Unique Jersey Number Choice
00:13:24
Speaker
What's behind that? Are you secretly a huge Mario Balotelli fan? Why always me? Yeah. It was, I believe it was my first professional squad number at Leeds. So I went 45, 30.
00:13:40
Speaker
And then number one, obviously yes, but has one. And I think the other two were taken. So I went right back to the start and yeah. So I thought, you know what? I don't want just a random number. I want something that I've mean something a little bit. So yeah, it's a bit, it's certainly not a common playing goalie number, but yeah, 45 is the one first professional contract number.
Cultural Adjustments and Comparisons
00:14:04
Speaker
Awesome. Yeah, it's always nice when there's a little story behind it rather than just getting given a random one. What's the thing that you can't find in shops here that you miss most from the UK? Oh, Yorkshire tea bags.
00:14:17
Speaker
I've asked, my mum's going to come over at the end of September and I've asked her to bring me some. For some reason, those come up quite often. I think we bring them to family in Italy as well, like people just love them. They're a top T. I can't remember who in the England squad got them sent out for World Cup or the Euros or something. It was James Milner, I'm pretty certain. Sounds like a James Milner move. Yorkshire man. Yeah, exactly. Yorkshire T's going to be coming my way in the next month. You can start a franchise.
00:14:47
Speaker
yeah out on the pitch i wondered in denmark did the games feel any different to england you obviously haven't played on astro yet i don't think but does the flow of the game feel any different
00:14:58
Speaker
I would say, obviously, I've only seen a brief view of the stadiums. So overall, I would say the stadiums are better in England in terms of just size and presence as well. We had the club bridge game away and home. And one of the things I noticed was the flares and the flags and the drums. And I felt we carried a good atmosphere that was probably
00:15:25
Speaker
You don't really see that in England. You don't see many drums or flags or flares. And if you do bring a flare, you're getting taken out quite quickly. So I feel like there's a bit more of an atmosphere here. And in terms of the game, I would put it the tempo as more of an international game. I think the prime of the championship is is faster.
00:15:47
Speaker
and a bit more hectic and quicker. I'd say the pace here is a bit more controlled. And then the final third is fast. So it's how I would probably describe it. Obviously, Norschaland have got a very fast team in general. But on a whole, from the games I've played so far, I'd say it's a more international paced game.
00:16:10
Speaker
That's really interesting. And yeah, I'm seemingly obsessed by the difference between playing on grass and AstroTurf. So once you've played on Astro, I'd love to know how it compares. Yeah, I've only I've only done it once professionally. And that was Lithuania away two seasons ago, I think. Yeah, two seasons ago. And I've got actually Kazakhstan next.
00:16:32
Speaker
next week on Astral Turf. So that can be my little practice, as if you could call it a practice in a Euro qualifies. But yeah, it's not the greatest. Obviously, it's not perfect.
Playing on AstroTurf and International Experiences
00:16:42
Speaker
But I think in Scotland, you've got some Astral Turfs as well. But from what I've been told, it's obviously behaves differently. The ball skids, different roles, different, it's just going to be a different game. Obviously, Northland use it as a home advantage. And I think
00:16:55
Speaker
it's fairly clever from them to be honest they can always guarantee a flat surface and it would fast ball speed so it works well for them yeah and actually uh silker board play on one two and when they play each other as was last week it's called el plastico that's a bit of a bit bit of danish football knowledge for you there you go yeah good to know
00:17:15
Speaker
Unlike in England, there's quite a long winter break in Denmark. Is it something you think you'll enjoy to be able to, I don't know, switch off, recharge a bit over those dark winter months? Yes, I'm looking forward to that quite a lot because, you know, like I said, in England, we don't have it. And it's only been starting to be introduced over the last two, three seasons where you get a two week window where half the teams play one week and then half the teams play another.
Welcoming Danish Football Schedule
00:17:38
Speaker
So that you'd probably get maybe three, four days off.
00:17:41
Speaker
and that's in January anyway, so not really that beneficial. But here it's obviously a long break. I'm looking forward to it. That'll be the next time that I'll be going back to England. It'll be really nice because I haven't had really a Christmas since I became, I was a scholar at Leeds at 16.
00:18:00
Speaker
So I'm really looking forward to being able to go home and spend time with my family and my friends and enjoy Christmas for what it is. I'm quite a festive person by nature. I was brought up in a very festive environment. So to be able to enjoy Christmas is quite something I'm looking forward to.
00:18:19
Speaker
Definitely. Yeah, I can't really imagine missing out on it for 10 years or whatever. That's kind of crazy. So I'm glad that that's an extra benefit of this move.
Balancing Club and International Duties
00:18:29
Speaker
Exactly. I do really believe I think the European leagues have got it right when it comes to that. I think they've got that balance quite nice in terms of work and play as you such, you know, having a bit of off time over Christmas.
00:18:43
Speaker
I think that's good for, you know, the mental health as well as the, you know, the physical having maybe a week off. I know some leagues don't have the Danish leagues, obviously longer than most, but even if it's a week or two, it's certainly a nice thing to have. Obviously, but it's traditional, isn't it? It's what we call it in England. It's a big tradition to do boxing day and New Year. So it is what it is. But I'm sure if you probably asked every footballer, they would say they would love to have it.
00:19:10
Speaker
Yeah, you get situations where you see players pick up fifth bookings. Injuries or yellow cards. Yeah, just going to leave that to Christmas and you do wonder if they've got a dinner booking or something. Yeah, exactly. They've got two kids at home and they want to watch the kids open presents because sometimes it depends on the manager. You could be training on the morning or you could have...
00:19:32
Speaker
maybe the morning off and then you've got a report for training.
Acclimating to Danish Culture
00:19:36
Speaker
And then if you're unlucky and you're having a away game, you're in a hotel Christmas day. It's not ideal, but like I said, I've been doing it since I was 16, 17. So I've become accustomed to not having it, but I'm certainly looking forward to it this year.
00:19:50
Speaker
Most of the Super League games I've watched, there's no commentary. So I hear all the shouts from the touchline and whenever I watch AGF, I always recognize Dave Reddington on the touchline. Yeah. Is it nice to have someone at the club who's also, you know, come from English football and kind of understands the environment that you've come from?
00:20:06
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, certainly like just the English mindset, but in terms of he understands obviously moving abroad and it's not normal for English players to do that. And yeah, he's, it's been great to have him there. We have a chat most mornings and we talk about absolutely nothing and everything. And I think he also mentioned things like baked beans isn't a thing here.
00:20:28
Speaker
It's not really a thing. Yorkshire teabags obviously can't really find them. We just have little chats, little laughs about the stuff that you have in England that you don't have. But yeah, it's good to talk about the Premier League and everything really. It's a nice thing that I've got obviously in English right here. It's certainly helped things for sure. Brilliant.
00:20:49
Speaker
You talked about the fact that you're off on an international break with Northern
Northern Ireland Team Spirit
00:20:54
Speaker
Ireland. I think it's Slovenia and Kazakhstan. Are these breaks something that you look forward to? Or does it kind of disrupt the rhythm of the season? No, I think maybe when I first started, when I was 21, it kind of...
00:21:07
Speaker
messed up your flow a little bit, but now I'm a lot older. I really enjoy going away, always have. And I've found as I've gotten older, it's a lot easier to swing back into club football as well. It's nice to go away, see fresh, like new faces again, you know, that ultimately playing international football is amazing.
Mental Aspects of Goalkeeping
00:21:25
Speaker
So to be able to do that is a real privilege. And yeah, always look forward to going away because we have a great team and a great team spirit. So yeah, I'm looking forward to it.
00:21:36
Speaker
Yeah you get get some more stamps in the passport see some different places so yeah it does sound fun. Yeah I might actually run out I might need a new one by the end of the year because we're getting stamps for everything now. Absolutely I've wanted to you touched on it before but the kind of the mental side of the game for any professional footballer the
00:21:55
Speaker
the mental pressure of having to perform every week, you know, whether you're, you know, whatever else is going on in your life, but even more so for a goalkeeper because there's no, you know, there's no centre back partner to bail you out. You know, you're there on your own in a different coloured shirt. How do you deal with that sort of weekly cycle of pressure and then relief and then, you know, back to pressure, et cetera?
00:22:18
Speaker
Yeah, it's certainly, yeah, you've got no one who's going to really bail you out when you make a mistake. And you've got to make peace with that. Another thing, as I've gotten older, has gotten a lot better in terms of dealing with that. And it's been, it's hard to want to describe, you just learned. I don't want to say you don't care, but you just, you learn to, if you make the mistake, you go, right, you've got to just let it go.
00:22:40
Speaker
and you've got to just move on and just put that thought in the bin and then get on with whatever remainder of the game is. I think there's nothing worse than making a mistake and you're dwelling on it and one mistake becomes two and then that's when you've really hit the fan almost. So yeah, you've got to learn to really park it and I think it's a great skill that I've probably learned and transferred into normal life as well.
Future in AGF and Cultural Experiences
00:23:05
Speaker
Being able to control the controllables and let everything else go.
00:23:09
Speaker
Yeah, still working on that myself, but... Yeah, I don't think you'll ever be perfect, but the more you can let go, the more things you can do. If you just control the controllables, you get to a good mental space, I think. If you're stressing over things you can't do, what is the point? Great advice. Yeah, it's simple. Sean Dice really said that. He liked that saying a lot and it's stuck with me. I think it's a real good one.
00:23:33
Speaker
It's obviously early days of your time in AGF, but am I right in thinking that you're a free agent this summer? Yeah, technically, yeah. I only have an option to take an extra year, but technically my contract runs out at the end of June. And do you think there's a chance that you'll make this move permanent if it continues to fulfil the different things you want it to in terms of playing time and the experience of being in a new place?
00:23:56
Speaker
I honestly couldn't say. I really, I think this is why we just touched on that 10 seconds ago. It's uncontrollable, isn't it? I think when, when those discussions happen, then you discuss it. But I'm in such a good space now where I've got to, I just focus on a game every week. I've left everything in England. I'm just, I'm here physically and mentally to perform and help this team do better than it did last year. And what
00:24:24
Speaker
will be the result of that and we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I know it's not a real fun answer for you, but you can't let thoughts like that carry yourself away so early in the season. I think I've got 10 more games left till the winter break. So in my mind, I've got 10 games to win and 10 clean sheets to get. So that's where my head's at at the moment. As soon as you start thinking about other things, football is a real funny thing of
00:24:50
Speaker
and humbling you real quick. So it's one thing that you've got to be patient on. Yeah. I think this is more to do with me. I'm a forward thinker. I'm a planner. So like, I like to think a year ahead.
00:25:02
Speaker
Oh, no, so am I. Oh, honestly, I'm such a I'm such a planner. And I am so forward thinking. And it's so against my nature to do this. But it's a skill that I've had to learn. Because otherwise, it drives me insane. And yeah, by nature, I'm a planner. But in football, you can't do anything. Like I said, yeah, two weeks it wasn't with discussions with it. Yeah. And I'm in a different country. If you asked me two weeks before,
00:25:28
Speaker
my planning would have gone out the window and I would have been stressed about it. So you've got a, it's a hard thing to try and comprehend, but you just got to let things go and football will just take care of itself. The final thing that I wanted to ask you, I saved the most important question for last. Have you tried a Faxi Conda yet? Oh, the Fanta. Yeah, yeah. Iconic drink in Denmark, particularly the lemonade version. Haven't had the lemonade version yet. That's the classic.
00:25:56
Speaker
I've just had the orange one. You need to get the classic. Yeah, it was one of the first things I got told about when I was here. I got told about that, obviously the pastries and just go to any bakery you can because every single one's amazing with the breads and the pastries and stuff like that. So I've already had one or two drinks so far. Yeah, good stuff.
00:26:16
Speaker
Well, listen, Bailey, thank you so much for giving up your time. It's the evening there for you. So I know that you've got your rest, you've got your preparation to do. So yeah, really appreciate you giving up the time. Thank you. Now my girlfriend's in the kitchen now. She's making food, so I'm lucky I didn't have to cook tonight. Good stuff. But yeah, don't worry about it. It was an absolute pleasure and I was looking forward to this. So yeah, it's been great. Brilliant, man. Well, good luck for the rest of the season. And yeah, come on again in the second half of the season and tell us how it's going.
00:26:45
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that'll be good. A little halfway review. See where we are. Perfect. And that's it for this episode. I'd like to thank Bailey for his time and hopefully you enjoyed listening to that conversation. I'll be back next time with another edition of Danish Dynamike, the Superleaker podcast. Until then, enjoy the football and I'll speak to you next time.