PHIL CORBET departs the football development chair with one over-riding wish. ‘We’ve got to change the mentality of Guernsey football people,’ he says.

Corbet’s two-year tenure in the £25k-a-year post ends in July, but his love affair with the game is not about to end when he leaves his Corbet Field desk for the last time.

He prays for changes in the game and is prepared to reveal a few home truths about the sport he’s loved for 40 years and graced first as a talented youth footballer with Rovers and then as a Priaulx League, Muratti and Island Games-winning coach, before becoming the island’s first football mentor-in-chief.

The bottom line is that we have got to take our game to a new level and that may mean abandoning the source of his current pay packet and following cricket down the international route.

To raise standards in senior football, Corbet’s view is that one of two routes need to be taken: a) the UK league pyramid; b) the Uefa/Fifa path.

Corbet favours the international path.

‘To genuinely expand and develop our game, it’s the only route where the funding support will be made available to augment our endeavours.’

Local football is now under threat, he says, from two of the island’s other major team sports – cricket and rugby.

‘The advances made by the GCA and cricket joining the ICC, plus the work being carried out at the youngest ages, is a threat. So is the work of the Guernsey Mini/Youth Rugby Club is promoting their sport.’

Corbet is adamant football needs to open its eyes and change.

‘One of our biggest weaknesses is that we do not coach youngsters,’ he says with an apology to the few quality coaches working in youth football.

‘We create a competitve environment and encourage them to win at a very early age.’

In an obvious sideswipe at the Corbet Cup and new Youth Three league, he says: ‘It would be far better if they were allowed to learn the game before playing competitively.

‘Team selections are being made on the basis of winning as opposed to development.

‘The overall picture is that we are still not helping enough footballers to achieve their potential . . . we don’t guide them . . . challenge them.’

While supporting St Martin’s view that all coaches working in GFA football should be formally qualified, he firmly believes the individual clubs should be setting the standards and not the GFA.

He has his own radical view on how youth football, in particular, needs to adapt.

‘Firstly, we need to look at ways to make our youth [league] teams at all ages more competitive.

‘And we need to look at the way clubs are allowed to take on players.

‘I firmly believe that the only way we can make the [youth] game more competitive from the Corbet Cup [under-12s] upwards is to look at capping the number of players for each team.

‘I wouldn’t like to put a number on it and yes it’s radical, but I think it’s better than what we’ve got at the moment.’

His big worry at senior level is the mentality of the players and the slipping standards on and off the pitch.

‘The attitude of players certainly needs to be stronger. They need to be more committed.

‘It must be the aim of every player to play in their club’s first team.

‘I think it’s sad to see players who are simply happy to play in the club’s third team so they can play in the Sunday League.’

Corbet’s view is that it’s time for a reality check, for both youngsters and seniors.

‘The majority of our best players are of senior county standard, at best. But they need to show a better attitude to make sure they are the best they can be.’

As for the clubs, he uses the example of his late friend, Martyn Le Prevost, who at North set the benchmark for standards of behaviour both on and off the pitch.

‘There’s been a slow erosion of standards at all clubs, because clubs are scared to clamp down on the miscreants, in case they leave.

‘The standards are unacceptable at the moment in terms of discipline, behaviour and attitude.

‘We also need to have a higher benchmark of performance. The clubs simply deserve more from their players.’

He points to the falling number of volunteers within the game to support that exact point.

‘Volunteers have become disillusioned with what they’ve seen. The volunteers’ workforce is the smallest it has ever been.’

But it is not all doom and gloom for the national game in Guernsey.

The overall number of players is up, around 3,000 at the last count, mainly due to the introduction of girls’ football.

‘We’ve also got some super links in the north-west [of England],’ citing the example of the GFA’s Everton connection. ‘We’ve also just started working closely with Southampton.’

But, in a warning and reality check for all local youngsters, Corbet says it will be harder than ever for a Guernsey boy to make the step up into professional football.

‘It’s important that they [the boys] realise they are not world-beaters.

‘It is going to be harder for them to make it because they need to be in the system a lot earlier.

‘The clubs’ talent indication is now much earlier, at around eight to 10 years old.

‘For that reason it’s going to be a lot harder for our 15-year-olds to get a chance.

‘It is going to take something very, very special. But I’m sure we will get them.’

As an island side, Corbet accepts that the South-West Counties concept has had its day, but is adamant that it served a purpose and was very beneficial in the successes he masterminded, notably the 2001 Island Games victory and the 4-1 Muratti victory that year.

Playing as an island in the European Championships is not an idea to be scoffed at, he argues.

‘We have to look outside of Guernsey.

‘We can continue to make adjustments to our structure, but our players will still be playing against the same faces week in, week out.

‘What we’ve got to decide is what is the best package to expand our game.’