COACHES in York are soon set to find out that Sir Alex Ferguson is not the only football expert to come out of Govan, near Glasgow.

Former professional footballer Malcolm Cook, a one-time neighbour of the Manchester United manager, will be bringing revolutionary ideas to the city as he promotes his 'Freeflow' coaching concept.

Cook played for Scotland Youth, Motherwell, Bradford City and Newport County before injury curtailed his playing career.

He embarked on a successful coaching career which culminated in a three-year spell with the great Liverpool side of the late 1980s, before leaving to form a coaching business.

And since then - while Ferguson was turning United into the biggest club in the world - Cook has been creating his own groundbreaking coaching system designed to turn good players into great players.

He has also gained a degree in sports psychology and written four best-selling coaching books, but it is this new coaching system - called Freeflow - that is most likely to raise eyebrows.

He explained: "A lot of the time coaches tell a player what to do, but that doesn't mean he can do it - he has to experience it himself and understand at a deeper level than just words. Freeflow teaches how to look to your own senses and learn.

"It might sound complicated but it's not. It shows players how to overcome problems and concentrate fully on training."

These new methods have already been given the thumbs up by some of the top coaches in the land, including Nottingham Forest manager Paul Hart, and ex-Liverpool and Scotland international Steve Nicol, and have been endorsed by the likes of top managers Ferguson, Howard Wilkinson, Dario Gradi and Craig Brown. Yorkshire CC and Bradford Bulls RL are two other major sporting clubs to have become involved.

And soon the people of York will be able to see for themselves what it's all about, at training courses to be held at Bootham School.

Cook said that Freeflow was essentially about making players more aware of their own natural learning processes and less dependent on the coach. It claims coaches should not necessarily instruct players what to do, rather let them learn for themselves.

Cook believes some players fail to reach their true potential because of a lack of self-awareness and creativity and because old methods stifle their thought process, but through Freeflow they would become more fluid, technically better and mentally adaptable.

He said: "It seems that every time there's a World Cup or European Championship and we don't do well then everyone is full of what we need to do. But nothing substantial is ever done.

"This method provides something substantial. It is what the likes of the French and Brazilians have been doing and it works. (FA technical director) Howard Wilkinson has changed many things for the better but I think it needs to be changing a bit quicker.

"A lot of coaches don't understand how the mind and body interact all the time. Freeflow should help with that," he added.

"Some coaches might feel threatened by new methods, but this is about complementing what they already do. It trains you to do things quicker, sharper and better."

Cook will be holding his 'Freeflow introductory session on Sunday, November 25 at Bootham School between 11am and 1pm, and can be contacted on 01274 679069 for further details.

He added: "The objective of the two-hour session is to give an insight. It's quite basic but could be very beneficial."

Updated: 11:58 Wednesday, November 14, 2001