The Sports Psychology Blog
Today's Sports Psychology blog comes after Coventry City sack manager Ian Dowie.
Football: Ian Dowie - Reinvention
So Ian Dowie is sacked as manager of Coventry City. Less than a year into the job. As Coventry were being sucked into a Championship relegation dog-fight, then perhaps we shouldn't have been too surprised.
But what of Ian Dowie? Once regarded as one of the most promising managers in football. Where now? At Oldham Athletic and Crystal Palace, Dowie had it. The magic touch that brought under-performing teams together. Using motivation techniques. Innovation. Personal development challenges. Bright thinking. Dowie was destined for the top.
Then a high profile fall-out with Crystal Palace, followed by a very brief tenure at Charlton, took him to Coventry. Then, during his time at the Ricoh, he was successfully and very publically sued by Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan.
From being one of the brightest managers in the game, Dowie is now in danger of becoming just another football manager in the managerial merry-go-round. Dowie would be advised to take a break from the game for a while. Maybe travel around the world taking in the work of other sports coaches. Feed his mind on new ideas. Reconnect to that intellectual spirit that so informed his early work.
At the age of forty-three Ian Dowie still has time on his side. But he needs to be careful in his next career move. The right move to the right club could re-enliven his early reputation. However, the wrong move to the wrong club could crystallise the opinion in people's minds, that Dowie no longer has it. Has done his best work.
That's why a break would give him the time to reset his course and refresh his motivation. And reconnect to the core values that made Ian Dowie such a special young manager.
