The Sports Psychology Blog
Today's Sports Psychology blog comes after Newcastle United appoint Dennis Wise to their management team.
Football: Newcastle United - Early Warning Signs
'I just do not know enough about it'. The words of Newcastle United manager Kevin Keegan when quizzed about the imminent arrival of Dennis Wise. For Keegan to be unaware of the installation of Dennis Wise into the Newcastle United management structure is a surprise.
It also suggests that the Newcastle board and the manager are already mis-aligned. One making key decisions without informing and including the other.
For Keegan this could represent a problem. He is a man who wears his heart on his sleeve. A man who runs on passion, warmth and feeling. A man with strong emotions. And if he is excluded from key processes then he will potentially feel hurt. Not made to feel important. Merely a player in the dynamics of the football club. Rather than the leader of the cause. Shaping the club in his image and his image alone.
It may be that Dennis Wise and Kevin Keegan develop the perfect professional relationship. But it will be by more luck than calculated collective judgement. It is a gamble loaded with consequences. Keegan is already seen to be the man not making key personnel decisions. And that may not be his idea of how the football club should be run.
Chris Mort and Mike Ashley would be well advised to understand and appreciate the emotional dynamic of their manager. Failure to recognise this, could well mean that the messiah's return is a brief one.
