The Sports Psychology Blog
This Sports Psychology blog comes as Stoke City lose two games in a week, and their position as Championship leaders.
Football: Stoke City - Trouble At The Top
It's straight after the Stoke City-Queens Park Rangers game at Loftus Road. The Potters have gone down three-nil. Outfought and outplayed by a hungry Rangers side. And they have had captain Andy Griffin sent off. Mistakenly sent off by Andy D'Urso, after having made a clean tackle.
It would be enough to send most managers ballistic. Raging about a sense of injustice. Claiming that they are being 'victimised'. But not Stoke boss Tony Pulis. He is calm and reasonable. He hopes that the referee will realise he has made a mistake. No ranting. No raving. And that's how it should be.
With Stoke losing their lead at the top of the table, it's not the time for Pulis to show emotional weakness. Show that the pressure is getting to him. Because if it gets to him, then it will get to the players.
Right now, Pulis needs a clear head to analyse just why his team have surrendered six points this week. Is it a tactical problem. A physical problem. Or a psychological one? Has being at the top of the league affected performance? And if so, how. And why?
Perhaps his team were uncomfortable with being leaders. Felt they had to play differently to justify their lofty status. Or maybe felt that they had achieved their goal and so lost some hunger. Or perhaps, experienced subtle doubts about their league position measured against their true capability. Or it could be that they didn't want to be the team everyone wants to beat. Maybe better to be under the radar. Quietly going about your business. Out of the glare and the spotlight. Where weaknesses can't be magnified.
Either way, Tony Pulis needs to be able to put his finger on the reason why. The business end of the season is no time for uncertainty.
