For three years we have witnessed him at St. James’ Park, elbow resting almost jauntily against the dugout roof, history and passion at one with dignity. This is the demeanour of a man, searching for the football moment of pure joy and liberation, when heaven smiles and the gods of football shine down upon St. James Park. But on a sombre Saturday, after an untimely Champions League elimination, the knight’s hair looked whiter, the wrinkles etched more deeply, the Robson sparkle absent. For the hero, bleeding black and white blood, the sight of some of his expensive acquisitions refusing to […]
Read More...Martin Perry
Football: Leeds United – A Powerful THEM
It’s ten games into the League One season and Leeds United remain unbeaten. Nine wins and a draw. Three points off the play-offs. This for a team docked fifteen points at the start of the season. Many pundits thought that the fifteen point penalty would send Leeds spiraling into League Two and beyond. A point of no return. But what if the points deduction was a catalyst to success? That the Football League handed Leeds United a powerful focus. A motivational tool that every manager craves for. An enemy to unite his team. A THEM! A THEM is an opposing […]
Read More...Rugby: Argentina – The Band Of Brothers
It was noticeable from the opening game. People were talking about Argentina. Talking about their national anthem. How the players were; the sense of power; the depth of feeling; the togetherness. And so it proved. After defeats of France and Ireland, Argentina are being spoken of as potential World Cup winners. This is a group of players who have clearly built something between them. One observer pronounced that ‘they had God on their side’. In team building status, they appear to have attained the highest level. The level of brothers. It is the point of team development where each player […]
Read More...Rugby: Ireland – Beneath The Surface
There have been many reasons put forward for Ireland’s exit from the World Cup. Over expectation; poor tactics; rustiness; superior opposition. All the above may be contributing factors. To the observer, it appeared that the Irish lacked energy; pizzaz; dynamism; an unfettered passion that could burn off doubt. As if there was a sluggishness running through the team that cast a shadow over their moments in the sun. This was a team that seemed ‘bothered’ by something. Whatever that ‘something’ was, it did not look as if the Irish team had the foresight or the wit to clear things up. […]
Read More...Rugby: Australia – We Hate England!
There are still group games to be played, but already Australia are cranking up the pressure ahead of a potential World Cup quarter-final with England. ‘We all hate England’. That’s from the Australian Chief Executive John O’Neill. For England this is perfect. A motivational gift has just landed on the porch. Thank you! You are hated. Great. There is no problem locating the enemy then. No problem in finding someone to ram the words back down their throats. To prove them wrong. It’s like having an extra player. Having a THEM to focus all your energy brings the US together. […]
Read More...Football Psychology: Hull City – A Lesson In Belief
‘The difference wasn’t necessarily technical. It was about belief’. The words of Hull City manager Phil Brown after their four goal defeat to Chelsea. So what Phil really means is that Chelsea had four times the belief that Hull City did. Belief means that you don’t stand and watch whilst the opposition demonstrate how good they are. It’s about imposing yourself on the game. Remember the belief that Wimbledon had when they shocked the football world in the 1988 FA Cup Final. They exuded no doubt. They backed themselves. They backed each other. They knew that their team-spirit was second […]
Read More...Rugby: Ireland – I Believe?
It’s six days before the World Cup crunch match with Argentina and Irish centre Gordon D’Arcy is asked whether Ireland can score the four tries necessary for progression. ‘We have to believe we can’ he replies. Whilst this is reasonable comment, the notion of ‘having to believe’ doesn’t carry the same weight of power as a team who do believe. Having to believe informs us that this team need to go on a mental and emotional journey to reach the state of belief from which they have to play. We have to believe doesn’t mean we will. Belief is a […]
Read More...Cricket: Youvraj Singh – Disrespect Me!
There are three overs left in the England – India Twenty-20 encounter when Andrew Flintoff and Youvraj Singh start exchanging words. At one point, Youvraj starts advancing towards Flintoff with his bat. The next over, bowled by Stuart Broad, goes for thirty six runs. Six consecutive sixes. Whatever Andrew Flintoff said, he did the perfect job in firing Youvraj Singh up. From wanting to go out a hit quick runs to suddenly being totally committed to doing so. It was as if he crossed a line. All his power and energy were galvanised to the one cause. Suddenly Youvraj had […]
Read More...Football: Chelsea – Life After Jose
So what now for Chelsea after the departure of Jose Mourinho? Two scenarios present themselves. The first is that the club goes from strength to strength. The players, under a new manager, play the brand of stylish Champions League winning football the owner dreams of. The second is that, the players, feeling sorry for themselves, simply fall back into the Premier League pack and the dream fades. So – which will it be? The answer partly depends on how the players respond to Mourinho’s departure. If he has created a culture full of self-leaders, charged with making their own decisions, […]
Read More...Rugby: France – Overaroused?
By what distortion, by what confusion of values, could anyone compare the game of rugby to the Resistance?” asked Nicolas Gurgand in the French magazine L’Express. The question refers to the letter that was read out by the French team in advance of their fragile performance in the opening game of the Rugby World Cup. The letter at the centre of the controversy was written by Guy Muquet, a 17-year-old Resistance hero, just before his execution in 1941. It begins: “My little adored mummy, my adored baby brother, my little daddy, whom I love so much, I am going to […]
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