It’s post match at The New Lawns and Forest Green manager Troy Deeney is not holding back in his assessment of his players performance after their two-nil loss to Harrogate Town.
His twelve minute Radio Gloucester rant lets everyone know how he is feeling about individuals and the overall group mentality. And social media laps it up.
A full-on managerial rants gets everyone’s attention. Why? Because they are pretty rare.
There is what happens in the sanctuary of the dressing room. Between the manager, staff and players. And what is communicated to the outside world. And they are two separate things.
The dressing room is a sanctuary because it is a bubble. A place of containment. Where Trust is built.
Trust is the sacred quality that binds everything together. Trust creates Energy. Responsivity. Attitude. Belief. Will. Togetherness.
With Trust you can overcome obstacles together. Trust creates commitment to do what is needed. When you have Trust you have buy-in.
But when you lose Trust, it can be very hard to regain it. It’s like an invisible silken thread. It has to be handled with care.
Troy Deeney is only a few games into his managerial reign. And thus in the early learning phase. Mistakes happen.
But one of the first and most important thing to understand in management is why the players are not responding to your messaging.
Explaining that you gave them lots of information means nothing if your players didn’t take on board that information. Look to yourself first. Be reflective. Assess. Analyse. Why are my players not getting what I am asking them to do?
How much information can they handle. Delivered in what way. How often?
Your job as manager is to teach your players what you know and have learnt over a long career. Your success or failure may well depend upon how effectively you transfer that information.
Don’t blame them if they don’t get what you want them to do, without first understanding how effectively they learn.
And don’t allow the sanctuary of dressing room trust to be compromised by your frustrations.
Otherwise your public shows of raw emotion will cost you the trust of your players. And ultimately your job.