It’s thirty minutes into Blackpool’s First Division encounter with struggling Brentford and the Seasiders, unexpectedly, find themselves three goals down to the relegation threatened visitors. It’s an atypical blip for Simon Grayson and his team, who have hauled themselves into promotion contention after a disastrous start to the season. There are a number of jobs in football that are considered intense management challenges, such as making Leeds United or Wolverhampton Wanderers driving forces in the game again. But what could be more daunting than the task of lifting Blackpool, one of England’s most famous clubs, back into the Championship, after […]

It is known as one of the safest jobs in the game. The previous incumbent had been there fifteen years. Yet, a mere fifteen games into his tenure at Charlton Athletic, Ian Dowie is sacked. His precipitous departure informs us of the pressures a new manager faces when replacing someone who has helped define a football club’s culture, its DNA. The next coach of Crewe Alexandra or Manchester United would face similar difficulties: the longer a manager serves a football club, the tougher it is for their replacement to shape it in their own image. Longevity is not, of itself, […]

It’s only the second Saturday of the new Championship season and at the Stadium of Light the long suffering locals are expressing their dissatisfaction. Sunderland have experienced a home reverse to Plymouth and Niall Quinn, if he didn’t know it already, is appreciating the daunting challenges which face him. The phone ins are hot with anxiety. What do the sports psychologists think? What are the problems confronting a manager trying to breathe life into a sleeping giant and how can he deal with them? With every so called ‘big club’, be it Sunderland, Derby County or Wolverhampton Wanderers, which has […]

it’s deep into the second half of World Cup Final and with Zidane and Henry pulling the strings for France it appears as if Zidane’s farewell will be glorious and positive; little were we to be aware of the vivid drama that was about to unfold. It was the psychology of sport at it’s best. Now we have to try to understand that at the very end, the moment where triumph reached out to grab his hand to take him to the pinnacle again, Zidane’s fingers slipped from the grasp of victory and he slid down the cliff of failure […]

It’s January 12th 2005 and Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea have drawn 0-0 at home against Manchester United in the first leg of the semi final of the Carling Cup. Honours even, Jose and Fergie retire for a glass of fine wine. But, disappointingly, the wine is mere plonk and the embarrassed Chelsea boss promises to rectify the situation for the away leg. He is as good as his word, arriving at Old Trafford with a bottle of Portugal’s finest vintage. Thus he would wish to show his respect for Sir Alex and all he has achieved and, by implication, he is […]

In a recent survey for the Barclay’s Spaces For Sports project, Portsmouth’s back-flipping striker Lomana Lua-Lua was deemed to have the greatest celebration in the history of the Premiership, closely followed by Robbie Keane’s cartwheel celebration and Klinsmann’s ironic dive. Celebrations have become part of the DNA of sporting endeavour. The solid handshake or ‘high fives’ have become too common currency and form no real part of the modern goal celebration. Even after the most fortuitous goal imaginable, there must be jumping, hugging and kissing, for it is by such means that the players recognise their collective accomplishments. The psychology […]

It’s late October and Arsenal’s stuttering premiership challenge is about to be resurrected as Robert Pires steps up to take his second penalty of the game against Manchester City. It is now the stuff of history that he tried to pass the ball to Henry, and failed. The comment it excited ranged, predictably, from amusement to outrage, but how, it was not asked, could a player as experienced as Pires, a World Cup winner, lose, by his own admission, his nerve at the last second. After all, this was not a spontaneous act, it had been pre-planned, on the suggestion […]

It’s Denmark v. England in Copenhagen and England have capitulated. The chagrin of press and public could be anticipated; David James’, honest admittance that he hadn’t prepared properly couldn’t. Unsurprisingly, he is omitted from the next squad, whether for his goalkeeping errors or his candour is open to debate. Whilst many have been keen to point the finger at James, it cannot be overlooked that he had been allowed to play while in a state of unreadiness. Surely, it is the duty of a management team to recognise this and deal with it by correcting, like footballing occulists, the focus […]

Jonathon Woodgate speaks Spanish like a Mallorcan and has grown his hair like an Argentinian. He has spent the last fourteen months recovering from an injury he had before moving to Real Madrid. Now, with Real in crisis and Luxumbergo on the verge of dismissal, Woodgate is called in for his first game for the club. His first significant action is, freakishly, to divert an Athletico Bilbao shot into his own net; a little later he gets booked for a bad tackle and early in the second half he is dismissed after a second yellow card. While Woodgate gets a […]

It’s high summer and the majority of Premiership coaches are relaxing on faraway beaches, seeking mental refreshment ahead of fresh challenges. One manager, however, has forsaken the towel and the tan. Stuart Pearce is overseeing the building of Manchester City’s new training centre. We shouldn’t be surprised at Pearce breaking with convention for it was he who, in the last game of the 2004-5 season, ordered goalkeeper, David James, to play upfield in an attempt to upset a nervous Middlesboro’ defence. Where in the FIFA Coaching Manual could such a tactic be found? Pearce has added a UEFA Pro Licence, […]