by red37 » Tue Nov 21, 2006 1:37 pm
ive been doing a little research into the role Psychology offers its services to sport (in particular football). quite a few distinguished names cropped up, as a result of a bit of digging ive put together a few thoughts and references to some of the figures involved in the findings below along with a summary ive added on in the respect of this topic.
for our own interests Liverpool, under Houllier appointed Jacques Crevoisier (based at UEFA at the time) in the summer of 2001 to replace the Lens bound Patrice Bergues. Crevoisier holds a PhD in 'Psychology' and the two had previously worked together under GH position at the FFF in the 90's. Indeed the pair went on to write a book together entitled "Entraineur: Competence et Passion" which basically outlines the mental requirements necessary to succeed in football: (so quite relevant here then) Though Houllier, considered himself, to be adept in the pseudo-science of the mind, in considering the following quote of his “Top players may have all the money they will ever need, but what they cannot buy is success.” (what he's saying is, there is greater emphasis than ever on the technician in creating a winning formula) Although he maybe should have taken some of the philosophies on board a little better when, Crevoisier approached him and warned against the signing of Milan Baros after witnessing his 'play acting' in a junior fixture in Ireland. The rest of that story is history. Below are some of Crevoisiers quotes:
“There are undoubtedly genetic factors,” “but the sort of aggression we associate with a ‘winning mentality’ is often a product of environment. It’s not something that’s easy to coach, although you can develop leadership qualities to a certain extent. It’s not enough to keep saying ‘concentration’ or ‘motivation’ to your players is enough. and these are areas that you have to work on.” Significantly, Jacques pronounced an unequivocal ‘no’ when asked whether a psychologist should have a locker in the dressing room. “I’m not opposed to a psychologist dealing with individual cases. But I believe that the coaches should be the psychologists.”
Other related tales of interest are: David James who made this comment reflecting on his time while at the club, he says: "I tried to get one at Liverpool and they wouldn't have it. It was said that it's not the done thing in football". Which for me sounds a bit strange considering the above appointment of Jacques Crevoisier....Though James did go on to use the services of Aston Villa's (then) appointed Psychologist Keith Powell so in the end he got his wish. It turned out to be in his favour, citing " It helps keeps your head straight and you go into challenges in the right frame of mind".
but its far from a solitary instance..Indeed Steve McLaren took ex- Derby County psychologist Bill Beswick with him to both Man Utd (under his own suggestion to the 'almighty one' and then on to Middlesborough to help out with training. Initially the players at Derby were incredulous to the notion of its use in the dressing room as mentioned by Beswick here: "The players recoiled in horror at the idea of working with a shrink," says the psychologist". Although he also states: "its the foreign players who responded more willingly to the presence of a sports psychologist. They have learnt to take every possible advantage to get the most of out of their game." so its just us english who are stubborn then! and confused!! Who knows its more than probable Beswick or somebody else is already applying their services to the National side. (Certainly that may have helped Peter Crouch, if so) That isnt a precedent either. under Sven, who had a working relationship with Willi Railo and who again, between the two have also penned a book on the role Psychology can offer towards footballers success. and there are some interesting comments from the ex England coach in this article from 5 years ago:
"The first time that I came into contact with psychology was in 1978, when I was in charge of my first club, Degerfors.
"We played very good football during the year and reached a play-off to get into the Second Division. But in the play-off, we played awfully and the same thing happened the next year. I could not understand why this was happening. How could we play so well during the year and then lose that ability when the important games came? Everybody was nervous and frightened. So then I contacted a psychologist named Willi Railo, whom I had heard of through a book he had written. I knew that I couldn't help my players any more. The problem was not in their feet, it was in their heads. Since then I have always been interested in the psychological aspect of sport. When I think I can't help a player any more, that's when I take professional help." Railo, who studied psychology for 10 years at the Norwegian sports institute, believes that 'mental training' with players must be done in advance.
Further pieces that ive managed to track down on the subject are put up here: One question asked to Bert van Lingen (at the time part of the KNVB or the dutch association) was....
In the development of a young player, when should the elements of a winning mentality –competitiveness and aggression – be encouraged to kick in? he goes on to say.
“I think that, at all levels and at all ages, the aim is to win. But at youth level we must never lose sight of the global objective, which is the development of the individual. in youth football, ‘winning’ means getting better – and improvements are often based on what you learn by losing.”
************************************************
So what is the average profile of a successful coach? The easy answer is to define him or her as a coach who is obsessed with winning and abhors losing. But an obsession –no matter how healthy – is patently insufficient. Andabhorring defeat can so easily translate into a fear of losing that is ultimately counterproductive. In terms of selection, tactics and strategy, the technician can lay the foundations for winning but, these days, the job requires so much more when squads are multi-cultural, multi-lingual and contains many multi-millionaires. It takes talent to man-manage and motivate groups of such diversity, especially when expectations in the stands or soar high. The winning coach needs a vision and a philosophy for the club, but they need to be based on realistic targets. The winning coach needs to be brave in terms of taking decisions and confronting problems, especially in times of adversity when the day-to-day running of the team can so easily be disrupted by rumours and speculation. Stress management therefore becomes an important issue. a tired-looking manager can often send out a tired-looking team i think its fair to say. The winning coach is one who always transmits positive vibrations via words and body language – especially in those TV interviews within seconds of the final whistle, when a few words out of place can easily exert a negative influence on the whole of the ensuing week. This not only applies to the head coach himself. He has to build and lead an effective team behind the team and between them, they have to ensure that positive attitudes are transmitted not only by the first-team regulars but also by the substitutes and by the non-playing members of a group that always needs to think and act as a team.
How do we though define winning? The public perception is that it means ending the weekend three points richer. But the tactician can justifiably seek other satisfactions outside the league table. A ‘winning’ coach can be a person who leaves a permanent legacy at the club, in terms of infrastructure, management or facilities. The ‘winning’ coach can be someone who has changed or shaped the image of the club. The ‘winner’ can be the person who stays true to himself. above all a winner in life can never be a loser. There are going to be of course, many other undocumented cases where the science branches out its feelers in the direction of footballs progress. Thats safe to assume given the few examples already highlighted in this thread. Our own Manager apparently is well versed in the field himself so you could equally assume our players mental needs are catered for. (though whether asking for both his players respect and the permission for him to pick their brains at leisure should otherwise be done by an outside impartial influence...) remain a further moral avenue to wander down...but in regards to the question posed as to whether we already or indeed ever have had such additional measures in place at the club, the answer to which is written in the above text.
TITANS of HOPE
