Watching the Portugal v Slovenia match I noticed that an awful lot of the talk was around Cristiano Ronaldo. The fact that he hadn't scored yet in the tournament. The fact that he was taking the free kicks and not scoring them. The fact that he took a penalty and didn't score. Coupled with speculation … Continue reading Ronaldo standards →

Ok I'm away from my phone, can I get some wisdom now.I'm starting to feel bored!I could really do with an epiphany right about now!(heavy sigh)…(cartoon lightbulb turns over head)Oh gods of boredom, would you please provide me with a glorious nugget of wisdom?I promise to be bored more often!Well if you meet me halfway … Continue reading Purposefully bored →

There are players who wish for an easy training session and then there are players who approach every training as if it was a World Cup Final. My bet is, the latter will be who the team looks to when the chips are down.

The pundits love a team performing poorly. They feed off the mistakes. They love to wax lyrical about what should have been done instead. But if they really knew their stuff, they would be out there, doing it, leaving the pundits speechless.

It's funny. With Dietrich, his spells of good behaviour are always preceded by bouts of self sabotage. It's like he needs to feel sorry for himself before doing what he knows is right.

How does a rookie, in their first year, become a leader within a sports team? Because while we would like to entertain the notion that sports is all about physicality, it's really about mentality.

When it comes to offloading tasks, there are 3 rules to live by: 1) If it takes longer to explain it than do it, then you should do it yourself! 2) You should aim to develop your subordinates powers of resourcefulness by giving briefs without instructions. 3) If the task is too technical and letting … Continue reading Offloading tasks →

Rejection is scary. Examining your flaws is scary. Admitting that you are lonely is scary. I wouldn't criticize anyone who is hesitant to do so. But making mountains out of molehills to avoid these exercises makes your issues everyone else's issue.

'No fitness today' said the coach Jane is delighted. John is concerned. Jane relishes the short term relief. John is filled with long term dread. You see he knows they're in for a world of hurt if the team is unfit come game day. He wants pain now to have relief later.

I think when a team jumps in head first, it can cause problems down the line. For example one half of the group are here to have fun, the other half are here to take it seriously. As long as the team tries to achieve both goals simultaneously, they will fail at both. The people … Continue reading Fun or serious →