Ahhh, the old Premier League manager merry-go round, struggling to keep track of who works where when the same old faces show up in new places? You may not be alone. The Premier League is once again in full swing and just as interesting as the results, it would seem, is the speculation around which manager will lose their job first. Before the poor fellow is even out of a job people are already excitedly debating who should replace them. It can’t have escaped the attention of anyone that Premier League football clubs replace their managers at an alarmingly high,...
I know it sounds like the beginnings of a joke, but in 2010 an octopus hit the limelight through successfully “predicting” the results of the football World Cup. When the next World Cup rolled around in 2014 there were a plethora of other animals jostling for the honour of following the octopus’s metaphorical (and wet) footsteps. The success or otherwise of these animals’ ability to predict results shows that predicting football results, particularly in the football World Cup is rather tricky. Chance may do similarly well as experts. If anyone was able to predict football results with regularity the game...
David Moyes and Sam Allardyce have both been relieved of their duties after only 6 months in charge of their respective teams. Neither team was relegated, Everton finished 8th in the Premier League. So what is the meaning of success for these clubs? Are their chairmen and boards ever satisfied with what they achieve? Employment and sacking of managers is in the hands of the team’s chairmen or leadership groups, these days either super rich individuals or business men with football as part of their portfolios. Perhaps dissatisfaction is in the nature of elite individuals. How else would they be...
Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho two adversaries, bitter rivals, but do they have a lot in common today? Both have been considered visionaries and leading lights in football. They have revolutionised how the game is played and the ideas of management; Wenger with his behind the scenes attention to sports science and physical performance, Mourinho with his tactics, discipline and ability to push his players. But now both could be consider behind the times, other teams have copied or improved on what these two coaches have done. They have been worked out, exposed some might side. The players, fans and...
How is it that some human beings can enter and run ultra-marathon races that last 6 whole days, where they run the majority of that time and some human beings suffer such ultra-intense back pain that they feel unable to move from the house or a chair for days perhaps weeks on end? The body’s physical tolerance has an enormous spectrum, using the example above we can see that some people believe their body capable tolerating great stress and some that it can tolerate very little. How can our bodies be accustomed to such a wide array of demands? Of...
All football fans want for Christmas is a right decision. 2018 could be considered the start of an English refolution. The Football Association is trialing the use of a video assistant referees (VARs), an advancement that has long been part of almost all other professional sports. Considering the importance of just a few premier league points to Champions league qualification or relegation it seems surprising that the lack of technological help has been accepted so long. Passivity and conservatism in critical places may be to blame, but there are other factors to consider; Why have correct decisions become more critical?...
“The media”, newspapers, radio, TV pundits, even bloggers are well known for analysing and often criticising sports teams and athletes. It is a cliché answer that sportspeople say they ignore the media, “just focus on what we do”. But is that really true? With social media abundant among sportspeople messages must get through. The question may therefore actually be how does it affect them- motivation or inhibition? The Italian football team, possibly missing out on the World cup finals for the first time in nearly 60 years have suffered a metaphorical battering from their media. They haven’t actually lost their...
Financial doping has been cited by several high profile sports figures, such as Arsene Wenger, as a threat to sports integrity. This summer’s transfer of Neymar Jr to PSG football club is seen as a high water mark for financial doping to date. The term financial doping was coined to describe using money to strengthen sports teams. Roman Abramovic’s Chelsea FC is a significant early example. You simply use money to attract better players, pay more than your competitors and if necessary also buy their best players. This leads to the key question as to whether this makes sport more...
Sporting heroes, people to be marked and remembered. Sometimes the athletes and sports people who are revered seem almost super human. It is likely that they are. The individuals who achieve the highest levels in sport clearly require certain characteristics, often extreme ones. One such essential characteristic is likely an intense inward focus, which may at times approach self-absorption. Two recent interviews provide a good example of the necessity of this characteristic. The England and Surrey cricketer Zafar Ansari recently retired from all cricket aged 25. Chris Froome just won his his 4th Tour De France. Their interviews give insight...
The illusion of meritocracy is all around, “work hard and you will achieve”, ”it doesn’t matter your background you can reach your goals”. This of course is partially true, but within most business, governments, and organisations there remains a dominance of white males. If the aim is the best results and meritocracy, surely the aim is to have the best people regardless of background. Sport may be ahead of the rest of society here. In sport the result really does count the most, for all of those involved. The sports club is orientated towards the result and its failure and...
