Interview with sports psychologist who was sacked by Ranieri

[brucey]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/02/26/premier-league-champions-leicester-lost-way-sense-direction/

 

Ken Way has watched the increasingly bitter fallout at Leicester City since Claudio Ranieri was sacked last Thursday with growing sadness.

He has watched as Leicester’s players have been labelled “ungrateful”, “spoiled” and “treacherous”; accused of carrying out a coup against their own manager. He has seen the club’s Thai owners charged with killing romance stone dead. Listened as the sporting world has debated the tragic ending to one of the greatest fairytales the game has known. He cannot help but be full of regret.

Way was, until the start of this season, the sports psychologist at Leicester City. Originally part of Nigel Pearson’s backroom staff, along with Craig Shakespeare and Steve Walsh, Way was kept on when Ranieri arrived in 2015. But after the miracle of 2015-16, the relationship came to an abrupt and troubling end.

Way realised he was being let go only when he asked the club’s kit men for his ticket allocation ahead of the season opener, and they mumbled something about his not yet being ready. “They sort of fobbed me off,” he recalls, sadly. “Told me to come back later. At the time I didn’t think much of it but I realise now that they knew I wasn’t being kept on…” 

Sure enough, a few days after Leicester’s 2-1 defeat at Hull City, Way got a letter from the club thanking him for his services but telling him he would no longer be needed.

He admits the manner of his departure left him feeling “bruised” – mostly because Ranieri did not ring him to explain his decision. But he is adamant he is not speaking out of bitterness when he explains where he feels Leicester’s season went astray. “On the contrary,” he says, “I feel really sorry for Claudio. I just sent him a text message actually because first and foremost he is a gentleman. A really lovely man.

“But if I’m honest I do feel he was a bit more distanced from the players and staff than Nigel was. Without wishing to be unkind, I think Claudio rode a bit on the coat-tails of Nigel, who had really built a special bond with the players and staff. He profited from the platform they created.”

To his credit, Way says, Ranieri changed little when he arrived. He recognised that the atmosphere was good and was happy to tinker with tactics and the systems on the pitch and generally to leave things alone off it. That all changed this year, however. Not only with the high-profile departures of key players such as N’Golo Kanté, but with backroom staff as well.

“I was very sad when Steve [Walsh] left for Everton – although it was absolutely fair enough from his point of view – but that was another link to that atmosphere from the past,” he notes. “Shakey [Shakespeare] is fantastic at lightening the mood but he’s the only one [of the current coaching staff] who really injects genuine vitality into the group. He also has a lot on his plate. In my opinion you need someone who is looking out for that team spirit at all times…” 

Someone like him, for instance? Way is diplomatic. “Well, It’s the role of all support staff to help create and maintain the right team spirit but I like to think I played my part in this by looking a bit further down the road, watching for warning signs of any ‘terrorist’ activity.”

Way is not referring here to some sort of sleeper cell in Leicester.

“Terrorists,” he explains, “are what I call people who, without thinking, suck the lifeblood out of a squad. If I came close to spotting any terrorist activity, I would always react right away to shut down that threat.”

If this all sounds to you like psycho-babble, then you would probably be of a mind with Ranieri. The Italian’s scepticism towards sports psychology was well known. He famously had a run-in with one psychologist at Monaco over a metaphorical “elephant” in the dressing room and was generally of the opinion that tactics were all-important and players should be big and ugly enough to take care of themselves.

“When you are young, maybe you need somebody who can help you, but now you are a man,” Ranieri said in August when asked how he intended to prepare his players for Leicester’s title defence. “In life, you need to be strong. Psychologists? No.” 

Again, Way is tactful when asked about this. He is, and has been in the past, dismissive of his role in Leicester’s title success, anxious not to overstate his role, arguing he was actually busier the previous season. Nor will he identify which players he felt were the biggest “terrorists” at the King Power Stadium, or those he felt had the potential to go rogue.

It is obvious, though, that he is sad at the way it ended. That the work he did at Leicester – much of it away from the training ground and the stadium, in the homes of players and staff, and for a fraction of the money per year that the top players received per week – was under-appreciated.

When Way watches his former colleagues take on Liverpool tonight, assailed on all sides by allegations of treachery and deceit, he will bemoan that there was no one there to defuse the tension; to make them remember what got them there in the first place.

“It seems to me that what they really lost was the fun they had last year; when Christian Fuchs was posting silly YouTube videos,” he concludes. “There hasn’t been any of that this season. Unfortunately terrorists are good at recruiting other terrorists – simply by asking obvious questions: Why are we playing these tactics? Why do we keep losing? The questioning causes you to lose focus on the very essence of what got you there in the first place.

“That is when I would argue – selfishly perhaps – for the presence of a sports psychologist who can intervene early, before things go wrong.”

Edited 26 February 2017 by brucey

[Fox92]

Good read, interesting. Been wanting to here from him.

 

There are many things Ranieri did wrong and sacking the psychologist was one of them.

[lifted*fox]

Just further cements my thinking that Ranieri was slowly dismantling anything progressive and forward-thinking at our club. 

 

I love the fact we have a Premier League title but I'm genuinely devastated that Pearson's hard work has been destroyed. We're a trophy better off but we've gone a long way backwards as a club. Such a shame. 

[Tuna]

Interesting comments on Shakey. Looking forward to seeing the reaction against Liverpool. I'm expecting a much different team, spirit wise.

[brucey]

It's really sad. Shakey for manager and I hope we can rehire the psychologist and any other backroom staff that have been marginalised.

[StanSP]

Pleasing to see that Shakey is the one who tries to motivate, inspire and galvanise the team. Promising for tomorrow...

 

Although this kind of stuff isn't professional and I disagree with how the club/Ranieri managed Way's departure:

Quote

 

Way realised he was being let go only when he asked the club’s kit men for his ticket allocation ahead of the season opener, and they mumbled something about his not yet being ready. “They sort of fobbed me off,” he recalls, sadly. “Told me to come back later. At the time I didn’t think much of it but I realise now that they knew I wasn’t being kept on…” 

 

Sure enough, a few days after Leicester’s 2-1 defeat at Hull City, Way got a letter from the club thanking him for his services but telling him he would no longer be needed.

He admits the manner of his departure left him feeling “bruised” – mostly because Ranieri did not ring him to explain his decision.

 

[Matt]

Even as interim/caretaker whatever his title currently is can Shakey not get Way back in and start to repair the damage Ranieri did behind the scenes, it's a must, surely?

Edited 26 February 2017 by Matt

[Countryfox]

Another part of the jigsaw drops into place and the story starts to appear .....        While the press the pundits and good old jug ears keep talking sh1te ..... 

Edited 26 February 2017 by Countryfox

[Guesty]

Very interesting. You have to imagine he had very personal conversations with some players and they would have had a unique bond. If people like him were got rid of (especially in the fashion he says happened to him) it would cause resentment. 

 

[Bob Hazels shorts]

Been saying for weeks that this was a diabolical short sighted decision.

 

Karma?

[StanSP]

also wonder who the 'terrorists' were that led to the fun being sucked from last season. Ranieri himself? The staff he hired? new players?

[Guest]

Seen on FB the other day that he was just in Prague giving a talk at a call centre. Whether you subscribe to psychology or not, seems like having a positive person like that is worth having around. Not like we can't afford it.

 

 

[Patrick]

You won't see the majority of the footballing press circulating this story in the same way they've been circulating completely false and unsubstantiated rumours to try and turn the footballing world against us...

Edited 26 February 2017 by Patrick

[brucey]

1 minute ago, StanSP said:

also wonder who the 'terrorists' were that led to the fun being sucked from last season. Ranieri himself? The staff he hired? new players?

Given he mentions that the 'terrorists' are asking 'why are we playing these tactics' he is definitely referring to players. This probably comes back to the supposed 'ringleaders' we were talking about before....

[StanSP]

Just now, brucey said:

Given he mentions that the 'terrorists' are asking 'why are we playing these tactics' he is definitely referring to players. This probably comes back to the supposed 'ringleaders' we were talking about before....

big assumption there though. 

 

[Kitchandro]

Poor decision to let him go, no doubt about that.

 

However, he's a psychologist, not a football person. He needs to learn a bit more about tactics before he starts using phrases like 'I think Claudio rode a bit on the coat-tails of Nigel.'

 

If anything, I think that paragraph from Mr Way overstates, not understates, his own influence on last season's success. There is a bit more to management than he realises.

[Mickyblueeyes]

The thing is, the media, its pundits, opposition fans and even our fans who think Ranieri was gods creation on the 8th day will not see this.

 

There were catastrophic errors made throughout this season. Some people were treated very very poorly. 

 

Fine, he is the manager but you live by your decisions, it's not fun when you believe something and it goes wrong. Why should we as a club continually suffer if the decisions made by one man are having an adverse effect on us? Yes, others have points to answer but people making out that Claudio was gods angel who had won every trophy under the sun and we should've appreciated the fact he was slumming it with us is so far from the truth it's ridiculous. In reality, most of what has come out is "normal" for his tenure.

[Bob Hazels shorts]

Just now, Kitchandro said:

Poor decision to let him go, no doubt about that.

 

However, he's a psychologist, not a football person. He needs to learn a bit more about tactics before he starts using phrases like 'I think Claudio rode a bit on the coat-tails of Nigel.'

 

If anything, I think that paragraph from Mr Way overstates, not understates, his own influence on last season's success. There is a bit more to management than he realises.

He did.

 

Unlike some old school managers, City boss Nigel Pearson values the role of the sports psychologist and employs Ken Way, who he worked with at Southampton and Hull.
Read more at http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/pearson-power-positive-thinking/story-20609350-detail/story.html#5gL7oGhvlPBHYeQs.99

 

Sports Psychologist for 25 years inc 5 at Leicester, i'm sure he's learned a few things in that time.

[Marshall Cockney Fox]

Food for thought. Strange decision to dismantle something that was working well. I'm convinced Walsh leaving and Claudio re-jigging some of Pearson's back room structures have had a hugely negative effect. 

[Ted Maul]

Reading that just compounds the reasons I believe Ranieri had to go. This club was moulded on forward thinking, science, technology, detailed analysis, and above all- characters who fit in with what we were trying to do.

 

We've lost our way and we've lost our identity. Hopefully it's not too late to get back on track.

[Melbourne Fuchs]

5 minutes ago, Kitchandro said:

Poor decision to let him go, no doubt about that.

 

However, he's a psychologist, not a football person. He needs to learn a bit more about tactics before he starts using phrases like 'I think Claudio rode a bit on the coat-tails of Nigel.'

 

If anything, I think that paragraph from Mr Way overstates, not understates, his own influence on last season's success. There is a bit more to management than he realises.

I think that he's referring here to the positive atmosphere that Pearson created rather than the tactics themselves. The full quote:

 

29 minutes ago, brucey said:

“But if I’m honest I do feel he was a bit more distanced from the players and staff than Nigel was. Without wishing to be unkind, I think Claudio rode a bit on the coat-tails of Nigel, who had really built a special bond with the players and staff. He profited from the platform they created.”

 

[foz.foz]

24 minutes ago, Kitchandro said:

 

 

 

Really? The more I look back, the more I can see that it was the seige mentality of the "Great Escape" squad that Pearson,Walsh and Shaky created, that carried over into the title winning squad, the next season. 

Pearson went, and Ranieri camein and inherited a squad that thought, and were to a point, invincible ( all but 3 games). He really didn't have to do that much.Ok, subs on at the right time and a virtually none existent injury list to cause him issues helped a lot BUT, I don't think he is that far off the mark when he says that.

And for the record I like lots of others are greatful Claudio did what he did for the club .

 

Quote

He needs to learn a bit more about tactics before he starts using phrases like 'I think Claudio rode a bit on the coat-tails of Nigel.'

 

Edited 26 February 2017 by foz.foz
edit because my "quote" of Kitchandro went wrong

[Marshall Cockney Fox]

On my Seville adventure this week, I met someone very much ITK having worked for Leicester in recent seasons. Really nice guy who was very genuine and very real as I googled him after. He shared many pearls of Wisdom, here are but 3:

 

1) Walsh and Shakey massively had Claudio's ear last year and very much influenced tactics. This season not at all for different reasons.

 

2) LCFC should have sold (cashed in) Mahrez in the summer. Great technician, but not necessarily mentally tough enough to reproduce that form again.

 

3) Slimani was thought by certain important parties to be ok, but not worth going for above 10mil. Claudio did not agree.

 

I just had a sense from my chat with the fella, that the Italian has made a lot of very stubborn and dubious decisions this season.

 

 

[gurru991]

How easy it is to jump in afterwards & point out the mistakes of others ..   The guy sounds like willy puller to me !!

[adejo92]

We'll never know the truth and full circumstances so why does it matter.

 

Every story will be biased in some form.

 

The only fact is, Ranieri won us the title and things ain't right now.