Interview with sports psychologist who was sacked by Ranieri

[LittlethorpeFox]

13 hours ago, inckley fox said:

No, that's not what I said at all. I said 'the first' to be held accountable, in terms of his job. Managers are the ones held most accountable for results, and the ones who more often than not pay for it with their jobs.

 

That's not to say that other people aren't held accountable. Players are dropped, disciplined, put in their place, listed, moved on etc. In the summer we'll see more of that. Backroom staff are, and have been fired.

 

All I'm saying is that managers tend to pay the price first, because boards don't fire themselves and you can't dismantle an entire first team (and second team, because that couldn't muster a performance for Ranieri either) and coaching staff in the middle of a season. 

 

But no, at no point have I called for Ranieri and Ranieri alone to be held to account, nor suggested that he would be the only one. In fact, Top's statement seemed to imply that this wouldn't be the case. I have no idea where you've got the idea from that this is my viewpoint, because it can't be from reading what I've actually written.

There really are some simple people around who can't process two or three theories/concepts at the same time. Spot on again this is

[Sammy]

Although I don't agree with Claudio's decisions here, I have to question why a club with a Director of Football would allow such distinctive changes to be made to the club? The owners may have an excuse to be distanced from it but why would the board who have seen the strength of the club increase over 5 years permit these wholesale changes regardless of winning a trophy.

[Bellend Sebastian]

15 minutes ago, Out Foxed said:

CIA

I was right, you haven't guessed - well not correctly, anyway

[Gerard]

5 hours ago, HighPeakFox said:

I'll add only this thought. If you don't believe in the possibility of psychology etc, then you also don't believe that propaganda can be a 'thing', that the papers can overly influence our thought processes, and that we are all capable of being objective, and having separate, discrete, rational thought.

 

I put it to you that our minds are very malleable, and every one of us is prone to influences, malign or otherwise.

 

Also advertising must be a complete waste of time.

 

I'm of the school of thought that all of this is worth a try as long as it doesn't do any harm whether it be blessings by Thai monks, Feng Shui your dressing room and bad Feng Shui the opposing dressing room, painting the opposing dressing room pink to subdue them, subliminal messages or sport psychologists. 

 

Sport is about small margins and anything that might help has to be considered.

[Buce]

18 hours ago, Countryfox said:

 

He's worked with 2 top managers and hopefully seen the best of their styles, he's highly respected by the players, staff and owners, he's also been pulled into the England set up .....       all the tools are there.

 

Yep.

 

Like Morgan, Huth, Rat-Boy, Musa - a whole fvcking team of tools..

Edited 27 February 2017 by Buce

[lcfcdamo]

This really makes me think bringing back pearson wouldn't be a bad idea at all 

[Kaewbudda]

6 hours ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Having discovered his imminent sacking, just before he left, Mr Way hypnotized the players into believing they were headless chickens?

 

Just saying.

Ha ha, good one!

[Vardinio'sCat]

 

I'm a bit surprised by his use of the term 'terrorists', in this context, it is quite a loaded term to use for a man who is a psychologist.

 

If I was a player I would find that confusing.

[reynard]

This guy was interviewed on Talk Sport this morning. Not too revealing but nevertheless an interesting interview. One thing he did say was that Rudkin approached him and told him that Ranieri didn't want him at the club any longer. This was completely clear so for any doubting it was Ranieri's decision this was from the horse's mouth so to speak.

I'd say this was the start of where things started to go wrong.

[Grey Fox]

He was also interviewed on 5 Live @ 2 hours 40 mins:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08g4753#play

 

 

[Grey Fox]

37 minutes ago, reynard said:

This guy was interviewed on Talk Sport this morning. Not too revealing but nevertheless an interesting interview. One thing he did say was that Rudkin approached him and told him that Ranieri didn't want him at the club any longer. This was completely clear so for any doubting it was Ranieri's decision this was from the horse's mouth so to speak.

I'd say this was the start of where things started to go wrong.

What show was this on?  Or roughly what time?

[broughtonblue]

Spent a couple of hours talking all things LCFC with this chap in our hotel after Southampton away last year. Seemed a decent legit bloke. 

[sharonlcfc21]

And central news and East Midlands today 

[ktfox59]

Thought it was rumoured that Claudio used to go to this guy and tell him all his troubles. Reckoned he dreaded going into work. Said they were calling him names behind his back, saying he was useless, hadn't a clue, and that it wouldn't be long before he got the sack. And that was just the owners?

[st albans fox]

I assume that Claudio wanted to be close to the players from a psychological perspective. 

 

Bigging them up - telling them what he wanted them to hear.

 

perhaps he was concerned that this fella might be saying stuff he didn't agree with to them ?? Might be contracdicting his message  on occasion. 

 

Last season as everything went hunky dory there wasn't much to worry about from a negative standpoint. Claudio probably worked out this campaign would be a lot more difficult. Hi 

[Babylon]

2 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

Bigging them up - telling them what he wanted them to hear.

40 points... we are the Underdogs to League One Millwall...

 

Wish he'd done a bit of that in the press.

[zealot]

21 hours ago, Grey Fox said:

He was also interviewed on 5 Live @ 2 hours 40 mins:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08g4753#play

This is a great listen. He talks an awful lot of sense. Seems a complete shame that we let Ken Way go... 

It seems clear to me that Shakespeare has so far been able to recreate the mood last season.

 

That mood was all about positivity, happiness and being upbeat and almost-jokey despite the situation.

Hopefully he will be given the chance to continue to do this as it is clearly what our players respond best too...

[Bob Hazels shorts]

2 hours ago, st albans fox said:

I assume that Claudio wanted to be close to the players from a psychological perspective. 

 

Bigging them up - telling them what he wanted them to hear.

 

perhaps he was concerned that this fella might be saying stuff he didn't agree with to them ?? Might be contracdicting his message  on occasion. 

 

Last season as everything went hunky dory there wasn't much to worry about from a negative standpoint. Claudio probably worked out this campaign would be a lot more difficult. Hi 

Yeah

 

League one

Championship

Premiership

 

All won with him as sports psychologist. Whilst Claudio may not agree with this relative modern part of the game, clear his lack of vision cost him.

[bald reynard]

On 01/03/2017 at 16:41, zealot said:

This is a great listen. He talks an awful lot of sense. Seems a complete shame that we let Ken Way go... 

It seems clear to me that Shakespeare has so far been able to recreate the mood last season.

 

That mood was all about positivity, happiness and being upbeat and almost-jokey despite the situation.

Hopefully he will be given the chance to continue to do this as it is clearly what our players respond best too...

Ken Way talking to an Irish newspaper today.  He thinks Nige would have won the League as well as Claudio !  I definitely don't agree with him on that Pearson point - but I do think he makes some important comments about Shaky and the attitude of the players:-

 

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer/ken-way-leicester-would-have-won-the-title-under-nigel-pearson-447085.html 

Edited 6 April 2017 by bald reynard

[Xen]

33 minutes ago, bald reynard said:

Ken Way talking to an Irish newspaper today.  He thinks Nige would have won the League as well as Claudio !  I definitely don't agree with him on that Pearson point - but I do think he makes some important comments about Shaky and the attitude of the players:-

 

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer/ken-way-leicester-would-have-won-the-title-under-nigel-pearson-447085.html 

Interesting read.

 

I wonder if he could be tempted to come back to the club if Shakey stays long term.

 

Clearly has a very good relationship with the playing staff (as you'd hope, really...), but may not be overly smitten with management after the way he was let go...

[Bob Hazels shorts]

11 minutes ago, Xen said:

Interesting read.

 

I wonder if he could be tempted to come back to the club if Shakey stays long term.

 

Clearly has a very good relationship with the playing staff (as you'd hope, really...), but may not be overly smitten with management after the way he was let go...

 

He may not have been speaking to the Irish media they may just have attended one of his talks and quoted him.

 

He was spooked by the clubs solicitors and warned not to give anything away after his recent media.

 

His message in essence and over the time I sat in the audience and had a long chat after an event was about the players being happy and playing out of their skins when happy.Money makes you sad when skint but is not a substitute for enjoying what you do.  That obviously changed.

 

Quote Ken personally- He would love to come back to the club (his face lit up when i asked) but would not do it even if asked now as things are going swimmingly and he doesn't now see any reason to change that.

 

Cracking guy and involved in many sports and projects. I cant quote what the club were paying him per year but think of a players wage for a day. Makes his departure insane.

[kushiro]

Has anyone else noticed the basic flaw in this guy's whole thesis? This is what he says in the interview at the top of this thread:

 

"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. 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.

 

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"

 

So he thinks that if he'd stayed he could have put a lid on the dissatisfaction with Ranieri's tactics. He could have intervened, he thinks, to stop the dissent spreading. But surely what we know now is that the 'terrorists' were completely right to ask the simple questions.Questions such as:

 

Why are we not going at teams from the start?

Why are we not playing a pressing game?

Why is there no energy in our performances?

Why have we changed tactics?

 

Way says, and I repeat, that: The questioning causes you to lose focus on the very essence of what got you there in the first place.

 

No. This is completely arse over tit. The questioning was all about WHY we lost what got us there in the first place. Had he still been in the job this season, his whole philosophy (if you can call it that, rather than just 'psycho-babble'), would have worked entirely against the long term interests of the club.

[waylander]

GERRIMIN 

[Captain...]

3 hours ago, kushiro said:

Has anyone else noticed the basic flaw in this guy's whole thesis? This is what he says in the interview at the top of this thread:

 

"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. 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.

 

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"

 

So he thinks that if he'd stayed he could have put a lid on the dissatisfaction with Ranieri's tactics. He could have intervened, he thinks, to stop the dissent spreading. But surely what we know now is that the 'terrorists' were completely right to ask the simple questions.Questions such as:

 

Why are we not going at teams from the start?

Why are we not playing a pressing game?

Why is there no energy in our performances?

Why have we changed tactics?

 

Way says, and I repeat, that: The questioning causes you to lose focus on the very essence of what got you there in the first place.

 

No. This is completely arse over tit. The questioning was all about WHY we lost what got us there in the first place. Had he still been in the job this season, his whole philosophy (if you can call it that, rather than just 'psycho-babble'), would have worked entirely against the long term interests of the club.

Disagree, the players role is to carry out the managers instruction to the best of their abilities. They shouldn't get distracted questioning the manager. A psychologist will help them to focus on their own game and not let themselves get distracted by tactics that aren't working. Our back 4 should still have been able to defend despite Ranieri's duff tactics going forwards but they lost focus distracted by 'rule changes' and poor results, dissatisfaction in their team mates and couldn't do the basics.

 

Edit: And the sports psychologist's job is to help the players carry out the manager's instruction even if he or the players or the fans think they are crap.

Edited 6 April 2017 by Captain...

[Bob Hazels shorts]

22 hours ago, kushiro said:

Has anyone else noticed the basic flaw in this guy's whole thesis? This is what he says in the interview at the top of this thread:

 

"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. 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.

 

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"

 

So he thinks that if he'd stayed he could have put a lid on the dissatisfaction with Ranieri's tactics. He could have intervened, he thinks, to stop the dissent spreading. But surely what we know now is that the 'terrorists' were completely right to ask the simple questions.Questions such as:

 

Why are we not going at teams from the start?

Why are we not playing a pressing game?

Why is there no energy in our performances?

Why have we changed tactics?

 

Way says, and I repeat, that: The questioning causes you to lose focus on the very essence of what got you there in the first place.

 

No. This is completely arse over tit. The questioning was all about WHY we lost what got us there in the first place. Had he still been in the job this season, his whole philosophy (if you can call it that, rather than just 'psycho-babble'), would have worked entirely against the long term interests of the club.

 

The guy has never suggested that he could work miracles and undo or mend any unnecessary unsettling changes,

 

He has suggested and others have ex and around the club that changes were made by Claudio for good intentions i'm sure. Due to the amount of new players little groups had formed rather than the tight unit we had (and that's from possibly are biggest group player)

 

To quote my new mate Ken! in conversion. Claudio turned up with 3 of his training/ support staff and we all expected changes, to his credit he was shocked at the level of spirit and effort and stood back and allowed it to continue......he obviously felt he had to make his mark eventually.

 

Simple message was that regardless people don't like change particully bad and our players were unhappy and played as if they were sulking. Easy to say your well paid. put a plaster on it and get out there and play for the badge etc

 

Fuchs said something along the lines of 'we are a bunch of mates who just enjoy playing football'  Our regular side are not of the quality of most successful teams and are possibly more dependent on spirit and fragile.

 

The acid test will be that due to old legs we will have to change the tight knit team that Shakey knows so well

 

 

Edited 7 April 2017 by Bob Hazels shorts