IT'S GOOD TO TALK
But you never know who might be listening
WORD PERFECT - Steve Coppell
HALF-TIME team talks are an art - and not all managers know how to do them well.
When I was at Brentford, Steve Coppell always used to say something intelligent and do his best to fill you with confidence, no matter what the score was.
He would sometimes tweak the system but more often it's the little comments that make all the difference. Sometimes it's nice to be told you're a good player, to just relax and go out and show what you can do.
When I made my Blackburn debut aged just 18, I was very nervous but Graeme Souness told me to just go out and play like I was in the park with my mates. That really relaxed me.
There are other times when managers have been right in my face and screaming at me, telling me I'm rubbish. Sometimes it's worked, but not very often!
Sometimes the coaches and the skipper will also have their say in the dressing room.
Ian Ashbee at Hull was a great captain and would often tell you if you weren't playing well. It provoked a few arguments but it's often good to have someone like that because it keeps the players on their toes.
We played Huddersfield a couple of seasons ago away from home and as the gaffer was saying his final few words and giving us our final instructions before we ran out, Claus Jorgenson suddenly shouted: "What's that coming from the ceiling?"
Scurry
To everyone's utter amazement there was someone in the roof space dangling his phone down through the ceiling to record what was being said! The guy managed to scurry away before we could get our hands on him and we went on to win the game.
Managers don't usually have to work too hard to gee up players for derby games but we were poor against Burnley on Tuesday.
It was our first derby of the season and we lost 2-0
Tuesday was our first derby game of the campaign and sadly we produced our worst performance of the season, which was bitterly disappointing.
Last season we were unbeaten in derbies we beat our biggest rivals, Preston, 1-0 at their place.
That was the moment of the season for me, celebrating at the final whistle with all the fans.
We travelled to the midlands on Saturday for a real David and Goliath match against Birmingham. These games are the ones you want to play in because you're up against some great players and it's your chance to prove you can cut it with the big boys.
No one gave us much chance of winning but we played the complete opposite than we did on Tuesday.
Birmingham had the better of the possession but we created the best chances.
It was a bit worrying when you see them bring Marcus Bent, Kevin Philips and Quincy Owusu on but we defended brilliantly.
Whatever the manager said in his team-talk must have worked . . .
This article has 3 comments
Ben, come back to the mighty Bees..........
By Shrekwaado. Posted September 28 2008 at 10:33 AM.
Ben,
I have never read such well-crafted, hard-hitting journalism since Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein exposed Watergate. It's incisive, superbly written and a joy to behold.
(I'm a Pool fan coming from abroad to the QPR match next week. Any chance of a ticket?).
By Ratso. Posted September 22 2008 at 2:26 PM.
BBB, I saw this blog mentioned in the matchday programme when we played Barnsley, so investigated the next day. Glad I did; it's really quite interesting to hear what it's like from your side of Bloomfield Road! Supporters often think it's all about them and it's okay to say what they like about matches, players, etc.. But this puts it into perspective; you have 'lives' too. So keep writing, good luck with the journalism and all the best for the rest of the season. Cheers!
By Simon Davies. Posted September 20 2008 at 8:09 AM.