Everyone
Can Appreciate Music but Not Everyone Can Play A Musical Instrument The
value of practical experience is summed up by the wonderful Spanish proverb:
“It is not the same to talk of bulls as to be in the bullring.” Likewise,
in football it is important to appreciate the experiential knowledge of those
who have played in front of crowds, or coached, refereed in a decisive match or
treated an injured player on the field. The
pitch people, particularly those who have the communication skills to convey
their know-how, have much to offer. The
players are too busy trying to win games and to survive the demanding effects
of an overcrowded football calendar. They are the ones that suffer most
throughout a gruelling season, because they in demand and who are expected to
satisfy the expectations of the public, the media, the owners and team-mates. Managers
and coaches are always talking it is the nature of their business particularly
when signing players or scrutinising future opponents. The
referees and medical staff are also people of the grass and they too have lots
to offer. One of the games top former referees Pierluggi Colina, came up with
referees studying teams’ tactical ploys that they often use in games and how it
may or may not influence the referee’s decision-making process at both the
Euros and the World Cup. Professor
Jan Ekstrand, former Swedish national Team doctor completed a study of injury
patterns in UEFA Champions league by analysing the relationship of football
injuries and different playing surfaces and climatic conditions. Everyone
can appreciate music but not everyone can play a musical instrument. The same
applies to football. One of the best examples of this is Saturday Night you’re
on your way home from a game, and the radio is on, a phone-in starts. On they
come, the armchair experts: ‘he’s taken the club as far as he can go’, ‘he picked the wrong team’, ‘he put the subs
on too late’, ‘he puts his subs on too early’, ‘he’s tactically naive’, ‘he
just hasn’t got a clue’. The calls maybe about Ole Gunnar Solksjar, Dean Smith
or Darrell Clarke, there are two jobs everyone thinks they can do, be Prime
Minister or a football manager. It
doesn’t matter how many trophies and promotions they have won; they know
better. But they don’t because they are daft - most football fans can see when
a team is struggling and some can work out why but because they will never have
the whole story. Maybe a defender was left out because he has a personal
problem maybe a substitution had to be made as midfielder was carrying an
injury. There are a lot of things going on at a football club most of which,
for all sorts of reasons, the fans don’t hear about it. It’s
not necessary to have been a great coach to have an informed opinion about the
game. Like Joe Royle once said: ‘I would never tell a plumber, a lawyer or a
journalist to do his job, but they all know better than me every Saturday`. There
are many officials, journalists and members of the public who have, through years
of observation, developed an educated, perceptive “football eye.” However,
those who are veterans of the battle, on the pitch and on the bench have a
special insight into the subtleties and intricacies of the game. Of course, the
observer has the advantage of seeing the big picture and of offering objective
analysis, but to repeat the Spanish maxim: ‘It is not the same to talk of bulls
as to be in the bullring`.
(Gavin
Blackwell has been involved in the game for over 30 years and has shown great
dedication during that time as the physio for a handful of local non-League
clubs, most notably Halesowen Town, but also Oldbury United, Tividale,
Stourbridge and Hednesford Town, as well as assisting the Wolves academy and
WBA reserves.) |