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Post by a more piratey game on Jan 19, 2020 12:39:30 GMT
I read the following, about Heather Watson who is dating a Yeovil Town footballer this morning, and it got me wondering what it is about football that creates this - beyond the fact that it is full of egomaniacs (like a lot of businesses) and has the pressure of weekly unpredictable public performances As professional athletes, they have each learned more about each other’s working lives, and Watson was struck by how much harder tennis players work than footballers. ''They don’t train nearly as much as we do,” she said. “It’s a good life. And I’ve learned that there’s a lot of politics in football, really complicated. You just think of it as a team against a team, want to win, but there’s lot of different things. And their season’s just as long as ours.”Rovers is a small and relatively simple club. But DC, who had a lengthy period of relative success and was popular, has offered to write a book about 'the politics' which were 'unbelievable'. GC hinted at similar. Long-time club insiders have been moved out, which is pretty normal with regime change in any business Is there anything distinctive to football that makes it worse than other businesses? www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/jan/19/heather-watson-australian-open-tennis-courtney-duffus
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syg
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 1,008
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Post by syg on Jan 20, 2020 7:03:59 GMT
I think it's an Individual v team sport issue.
If you take tennis, an individual, with coach and physio, dependent on their success they can gather an entourage, but it's still a non team sport. They practise against numerous different players, not against their teammates. They have different bases and travel to different events under their own steam, whereas in teams they meet together and jump on the coach etc.
So, I guess theirs less gossip, less ego contests it just has a different dynamic.
And then as an individual, tennis, golf, whatever, you pick your staff, I'm going back to tennis as it's something I know more of. Tennis players change their coach, physio, manager. This is the key difference, teamsports are the other way round, the manager picks you. So basically.....
Team sports are more top down, less individual say, far more string pulling and button pressing, a lot more room for those at the top to play games.
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dido
Predictions League
Peter Aitken
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 1,883
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Post by dido on Jan 20, 2020 7:55:42 GMT
I thought there was string pulling in tennis.
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irishrover
Global Moderator
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 3,372
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Post by irishrover on Jan 20, 2020 16:53:04 GMT
I think it's because there's so many different agendas going on at a football club.
Bielsa has a quote along the lines of 'When you are sat across the table from the Chairman negotiating a contract to become that club's manager you should be thinking about how you are staring into the eyes of the man who will one day sack you and from the moment you sign that contract he is your enemy'. That sums it up quite well.
The manager will always want an extra player in, the Chairman will always want an extra player out, the established clique of players will always be nervously looking over their shoulders at the younger players and new signings etc. In DC's case a club might make promises to hold onto a popular and successful manager that they can't deliver on.
A well run club can get everyone pulling in the same direction but tensions are surely inevitable.
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