This article has been take from the current edition of the DCSCWCB publication – “WEST COUNTRY RAM”, our clubs newsletter.  This particular article is entitled :

SPORTING SUCCESS:


Playing The Positive Game

 (This article was written by Mike Pegg, an Executive Mentor for business leaders. His current clients include Sony, Air Miles and Microsoft. His latest book is The Art of Mentoring. Mike has been a Rams fan for over 40 years.)

Picture the scene. Derby County are leading 1-0. The Pride Park clock shows 72 minutes have elapsed. Three points beckon. Surely the match is in the bag. You begin working out how the table will look tonight. Then you start worrying:

“Should we go for a second goal? Should we hang on to the slender lead? What should be our attitude during the last part of the game?”

This is one of the coach’s greatest dilemmas. Sport’s people recognise that there are three approaches to competing on the field. Teams can choose to play either:

  The approach you take can make or break your self-confidence, your results or your season. Let’s explore each of the these attitudes.

The Positive Game

Football teams perform best when they take the initiative and win control of the game. “Be positive and impose yourself on the opposition,” is the coach’s advice. “Believe in yourself. Go out to win and play the game in their half of the field.”  

Derby County must keep playing the positive game. Why? It is passionate, professional and more likely to lead to peak performance. Remember the first half display against Liverpool at home last season? Positive play also excites the crowd, who then become worth an extra man on the field.  

The Percentage Game.

Some teams take this approach all the time, some teams use it at certain times in a game. Leading 1-0 with five minutes remaining, for example, it makes sense to play the percentages. Winning a corner calls for sending one defender forward, not engaging in a cavalry charge. Keep the others back to protect the victory.  

Derby County could have played the percentage game better during the latter stages of last season’s 6th round match at Arsenal. Drawing 0-0 with a few minutes remaining, our goalkeeper had the ball in his hands. He could have kicked the ball 70 yards away into the far corner. He chose instead to throw it to a nearby defender, who was closed down and conceded possession. The resulting corner led to Arsenal grabbing the winner from Kanu.  

Brian Clough’s teams played an attractive percentage game. Protecting a lead, they kept the ball and passed the opposition to death. George Graham’s Arsenal played a meaner variation that was based on a strong defence. The opponents became dispirited, conceded a half chance and lost to the men from Highbury. Hence the refrain: “1-0 to the Arsenal.” 

“Be sensible,” is the motto when playing the percentage game. Defenders must sometimes knock the ball into Row Z, rather than practice ball juggling in their penalty box. Successful teams mix the positive game with the percentage game. Why? Too much emphasis on ‘playing safe’ leads to surrendering momentum. Teams that stop going forward start entering the danger zone. This is typified by the final approach.  

 

The Paralysis Game.  

A recipe for disaster. Derby County sit back and allow the opponents to dominate. The Rams leave their destiny to fate, rather than shaping it with their own efforts. Fans hope that, by hook or by crook, their team gets a lucky break. Winning a match 1-0 with five minutes to go, this approach is understandable, but still not forgivable. Starting a match 0-0 against Arsenal, Middlesboro, Coventry and Sunderland, adopting this approach is deadly. It is choosing to commit suicide.

Let’s draw an analogy from business. Leading edge companies realise that firms have three choices. They can choose to be: a) Successful; b) Stable, or; c) Suicidal. Most businesses do not get beaten by their competitors. They choose instead to commit suicide. How? They stop listening to their customers, lapse into denial and fill their diaries with meaningless internal meetings. Great companies employ positive people. Every day they come to work looking for innovative ways to build a successful future.

Derby County perform best when they take the positive approach. The Rams must be proactive, both on and off the field. They cannot win every match. But, even if they lose, they will then at least have done their best. The Titanic showed us that paralysis only leads to disaster.

 

Please feel free to send your own versions of the above to WCR  c/o:-

WCR@dcscwcb.derbycounty.co.uk