Nicky Law

[calscot 0]

When I use the word "fear" I don't mean the fear of physical harm or bullying

 

But you used Sir Alex as an example...

 

rather the fear of letting somebody you respect down, of reneging on the promises and commitments you've made to that person, the fear of failing in that person's eyes.

 

I get that but surely you'd feel more guilty of letting Ally down than Fergie? I think it's a complex subject and that old school hair-drying won't work well in the modern day.

 

Surely even letting down the fans and yourselves should be something too, as well as wanting to avoid the embarrassment of ridicule in the press - and the rest of Scottish football.

 

This argument is treating the players like children or a herd with no ego or self motivation.

 

That type of fear is a powerful motivator and I think, without being too disrespectful to modern day footballers, it is a big part of what makes them tick.

 

I think the best players, like the best solo sportsmen, have most of the motivation somewhere within themselves. They do need coaching and encouragement and other nurturing and maybe the odd wake up call bollocking, but constant barracking like Full Metal Jacket is for breaking people down to be an obedient grunt, not to nurture a creative sportsman.

 

Maybe it does work, but I'm yet to be convinced and deep down, hope not - and I have no idea how the Rangers team talks go.

[Scott7 6,155]

SER and SC - are you one and the same? One posts and the other agrees within minutes. Echoes of "Moonbeams" and "Sir Minty" in another time and another place.

 

For the avoidance of doubt, I do not suggest that the foregoing in any way detracts from the validity of your ponts of view with which I sometimes agree and sometimes disagree. Nor do I suggest that you are or are in anyway connected with the cyber-lunatic mentioned above with whom I violently disagreed all day every day.

[Super Cooper 0]

No we are not the same person Scott! We do tend to agree on so much though which is slightly scary!

[calscot 0]

Yeah, losing peoples interest and boring them with million word excuses is clearly the way to go.

 

I'm sure I lost your interest just by not agreeing with you... hence the "excuse" dig - makes it easy to not have to actually debate the point. But it's very funny how you're working in a wee team these days.

[calscot 0]

SER and SC - are you one and the same? One posts and the other agrees within minutes.

 

Funny, I was thinking the same thing...

[Super Cooper 0]

I'm sure I lost your interest just by not agreeing with you... hence the "excuse" dig - makes it easy to not have to actually debate the point. But it's very funny how you're working in a wee team these days.

 

Not really, just seeing your name turns me off. We all know what comes next. A barrage of words in a desperate attempt to change minds and convert.

[Darthter 542]

Not many workplaces would allow Fergie's practices and not many people would work better if exposed to them. If you read or hear about the kind of stuff he got up to you'd probably think he was a complete nutter when put in context of most of our working lives. I doubt that many top players would put up with what he did in the early days but the guy semes to have had a knack of adapting and evolving.

 

I'm not sure stalking people and threatening violence or screaming in their faces is something that we should be looking at as best practice.

 

I disagree that people improve their long term productivity when constantly intimidated, in fear of wrath and shitting themselves when they go to work.

 

The players all respected Fergie & were willing to go out & try and play to the best of their abilities. Whether that respect was gained by yelling, or by a quiet conversation, he knew how to get the best out of his players. Can the same really be said of McCoist???

 

There is usually a different face for public and private, so I'm not sure what we can read into his demeanour. Hopefully, he has some way of communicating the expected standards to the players. But really, this kind of argument implies the players have no pride or ego at all, and that they are fine with being booed by thousands of people and slated in the media and on fan forums. I know I've had plenty of games where myself and the team couldn't play anywhere near as well as we'd like, but I do know that giving me a good bollocking at half time would not have made me play better. Probably the opposite due to being angry and constantly thinking about it.

 

Have the current Rangers players shown that they have a pride in their playing??? They generally appear to be doing the minimum to get by in a game....this approach has caught them out on several occasions, Sunday being the latest. Sometimes a right good bollocking works, other times it doesn't - it is up to the manager to decide the correct strategy to get the most out of his players.

 

These players are earning a fantastic wage, to go out and play well. There is a high expectation for them to do that. How many times have the management or players come out & said "we need to play better/faster/more attacking" or "that was kick up the backside we needed", then proceeded to play in exactly the same way as before.

[Juancornetto 1]

But you used Sir Alex as an example...

 

No i didn't.

 

I'd prefer to use somebody like Mourinho as an example. the players who have played with and for him have all spoken of the same kind of scenario. He invests his time in working with the team, he's a born winner and doesn't accept failure. They weren't physically intimidated by him or scared of him but would walk over broken glass for him. You know the point I'm making but choose to both misquote me.

[calscot 0]

Not really, just seeing your name turns me off. We all know what comes next. A barrage of words in a desperate attempt to change minds and convert.

 

The is is that while people like yourselves have a basic understanding of the concept of debate eg "change minds and convert", you seem to see it as something incredibly repulsive. The concept of perhaps being wrong or even mistaken and god forbid having someone change your mind to something different seems totally abhorrent to you.

[amms 0]

It is, most of his professional career has been spent working with Walter. It's all he knows.

 

Actually that's not strictly true. McCoist played professional football for 21 years, starting in 1979 and retiring in 2001. Smith was his manager for seven of those years and was assistant to Souness for a further five years. The other 11 years McCoist had a variety of managers plus his managers at international level.

 

He also worked with Smith at Scotland and again with us as an assistant manager. I agree Smith has probably been the most influential person in his professional life but it's inaccurate to overplay that. McCoist had been a professional for seven years before he encountered Smith as a coach, those early ones in particular must have been formative in many ways.

 

One thing Smith was always able to manage at Rangers was a strong team spirit. We rarely lost without it looking like it hurt, I'm not sure you can say that about this current Rangers side.