Get With The Times Martin O'Neill?

Steff the Villan in MON doubt shocker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I saw a comment on one of these threads (in the Vital forum. ed) a few weeks ago regarding Martin O'Neill and how he does not use sports psychologists, I must admit I thought it was a nothing remark with Martins renowned ability for man management and team building, I assumed that he was well versed in this field, I was wrong.

I mentioned some time ago about Luke Moore and his obvious problem, also stating that I was sure that MONs team psyc would know how to sort it and all will be well, obviously it wasn't.

I don't claim to be an expert in this field, psychology was just part of my sports science degree, but even I can spot some of the problems that the team have had, It would appear that maybe some of the poorer individual performances from our lads have simply been due to the roles they have been restricted to and the positions they have been forced to play, I have never been a fan of playing people out of their position, it is a confidence game, and confidence in one position does not necessarily carry to another, a player (or any athlete) needs to feel confident and capable in the role they are playing, if not how can you expect them to perform at their peak at the highest level? which is exactly where they are, this is the premiership FFS.

We are starting to see some of our players performing to a higher standard (yes I know it has been against poorer opposition, but top corner from the centre circle is still top corner from the centre circle) could this possibly be due to players slotting in to the positions they want to be in?

IMHO we are loosing Melly because he can't play where he always has for us, we have also lost players due to confidence issues (Moore) and the desire for first team action (take your pick) now I am not stating for a moment that any of these players were good enough for the new improved Villa, but with the right psyc approach maybe one or two would have been, but the flip side is, that the depletion of the team must have had an effect on the teams stability and belief, If you know there is plenty of competition you try harder, you're also comfortable in the fact that all of the weight of the future of Aston Villa is not just on your shoulders, you have back up.

Now I love MON, I really do, and I reside with great comfort in the fairy glen, but I hope that MON is now seeing what a difference 'positional confidence' can make and maybe, just maybe he will make that link to the players needs, get up to date and realise that psychology really is a science and really can make a difference.

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