Time was when a columnist in a magazine or a newspaper needed to be a big name in order to bring in the extra sales to justify the salary being paid him or her.
Then came the idea that an anonymous columnist was better placed to really dish the dirt without fear or favour and there was a rush to sign up ‘secret’ columnists. Football was no exception and FourFourTwo featured ‘The Player’, a figure who by 2012 had spent 15 years playing across all four divisions in England, as well as for his country.
In June 2012, he used the column to explore managerial mind games, including a tale of a pre-season friendly when a Premier League team visited a fourth tier side, helping the fill the coffers with a decent attendance. The lower league manager saw this as a chance to make his name, screaming at his players to break. The legs of the opposition – very friendly.
“The more experienced manager calmly walked over and announced: ‘If I hear that again, I’m taking my players off the field.’ The upstart had no choice but to shut up – it was the home fans who would have been complaining because they would have paid good money for next to nothing.”
There’s plenty more on playing those mind games here.
